A little rain this afternoon surprised me because I thought November was the dry season and did not bring any rain gear. It would be great if this rain clears the air.
Each day at the Science for Monks workshop is divided into periods. Breakfast is served at 8 am, lunch at 1 pm and dinner at 7 pm. All food here is vegetarian and everyone eats the same food in a cafeteria (the mess). Classes are divided into four sessions. Session 1 runs from 9 am to 10:30 am; Session 2 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm; Session 3 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm; Session 4 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. I lecture for one or two sessions each day and help the monks construct science boxes for another session each day. Today during lecture we finished the discussion of the brain anatomy and tomorrow we will talk about the neuron and neurotransmission.
Chai (tea) time occurs in between each class when everyone goes back to the cafeteria for tea mixed with milk and spices. The monks also use this time to get on the Internet! We have one wireless Internet connection in a room near the classrooms. However, the wireless signal does not travel very far. Many of the monks have cell phones and computers (and Facebook pages), so everyone has to gather just outside the room to use the Internet.
Yesterday afternoon from 4:30-5:30 pm, I held "office hours." About 12 monks showed up and we formed a circle of chairs. The monks fired off questions they had about lecture material. This gave me a chance to expand on several topics that were not discussed in class. The monks are very interested in learning how western science has come to understand the brain and I have a lecture prepared about neuroscience methods including recording techniques, cell staining and brain imaging. The monks also shared stories about people they knew who had neurological problems. One monk mentioned a man at his monastery who could understand language but could not speak. Although we could not diagnose this man's disorder, we talked about Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia and the brain areas involved with language.
Chai (tea) time occurs in between each class when everyone goes back to the cafeteria for tea mixed with milk and spices. The monks also use this time to get on the Internet! We have one wireless Internet connection in a room near the classrooms. However, the wireless signal does not travel very far. Many of the monks have cell phones and computers (and Facebook pages), so everyone has to gather just outside the room to use the Internet. Yesterday afternoon from 4:30-5:30 pm, I held "office hours." About 12 monks showed up and we formed a circle of chairs. The monks fired off questions they had about lecture material. This gave me a chance to expand on several topics that were not discussed in class. The monks are very interested in learning how western science has come to understand the brain and I have a lecture prepared about neuroscience methods including recording techniques, cell staining and brain imaging. The monks also shared stories about people they knew who had neurological problems. One monk mentioned a man at his monastery who could understand language but could not speak. Although we could not diagnose this man's disorder, we talked about Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia and the brain areas involved with language.
No comments:
Post a Comment