HOME / PROGRAM / FIRST YEAR OF STUDY /

Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum
During their first year, students take a series of graduate-level courses and carry out laboratory rotations that serve as the basis for selection of a dissertation advisor. A faculty Academic Advisor is assigned to each first year class to assist in course selection.  Students must complete three core courses, along with SHBT 301QC (lab visits), and two electives that must be taken within the first two years. The SHBT courses are:
 
G1 Fall: 
SHBT 201: From Sound to Neuron
SHBT 301qc: Speech and Hearing Lab Visits
 
G1 January:
Elective: SHBT 203: Anatomy of Speech and Hearing

Note: this course is required in G1 for students opting to join the SLP track. Students who want to take this elective should plan to take it during G1.
 
G1 Spring:
SHBT 202: Clinical Aspects of Speech and Hearing
SHBT 205: Speech and Hearing: From Neuroscience to Perception
 
The three core courses are normally taken in the first year of study and must be completed by June of G2 year. Students who earn at least three A's and two B’s in the core courses automatically pass the Core requirements. Students who fail to meet this criterion may be assigned a remedy at the discretion of the Curriculum Committee. Successful completion of the core courses is a prerequisite for taking the Qualifying Exam.
 
Additionally, incoming G1 students attend the Summer Boot Camp and Orientation, which is typically offered over the last two weeks of August as the students arrive on campus. The camp is designed to introduce the students to the program with orientation led by SHBT and DMS administrators and provide basic information on topics relevant to the core curriculum, such as auditory neuroscience, acoustics, processing and visualization using Matlab, genetics of hearing, signals and systems, and, phonetics and phonology.. 

Course Descriptions

SHBT 201: From Sound to Neuron
Director: Sunil Puria
Acoustics, anatomy, normal biology, biophsics, physiology and morphology of the middle ear and ineer ear, its sensory innervation and efferent control systems, and the mechanisms underlying sensorineural hearing loss and medical devices used to treat pathology. Material is presented through lectures, laboratory exercises, discussions of the primary literature, and textbooks.
 
Elective: SHBT 203: Anatomy of Speech and Hearing 
Director: Barbara Fullerton
Anatomical dissection of the head, neck, and thorax in human cadavers with an emphasis on structures important for speech and hearing. Lecture topics include the thorax and respiration; structures of the neck, including the larynx and pharynx; the anatomy of the face and jaw; the oral cavity; the cranial cavity; the eye; and the ear. Basic neuroanatomy of the brain is covered, along with cranial nerves and major fiber tracts. Head and neck radiographic imaging is introduced to bridge the gap between gross anatomy and clinical case analysis.
 
SHBT 205:  Speech and Hearing: From Neuroscience to Perception
Director: Anne Takesian
Neural structures and mechanisms that mediate speech and audition, combining perspectives from neurophysiology, psychoacoustics, cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive science. The material is presented via a combination of didactic lectures and laboratories, directed readings, student-led discussions of primary literature, and critical literature reviews. Topics include auditory masking and frequency selectivity, temporal coding, sound localization, neural maps, coding transformations across the auditory system, learning and plasticity, the role of feedback, cochlear implants, effects of hearing impairment on neural representation, musical pitch, speech perception, auditory scene analysis, attention, and auditory working memory.
 
SHBT 202:  Clinical Aspects of Speech and Hearing 
Director: David Jung
An extensive exposure to clinical approaches to speech and hearing disorders as practiced by physicians, audiologists, speech clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, pathologists, and bioengineers. The course includes a series of didactic lectures, as well as extensive observations of patient care in clinic and operating room. Clinical and surgical experience includes observations of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in otology, laryngology, audiology, voice and speech clinic, and vestibular neurology.
 
Additional Required Coursework
 
SHBT 301qc: Speech and Hearing Laboratory Visits
Director: Gwenaelle Geleoc                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Coordinator: Franceny Johnson                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             This Year 1 course consists of blitz talks from SHBT faculty from various affiliated research laboratories. Each session lasts approximately one hour and includes presentations and demonstrations by both faculty and their trainees of ongoing research projects and approaches. The course familiarizes first-year students with the breadth of research opportunities available through Program faculty and helps them choose mentor(s) for research rotations and, ultimately, dissertation research.