Each year, the CNS hosts a half-day retreat for all current and past students in the SCAN program. The 3rd Annual SCAN Retreat took place earlier this February.
Students and alumni came together for lunch, followed by a series of student presentations in which a few students gave brief overviews of the ways they plan to use neuroscience in their fields. Then the SCAN Advisory Board (Geoff Aguirre, Russell Epstein, Joe Kable and Stephen Morse) along with special guest Professor Patricia Churchland of UC San Diego, engaged in dialog, asking these presenters questions, making suggestions, and free associating. This portion of the retreat provided a wide range of perspectives on the “neuro-fields” (neurolaw, neurophilosophy, neuroanthropology, etc).
Participants were treated to a keynote address by Professor Churchland, a pioneering philosopher of mind whose 1986 book launched the field of neurophilosophy, and whose current work addresses ethics from the standpoint of neuroscience.
Watch a recap of the student presentations here:
Ben Baker, Philosophy: On neurocomputation and the embodied mind
Jordan Taylor, Philosophy: On “Seductive Allure of Neuroscience”
Asminet Ling, Criminology: On neural correlates of antisocial behavior
Prashant Kumar, History of Science: On the idea of electricity as the basis of brain function
Watch Patricia Churchland’s keynote here.
See photos from the event here.