NSB Curriculum
All NSB majors must take 5 core neuroscience courses that provide foundational knowledge and laboratory training. At least 3 of the 5 required core courses must be taken in the Barnard College NSB department; no more than two courses can be taken in other departments for fulfilling these requirements. For many courses, NSB majors have multiple options. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of our discipline, students can select introductory and elective courses offered in other departments either at Barnard or Columbia. Furthermore, students have the option of selecting elective courses in one suggested track – cognitive/behavioral, computational, or molecular.
All classes required for the major must be taken for a letter grade. A grade of C- or better must be earned in all classes required for the major.
The course requirements of the NSB curriculum are listed in the table below.
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5 CORE NEUROSCIENCE COURSES (3/5 must be courses from Barnard NSB Department) |
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Course 1 |
Intro to Neuroscience (NSBV BC1001) |
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Course 2 |
Laboratory in Neuroscience (NSBV BC2001) |
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Course 3 |
Systems & Behavioral Neuroscience (NSBV BC3001) NOTE |
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Course 4 |
Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience (NSBV BC3361) or Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience (BIOL BC3362) NOTE |
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Course 5 |
Statistics & Experimental Design (NSBV BC2002) or Statistics (PSYC BC1101) or Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (PSYC UN1610) or Introduction to Statistics (STAT UN1101) or Calculus-based Introduction to Statistics (STAT UN1201) |
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3 INTRODUCTORY COURSES FROM COGNATE DISCIPLINES |
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Biology |
Intro to Cell & Molecular Biology (Lect & Lab; BIOL BC1502 & 1503) |
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2 courses (1 lect; 1 lect+lab) from any of the following: |
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Biology |
Intro to Organismal/Evolution Biology (Lect & Lab; BIOL BC1500 & 1501) |
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Chemistry |
General Chemistry (Lect & Lab; CHEM BC2001 & 2012) |
| Computer Science |
An Introduction to Computational Thinking (Lect & Lab; COMS BC1016 & BC1017), Intro to Information Science (COMS W1001), Computing in Context (COMS W1002), or Intro to Computer Science/Programming in Java (COMS W1004) |
| Physics |
Mechanics (Lect PHYS BC2010; Lect & Lab PHYS BC2001), Electricity & Magnetism (Lect PHYS BC2020; Lect & Lab PHYS BC2002), General Physics I (UN1201) |
| Psychology |
Introduction to Psychology (Lect & Lab; PSYC BC1001 & 1010) |
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3 ELECTIVES (the list of ~75 approved courses is shown below) |
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Course 1 |
3000-level seminar |
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Course 2 |
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Course 3 |
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RESEARCH SEMINAR |
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Senior Research Seminar (NSBV BC3593-4) or Neuroscience Guided Research (NSBV BC3591-2) or Neuronal Circuits (NSBV BC3590) |
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NOTE: The prerequisites of Systems and Behavioral Neuroscience (NSBV BC3001), Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience (NSBV BC3361), and Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience (BIOL BC3362) include (a) Introduction to Neuroscience (NSBV BC1001) and (b) Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology (Lect & Lab; BIOL BC1502 & 1503).
