This blog will be brief, since I am currently on my Study Tour in Paris (plenty of details to come on that soon)! First, a few details on the happenings in my Affective Neuroscience class in Stockholm. The overarching objective of the class is to promote an understanding of why we feel the emotions we experience both on a daily basis and in novel situations. So far, this course seems very inter-disciplinary, incorporating neuroscience, as well as social and developmental psychology. We are identifying specific brain regions linked to emotion, learning about when they develop, and providing (and experiencing first-hand) situations that might evoke certain emotions.
To me, this Affective Neuroscience class is the crucial link between Neuroscience and Psychology—two fields that relate so much to each other, but are often separated. It is not so neuroscience-y that I am being drilled with nitpicky molecular facts, and not too psychology-y that I am learning about broad human behavioral tendencies. This class is the perfect balance of the two, tying brains back to their sources—real live people!
My eleven classmates are incredible! Somehow, our personalities have all meshed very well, despite how different they are. I was worried that our dorm locations would determine our friend groups, but this has not been the case so far. The DIS faculty member teaching the class is evidently passionate and constantly eager for our thoughts. Furthermore, on two separate occasions, she let us watch “Inside Out” (one of my favorite movies) and brought us “Princess Cake” (which has become one of my favorite desserts)! For my final project, I get to make a board game that combines everything I’ve learned—talk about creative learning!
