jrlewis's blog

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head,  ‘Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,’ thought Alice; ‘only as its asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind, (Carroll, 68). 

How did this pathetic creature, the Dormouse, come to occupy a place in a fantastic tea party with Alice James, Emily Dickinson, Margaret Fuller, and Myrtha?  What might a much abused, semiconscious mammal contribute to the conversation?  What function might this character serve in fleshing out Susan Sontag’s portrayal of Alice James?

Scientists, physicians, and patients use metaphors to understand the complex condition called cancer.  These metaphors direct the process of research and treatment.  It is sometimes useful to make explicit existing metaphors and their problems and to suggest new metaphors that might overcome them.  Thinking of cancer in evolutionary rather than military terms offers new possibilities in connection both with research and treatment.

Cancer as a Metaphor:

Senior Seminar in Biology and Society
November 10, 2009
Julia Lewis

Senior Seminar in Biology and Society
October 20, 2009
Julia Lewis

I would like to explore the role of society in current understandings of insomnia as a disease, symptom, or social construct.  To that end, I chose a broad range of readings including cultural, medical, and scientific perspectives on insomnia and sleep.  Hopefully these readings will help inform a conversation about the significance of sleep and its absence in human beings.

(Please download the full text pdfs of the articles)

role of sleep

Senior Seminar in Biology and Society

September 15, 2009

If you were depressed, what would you do?  Talk to a friend?  Tell a therapist?  Ask a psychiatrist for medication?  Learn meditation?  Begin practicing Buddhism?

All of these are normal reasonable responses to depression.  However, there are many more potential reactions based on religion, medicine, and individual preference.  Some are better researched, cheaper, safer, more private, or more socially acceptable in a given society.  It is beyond the scope of this paper to provide a complete list of treatment options and their relative merits.  The purpose of this work is to discuss one specific alternative remedy for depression, its neurobiological and psychological mechanism of action, horseback riding. 

In their book “Animals Make Us Human,” Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson raise and attempt to answer the question: “what does an animal need to be happy?” (1).  They discuss the state of household pets, animals used in food production, and wildlife.  Their primary focus is the mental state of an animal inhabiting a human manipulated environment.  In order to measure an animal’s mental state, they assume a specific relationship between the brain and behavior.

“Who need be afraid of the merge?
Undrape… you are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded,
I see through broadcloth and gingham whether or no,
And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless… and can never be shaken away.” (Whitman 26)

“Written on the [brain] is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulations of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like Braille.” (1)

In this paper, I would like to explore the origin of the writing on the human brain from a neurobiological perspective.  Neurobiology can provide us with information about the material nature of the brain.  After developing an understanding of the brain, I would like to consider the implications for learning and teaching. 

Julia Lewis
Professor Dalke

“What would happen if you somehow came upon or created a dollop of universal acid? …  Little did I realize that in a few years I would encounter an idea-Darwin’s idea-bearing and unmistakable likeness to universal acid: it eats through just about everything traditional concept, and leaves in its wake a revolutionized world-view, with most old landmarks still recognizable, but transformed in fundamental ways.”  (Dennett 63)