New Projects Made Possible by Arts and Neuroscience Building

Completed this Summer, the Crescent Center for Arts and Neuroscience (CCAN) is a great addition to Trinity’s campus, offering new opportunities to students of all majors. The new building includes an art gallery, laboratories and testing spaces, and a student-designed studying area.
Both Director of the Trinity Neuroscience Program Professor Sarah Raskin and the President of Trinity’s National Honors Society for Neuroscience (Nu Rho Psi) Christy Chan ’17 agree that this new space has been needed for a long time. Professor Raskin says that the fundraising for the building began several years ago to “provide a central location for the Neuroscience program,” as it had always been difficult for students and faculty to “feel any cohesion” when the program was spread across campus. Chan, whose research focuses on Electroencephalography (EEG), recalls that before the CCAN was built, her space to work in was roughly the size of a closet and was tucked into the basement of The Life Science Center (LSC). Now, Chan is excited to have her own space in CCAN that is dedicated to EEG research and is happy to “have that recognition” from the Neuroscience department and Trinity on the exciting work that is being done.

For the faculty, CCAN allows professors to continue and expand their work in areas such as addiction, autism, brain injury, attention and decision-making, psycholinguistics, and consciousness by providing more space for testing patients. Additionally, Professor Raskin adds that through a new program with the Neuroscience Institute at Hart- ford Healthcare, “the new building will allow us to reach out to the community for our research on autism, brain injury, and individuals with cochlear implants.”

In addition to the new Neuroscience op- portunities, CCAN has a lot to offer to all Trinity students. Professor Raskin notes that there is a Psychology Research Design and Analysis course being offered in one of their new computer classrooms this term. The art gallery and the new art studios are also great additions to the building. Chan adds that this unique combination of the Arts and Neuroscience in one space “is probably something you could only get at a Liberal Arts college.” Additionally, a lot of student effort went into designing the new studying area, making it a great space for students of all majors to enjoy.

Overall, both faculty and students are very excited about the new building. Professor Raskin adds that she “can’t wait to see all the exciting work that comes out of the new labs,” and is so happy that at “any time of the day or night I got into the building, I see students taking advantage of it.”