Personal Information
My interest in Neuroscience was started in my freshman
biology course at Temple. It was the only course I can remember in which
the prof received a standing ovation at the end of his last lecture. He
(Professor Roberts) was a master at dramatically showing evolution's adaptational
tricks as is found in camouflage and mimicry. As is the case with most
freshman majors in psychology, I was initially interested in what made
me and my friends neurotic, but that course planted the seed of the idea
that to understand ourselves we must understand our place in nature.
Teaching in a program like Westminster's forces a scientist
to be a generalist. I deliver lectures on the properties of neuronal membranes
as well as the properties of consciousness. I discuss why people are like
animals, why they are like computers and why they are not like either.
I argue how behavior is controlled by our genes, by our environment and
by our own will. Because I have the opportunity to inter-relate, I can
pass this synthesis on to my students.
The latter is the true joy of my job. My majors do neuroscience
experiments but they are not just running rats. They see how the patterns
seen in simpler systems resonate throughout all behavior - even the most
complex. Seeing and understanding these patterns in the products of their
own work offers more than any mere classroom experience can.
The other dimensions of my life? Two great kids. Aryn 
is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the neuroscience program at Brandeis
University. She has recently receive a Fulbright fellowship and will
be doing research at the University of Paris- Orsay and then will be off
to grad school at
UC-San Diego.
Brian
is
a budding young writer who plays guitar, sax, and piano. He plays lead
guitar and writes his own songs for his blues/rock group, Dr.
Strangelove. He will be attending the University
of Chicago. Margaret, a professor of psychology at Youngstown
State, and I like to travel in the summer (The Southwest, Canada, Pacific
Northwest) and go to concerts - recently developing a taste for opera.
I jog, swim and bicycle enjoying several of the bike trails in this area.
We just took a family trip to Italy
and if you want to see some of the sights just enter
here.
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gittisa@westminster.edu
