Monthly Archives: May 2011

Deconstructing Equality-versus-Difference: Or, the Uses of Poststructuralist Theory for Evolutionary Neuroscience

Last week, I attended a 2 ½ day workshop hosted by the Emory Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture. The main research question motivating the workshop was: how is the human brain distinct from that of other primates (in other words, what are the distinct structural and functional capacities or “specializations” of the human brain)? Part of the focus of the workshop was on methodology – how do different scientific methods (i.e. brain imaging) work and how can they be used to answer questions about human specialization? Part of the focus was on content – what specific specializations have been identified through the use of different scientific methods? There was a lot of information presented; these are just a few highlights:

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For-Profit Education

Sporadically, I teach a GRE prep course for Kaplan. I enjoy teaching the class – I like to think that by preparing students for the GRE, I am helping them to achieve their educational and career goals. I see improvement in my students over the course of the class, and I feel fairly confident that most, if not all, of my students benefit from the class. There is evidence that SAT prep classes may not be effective, but I don’t think anyone has conducted the kind of study (impact evaluation using randomized trials) that could really determine effectiveness. I am not aware of independent studies evaluating the effectiveness of GRE prep programs.

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