After School Workshops
At 4 p.m. on a warm spring day in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, 20 junior and senior high school students from Senn High School sat in a science lab doing the last thing most people would suspect – debating the merits of training doctors how to perform surgeries in virtual reality as opposed training them on real human bodies.
They had veered into topic in response to questions posed by two professors from Loyola University Chicago - Bill Rochlin, an associate professor of development neurobiology, and Joe Vukov, associate professor of philosophy.
The group came together for this meeting, and several others during spring of 2024, after The Dana Foundation, a private philanthropy that explores the connections between neuroscience and society, awarded Loyola University Chicago a $1 million grant to create the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society.
The two-year initiative includes a student-focused, interdisciplinary "train the trainers" approach to neuro education within the Chicagoland community. The program aims to create a pipeline to neuroscience careers by developing STEM interest among middle and high school students.
The topic of each after school session changed every week. During the session led by Rochlin and Vukov, students used virtual reality headsets themselves to experience what it’s like to be in the International Space Station. “It shows them the concept of weightlessness,” Vukov said. “Our overarching questions to explore for the day were, ‘Is doing things in virtual reality as valuable as doing them in real life? If someone were to live in virtual reality, would they be missing out? What makes for a good life, and how does technology contribute to or take away from that?’”
Their responses to these questions surprised Vukov. “They really didn’t think doing things in virtual reality is as good as experiencing things in real life,” he says. “We often think about Gen Z as being really into technology. But they’re skeptical.”
The high school students who finished the spring workshop series continue into a compensated, Summer Research and Professional Development Experience (Summer ETHOS) held on the grounds of Loyola University Chicago. For eight weeks, they’ll work in labs alongside other students and faculty, attend workshops and learn about STEM careers.
In the fall, the high school students, under the guidance of faculty associated with the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society, will hold sessions about neuroscience and society for middle schoolers in the community.
Next spring, the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society will select different students from Senn High School to participate and start the cycle again.
“Most people are very curious about the brain. The brain is how we decide what makes life worth living,” Rochlin says. “That’s why neuroscience is the perfect way to get people excited about science and STEM.”
At 4 p.m. on a warm spring day in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, 20 junior and senior high school students from Senn High School sat in a science lab doing the last thing most people would suspect – debating the merits of training doctors how to perform surgeries in virtual reality as opposed training them on real human bodies.
They had veered into topic in response to questions posed by two professors from Loyola University Chicago - Bill Rochlin, an associate professor of development neurobiology, and Joe Vukov, associate professor of philosophy.
The group came together for this meeting, and several others during spring of 2024, after The Dana Foundation, a private philanthropy that explores the connections between neuroscience and society, awarded Loyola University Chicago a $1 million grant to create the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society.
The two-year initiative includes a student-focused, interdisciplinary "train the trainers" approach to neuro education within the Chicagoland community. The program aims to create a pipeline to neuroscience careers by developing STEM interest among middle and high school students.
The topic of each after school session changed every week. During the session led by Rochlin and Vukov, students used virtual reality headsets themselves to experience what it’s like to be in the International Space Station. “It shows them the concept of weightlessness,” Vukov said. “Our overarching questions to explore for the day were, ‘Is doing things in virtual reality as valuable as doing them in real life? If someone were to live in virtual reality, would they be missing out? What makes for a good life, and how does technology contribute to or take away from that?’”
Their responses to these questions surprised Vukov. “They really didn’t think doing things in virtual reality is as good as experiencing things in real life,” he says. “We often think about Gen Z as being really into technology. But they’re skeptical.”
The high school students who finished the spring workshop series continue into a compensated, Summer Research and Professional Development Experience (Summer ETHOS) held on the grounds of Loyola University Chicago. For eight weeks, they’ll work in labs alongside other students and faculty, attend workshops and learn about STEM careers.
In the fall, the high school students, under the guidance of faculty associated with the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society, will hold sessions about neuroscience and society for middle schoolers in the community.
Next spring, the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society will select different students from Senn High School to participate and start the cycle again.
“Most people are very curious about the brain. The brain is how we decide what makes life worth living,” Rochlin says. “That’s why neuroscience is the perfect way to get people excited about science and STEM.”