Seminars in Society and Neuroscience

The Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience (PSSN) program organizes a public series each year on topics of global importance for interdisciplinary mind and brain research. The Seminars in Society and Neuroscience bring together leading experts from neuroscience and other disciplines from the natural and social sciences, the arts, and the humanities. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and postdoctoral fellows from Columbia University and other universities and institutions regularly attend the lecture series each semester. The seminars provide the audience with an opportunity to further their understanding of how different disciplines apply the theories and concepts of neuroscience to advance their research objectives and how neuroscience can benefit from theories that derive from other disciplines. A crucial element of the program’s mission is to generate interest and enthusiasm among members of the public for research pertaining to the mind, brain, and behavior. The seminars are free and open to the public and serve as a platform to engage the local community in thinking about the larger questions of neuroscientific research and its impact on other disciplines.