Articulating the Dual Role of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education: What FUN and the Society for Neuroscience Can Do.

The growth of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Education has been phenomenal. Just using the annual SfN social as a metric, the quantity, scope and sheer energy of the student presentations is a source of tremendous joy for us veterans of the organization. I take tremendous pride in the organization, but I do have a criticism. Through its achievements, FUN is playing a role in creating the job description of a neuroscientist who specializes in undergraduate education. But those of us in this role know that many of our institutions, particularly the smaller ones, have expectations for us that go beyond instructing, training and doing research in our specializations. At liberal arts schools, at least, we also have a role in working with our colleagues in all disciplines to nurture generations of citizens who understand what science contributes and the methodologies that it necessitates. We are also expected to make understood what neuroscience contributes to the understanding of our humanity. As an organization for neuroscientists who play major roles in undergraduate education, I wonder if FUN could do more to assist us in our complete responsibilities. Having served on the Public Education and Communication Committee (PECC) of SfN, a committee which recognizes the obligation that neuroscience has to shape a well informed citizenry, I can envision more avenues of cooperative endeavors between PECC and FUN if more could be done to articulate the dual responsibilities of neuroscientists in undergraduate settings. Already well articulated is our role in providing our students with the technical and intellectual skills for neuroscience careers. Since the Society for Neuroscience is a wonderfully effective scientific society, the synergistic activities of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience have naturally gravitated to the training needs of the science. We provide the foundational training for the well-prepared graduate students that our training programs desire. But SfN recognizes, through PECC, that neuroscience needs not only competent scientists but also a comprehending and supportive public. Because FUN and its membership have focused more on our roles in training future scientists rather than our role in creating an informed citizenry, potential cooperative ventures between what we do as neuroscience educators and the activities of PECC have not been fully explored. The cooperative potential between the FUN and PECC was displayed at the last SfN meeting in Chicago with the awarding of the first SfN-FUN travel award for student initiated Brain Awareness projects. Developed collaboratively by the two groups, the award fits squarely within PECC’s public education mission and activities FUN’s undergraduate students are well prepared to do. I suggest we can do more in the arena of public education. Doing more to spell out our complete roles in our institutions will help. I have a few recommendations to help FUN in this mission and also recommendations to the Society that would enhance the synergy between the two organizations in promoting neuroscience literacy.