Neuroscience, B.S.

The neuroscience major consists of four parts: (1) a core of required courses that all majors must take; (2) required courses in one of three tracks - bioscience, cognitive, or computational; (3) a general elective; (4) a senior writing requirement. Unless noted below, course descriptions are listed under their home departments. It is not possible to be an interdepartmental major in Neuroscience.

A 2 or 3-term senior thesis or research project (required for Honors; also PSY 300 is required by Psychology supervisors) OR one the following seminars:

Students must register for senior thesis courses in the department of their thesis advisor:

Contact the Neuroscience program director(s) first.

In addition to meeting college-wide requirements, honors in Neuroscience requires: (1) a minimum grade point average of 3.30 in the major (including thesis grades, but not including the CHM or MTH cognate courses listed in #2 above); (2) a minimum of three grades of A or A- in the required courses for all majors (see #1 above); (3) satisfactory completion of a senior thesis with a minimum grade of A-; (4) presentation of the student’s work, usually at the Steinmetz Symposium. Any non-adjunct professor or lecturer in the Psychology, Biology, or Computer Science departments may advise a senior thesis; faculty members not in those departments must be affiliated with the Neuroscience program in order to advise senior theses. Adjunct faculty members may only advise theses with explicit approval of the Neuroscience program director(s). However, to do a thesis advised by a faculty member not affiliated with the Neuroscience program, students must receive permission from the program director(s) in advance. Students are advised to start the process of finding a thesis topic and advisor as early in the junior year as possible.

It is recommended that students in this major start with BIO 103, BIO 104, and PSY 210 as these courses are prerequisites for Neuroscience students to take the neuroscience-related courses in the Psychology department without taking PSY 100, which does not count toward the Neuroscience major. After completing PSY 210, Neuroscience students may take other Psychology courses without first completing PSY 100. Students are strongly encouraged to take PSY 200, PSY 210, BIO 205  , BIO 242 and CSC 106 (or CSC 103) as early as possible, preferably in the sophomore year. CSC 106 is preferred over CSC 103, but both satisfy the same requirement. Students are also advised to take CHM 101 prior to taking BIO 205 . Although not required, it is typical that Cognitive Track majors take senior seminars in the Psychology department, and Bioscience Track majors take senior seminars in the Biology department. Normally, courses taken outside of Union College will not be counted toward the major. However, exceptions can be made under extenuating circumstances on an ad-hoc basis. To receive Neuroscience credit for courses taken elsewhere, students must contact the program director(s) to request permission, and the courses must match a Union course or have similar neuroscience content to Union courses that do receive credit.

*MTH 110 may alternatively be satisfied by taking the first two courses in the MTH 100-101-102 sequence.

Health Professions: doctoral programs (MD/DO/PhD) often require additional courses in chem (orgo), biochem, physics, as well as psychology and sociology (100s); other professional tracks may require Anatomy & Physiology (often taken at a nearby institution alongside Union classes).

Clinical Courses: (required for grad school in therapeutic realm: neuropsychologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, neurologist, counselor/therapist, occupational therapy…) PSY 213 , PSY 250 , PSY 351 , PSY 451 , PSY 352 .

NS Honors Society (Nu Rho Psi): major/minor in NS, 3 terms of college (min cum GPA of 3.20), 3 NS courses (min NS GPA of 3.50)