Wounded soldiers in pinting at Val-de Grace and me
The day before the last day of class, we had a visit to Val-de-Grâce, a military hospital that also has a museum dedicated to military medicine. While I was there, I saw many exhibits about things that we are currently familiar with being around us, like plastic surgery, or prosthesis… It is very interesting that these procedures were initially developed for the wounded soldiers and did not get their cosmetic place in the market until much later.
The casts for plastic surgery at museum of val-de-grace, photo by me
Last weekend I took a stroll towards the Tuileries and since I had already been to the Louvre (though there is still a lot I have yet to see in there since it is so large), I decided to go into the Orangerie museum. It is a building that was originally a sort of green house for the orange trees of the Louvre palace, so it is a much better lit museum than most of the previous ones I have been in.
Me at the Tuileries in front of Arc de Triomphe, photo by Jeremi
This lighting is also very important for the Nymphéas room on the top floor of this museum. This room was originally designed to house the final grand art works of Claude Monet, the Nymphéas, or in English: Water lilies. It is an oval shaped room with one grand tableau on each side, to make a total of 4 works, depicting water lilies as the name suggests. However, the roundedness of the room, the special lighting, and the harmony of the art works have with one another allows you to feel like all four pieces are rather one complete piece, 360 degrees. Continue reading “Blog 4- Trip to Musée de l’Orangerie and Finding Gems from Monet”
The Eifel Tower at night, across the Seine– photo by meThe Eifel Tower and me– photo by me
It isn’t an official trip to Paris if you don’t go and visit the Eifel Tower, and it is arguably most beautiful at night when it is all lit up. This is why I went to see it one night when I felt claustrophobic in the house. The view of the Eifel and the breeze over the Seine if definitely a great study break. However, I am glad I do not live very close to the tower, because it would be rather hard to sleep with all that illumination. With all our technology nowadays, it is a known concern that our sleep schedules are getting thrown off. I am at least happy for the people of this neighborhood that the Eifel uses high temperature yellow light that puts you at ease, and not the cold, blue light that comes of off computer screens, which has been shown to have alerting effects.
The Gates of Hell-Rodin Museum, Photo by meLe Penseur (the Thinker) and me – Rodin Museum, photo by my friend Jeremi
The Thinker has been a representative figure of a man philosophizing about life for many years. But how many of us actually know that this figure was originally made by Rodin for his depiction of Dante’s Gates of Hell? Inferno is an epic that informs the reader of the fates of several different levels of sin and how they are punished, it is also Dante’s way of taking a jab at his contemporaries who have failed to see his genius, by condemning them to hell for their several sins (I can’t help being reminded of Dr. Canavero here, as he also feels disenfranchised (Ren & Canavero, 2017)). My neuroethics class has shown me that as neuroscientists, we tow the line of science and the spiritual beliefs people hold, especially about their selves and the brain. It may be good practice for us to ponder about the next life too, or at least the implications of our future innovations on peoples already held beliefs on the topic.
Citations:
Ren, X., & Canavero, S. (2017). HEAVEN in the Making: Between the Rock (the Academe) and a Hard Case (a Head Transplant). AJOB Neuroscience, 8(4), 200-205. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2017.1392372
The graves of Molière, La Fontaine, and Me, photo by Jeffrey: For me, the most interesting find in the cemetery were the graves of La Fontaine and Moliere. They are great men of literature but until I saw a physical grave for them, I believed them to be characters in the stories they have written. La Fontaine written most of the fables my dad read to me before bed as a toddler and I believe it has formed the basis of my idea of ethics. Also, I remember always having a large dictionary with us whenever my dad was reading me these age-old stories, translated many years ago and including rather old-timey words. So, because of La Fontaine, I have a very extensive Turkish vocabulary (unexpected consequences, I know). I read Molière’s L’Avare (The Miser) in middle school, he is a well-known play-right, and it is also about ethics and personal relationships in comedy form. Isn’t it interesting how literature can help both the moral and language development of a child?
Me at the Musée d’Histoire de la Médicine, photo by Ester: It has been a while since we went to the museum of the history of medicine, but there is one very interesting thing that stayed with me from there: the static electricity generator you see above. It is from the time when electrical shock therapy for severe mental illness was rather popular. But according to our tour guide, whom I believe was a doctor, but I didn’t catch her name, they believed that if a high amount of electricity could fix severe mental illness, then a small amount of electricity can fix minor mental illness, like minor depressive episodes and such… Well you have to respect the math skills of whom ever came up with that. Do you think a Van de Graaff generator will make it to the psychiatrist’s office as a treatment option anytime soon?
The view right in front of the Musée de lHomme, the Eifel tower and me
This Wednesday, after classes, we went to the Musée de l’Homme: the museum of man… This anthropology museum tells the story of the evolution of man and also focuses on the customs and material culture of different cultures. But we were in for a special treat, since the museum was hosting a Neanderthal exhibit. As Neuroscience students, that is most interesting to us, since it allows for a peak into the evolution of the human brain and culture and some speculation into the possible interactions modern humans and Neanderthals might have had. After all, we now have evidence of mating between the two species (Weaver & Roseman, 2005).
Last Saturday night, all together with the NBB Paris group we have gone to watch the national final rugby match at Stade de France, with the intention of learning about possible head injuries the players could acquire and the long tern consequences of having repeated concussions. But we were also there to have some fun and since we knew neither of the teams, we rooted for the team whose flag we found on our seats: Montpellier Hérault Rugby.
My picture with the Montpellier Hérault flag: at Stade de France, photo by me
As a little kid I looked up to my mother and thought that I would also be a veterinarian one day. I had since changed my mind about career choices, but I am still fascinated by the profession and realize that having to be an expert in such a large variety of animals and their organ morphology is not an easy task. I have not however anticipated going to one of the oldest veterinary schools in Paris, École nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort, for my NBB Paris Abroad program.
The trip was actually to the Musée Fragonard, a museum full of anatomical parts of animals (normal and oddities) preserved for the learning of veterinary students as well as the awe of the general public.
It was a fascinating trip and it was also great to recognize that by studying neuroscience in college, I have not completely strayed from the ideal job of 5-year-old Greti, she can still be proud of me, because even though with neuroscience the focus is more on humans, the issues are similar. Continue reading “Blog 1: Day Trip to Ecole Vétérinaire”
