Harvard Summer Program in Trento, Italy

  Italy

• All Other Areas in Italy: 
Trento

Term: Summer 
Dates: June 10 - August 8, 2010

Description: This eight-week program at the University of Trento, Italy, organized by the Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative, provides students a unique opportunity to study the mind/brain. Taught by leaders in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive science, the program includes daily, hands-on, laboratory sessions (e.g., neuroimaging demos) and Italian language classes, all while surrounded by the breathtaking Italian Alps.

All students take the course Windows Into the Structure of the Mind/Brain, which reviews methods from psychophysics to neuroimaging, from computational modeling to clinical neuroscience. Each method will be illustrated through laboratory demonstrations. In addition, students have the option to take either What Art Can Tell Us About the Brain, which explores the neuroscience of visual art and includes discussion sessions that form a bridge between science and art wherein students learn to critically examine masterpieces by incorporating their understanding of the mechanisms by which art is made and perceived; or Visual Neuroscience: From Sensory Input to Cognition, in which students learn about the visual system in its entirety: from sensory input to perception and cognition. The latter course also touches upon related issues such as the role of attention in vision, feedforward versus feedbackward processes, and interaction between the visual system and emotional processing.

Highlights: Course: Windows Into the Structure of the Mind/Brain and Visual Neuroscience or What Art Can Tell Us About the Brain.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: TBA

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Harvard Summer School Study Abroad Programs's Mission Statement: The Harvard Summer School makes Harvard's academic resources a distinguished faculty, well-equipped laboratories, fine museums, and a world-class university library available to men and women of many ages, backgrounds, and nationalities through an intensive summer session of liberal arts courses in Cambridge and overseas. Our international student body includes Harvard undergraduate and graduate students, visitors from other colleges and universities, highly qualified secondary school students, adult learners, and nonnative English speakers seeking to refine their language skills. Students take courses to challenge themselves academically, meet degree requirements, prepare for graduate school, gain college experience, advance their careers, and pursue personal enrichment. Students, who study at Harvard Summer School may reside in a supportive residential environment, commute to campus, complete courses via distance education, or participate in one of the faculty-led programs based abroad. Many come to experience the extraordinary environment of Harvard College academics, resources, and residential life. Harvard Summer School serves the University community by providing faculty with teaching opportunities that allow them to experiment with new materials and teaching methods. Students from many Harvard schools take advantage of the breadth of summer course offerings to meet requirements for concentrations and degree programs, and to create more flexibility within their term-time academic program. Harvard graduate students from abroad can work on refining their English language skills, and Harvard College students take advantage of the summer session to expand their cultural, social, and intellectual horizons by studying abroad.