Intro

I'm back! In more ways than one. This blog has been shamefully neglected, I know. I shall now make up for it by posting all about my recent trip to England. Photos! Stories! Thrills and chills! ...well, not so much, maybe.

SO, to begin. I was offered the chance to earn one elective credit by participating in a week-long course centered around an international conference on the ways in which philosophy and neuroscience can inform one another about the nature of the human mind, as separate from the physical brain. Fascinating stuff! And it's in Oxford. And we don't have to do any actual work above showing up, listening, and arguing (all of which I can do very well). No tests, no research, no papers. ...and it's in Oxford. Got that last bit? Right.

My internal dialogue went something like: "Hmm, let me think abou--" *booked ticket*

Overall, the trip was great. My back did give me trouble at times, (especially during the conference, which consisted of eight back-to-back, hour-long lectures in a conference room with uncomfortable plastic chairs.) Some of the students felt that we should have been given more information about neuroscience in general in the days leading up to the conference; some felt that there were too many questions raised and not enough answers. Personally, I found it to be exactly what I expected. This wasn't a class so much as an opportunity to be exposed to a major debate, discussed by some of the most brilliant minds in several different fields, and to realize that we were almost ready to be part of that debate ourselves. I was thrilled.

All right: stay tuned for day-by-day replays and photos, coming soon!