Division of Life Sciences

Students & Academics

The Department of Genetics is committed to high quality, innovative undergraduate teaching. As a Department, we have already made many of the curricular changes which are being discussed at other institutions. For example, many educators suggest that teaching and research must become more tightly aligned. We have made that transition. It is our goal to produce the next generation of scientist. That is, we are developing the producers of new knowledge.

Our courses are designed to encourage research and innovation. The two-semester Genetic Analysis course is our "signature course" where students are introduced to the theory’s and concepts of genetics from an experimental and a historical perceptive.

The course is based around four questions.

    "What do we Know?"
    "How do we Know it?"
    "Why do we Care?"
    "What is left to be Learned"

Since Genetics is basically a problem-solving discipline, students in Genetic Analysis explore the concepts and processes by which they can analyze and interpret data. Assigned problems simulate laboratory exercises. Students also learn to read original research articles. By reading historical research papers, they learn to interpret the evidence that support scientific "fact." We will also discuss the scientific, societal, and political implications of genetic research.

All Genetics majors are expected to complete a 3-credit course (Introduction to Research or Quantitative Biology and Bioinformatics). These courses are interactive introductions to research where students carry out a supervised original research project. All our upper-level elective courses are taught by Professors and also share the focus on research. Finally, all majors conduct a minimum of two semesters of research in an active lab. Students discuss their project with other seniors in a two-semester senior research seminar. The final report is written as a scientific paper suitable for publication in a journal such as Cell or Genetics. Students pursuing Departmental honors, or any graduating senior who wishes to do so, present their research as a platform talk at a senior symposium. Every major in the Department now has the research opportunities formerly available to selected honor students.

Students in Genetics join a community of scholars. Students interact with each other and with faculty members and graduate students in their courses and through the active Association of Undergraduate Geneticist. There are also opportunities to interact with Alumni through a Face book site. Our alumni are highly successful in obtaining Ph.D, MD and other advanced degrees and in the scientific workforce.