The neurochemistry capstone is unlike any science class I have taken at Concordia. While the background of chemistry, biology, and neuroscience is helpful, it was learning how everything relates that was so integral to the articles. With each article came a new discussion, direction, and potential solutions to the many problems. It was great to have students with different backgrounds in the class which really helped our discussions throughout the weeks. We were able to challenge each other with new ideas or thought provoking questions.
Each week, everyone in our class was able to contribute new information or a new perspective on the “article/disease of the week”. It was challenging to look at diseases from a multidisciplinary lens. We also stressed the importance of sharing science with the general population. While innovative research, conferences, and scientific literature is important, it is also important to communicate that information to the general public in understandable terms. Often times in society, this aspect is overlooked. We learned ways to be concise and explain things in a way that was educational and accurate. Communication in different mediums was a skill we utilized a lot in this class, with presentations, written essays, partnered discussions (or speed dating as we liked to call it), and blog posts. The practice of sharing scientific findings with the general public was especially achieved through the blog posts. We also were able to practice our artistic skills and abstract thinking to reduce complicated ideas into simple drawings or ‘ARTstracts’. Some of us who aren’t as artistically gifted found this to be a difficult component to the blogs!
Because many of the diseases result in degeneration and death, it elicits the need for a cure to be found. Before treatments can be discovered it is important to understand the pathogenesis and pathways that are disrupted during this disease states. Many of them are very complicated and have lots of difficult components and potential causes. We started the class with a foundation on some of the basic pathways involved in cellular metabolism and maintenance and then applied this knowledge each week.
Week after week we were able to tackle difficult diseases with complicated pathways. We would dissect them, question them, investigate them, and discuss them. Our Friday discussions were always interesting, and usually took tangents with deep thought questions and social implications as well as application to our own lives. Being able to discuss the science, and culture of diseases with a group of fellow college students is quite rewarding. Sometimes I think we forget that most people do not wish to discuss the adenylyl cyclase pathway for 70 minutes on a Wednesday. Yet we plugged along tackling one problem at a time – often leaving with more questions than answers. The more we learned, the less we feel we know! While this concept is frustrating, it also leads to inspiration and innovation that I hope we are able to bring to the world one day.
We also split into teams and worked on a community action project which was another way to bridge the gap between science and the general public. My group looked at eating disorders, especially on campus and with athletes. By holding a talk on campus for students, coaches, and teachers we were able to reach an audience that normally would not hear about the role of neurochemistry in eating disorders. It is important to raise awareness, and keep people educated and informed as to what is going on in our bodies.
I felt like this class was a good way to cap off my time at Concordia. It was a good culmination of many of the courses I have taken here at Concordia. I know I personally was able to connect Vaccinology, Anatomy and Physiology, Psychology 111 & 206, Immunology, Microbiology, Religion and Science, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Embryology with this class. On top of that my classmates had other classes and experiences to add to it! That just shows how important it is to have that encompassing experience that can connect many fields and ideas. The ‘liberal arts’ way of thinking is very important in approaching some of the issues we are going to face in the future. Having a wide basis of knowledge allows you to think more critically and connect dots between two seemingly unrelated fields.
As described in detail above this class has hit all the liberal arts goals: to instill a love for learning, develop foundational skills, develop an interdisciplinary understanding, examine culture, ethical, physical and spiritual self-understanding, and encourage responsible participation in the world.
