MIT senior takes on double major in brain and cognitive sciences plus theater arts
Abra Shen didn’t expect to graduate from MIT with a theater degree, but she couldn’t resist adding theater arts to her major in brain and cognitive sciences when the opportunity presented itself. In fact, while the theater program at MIT has existed for a number of years, she will be MIT’s first official theater arts major. During the past four years, Shen has pursued both science and theater in equal parts, and whether she is helping cancer patients transition to life after treatment or directing a musical, she does not hesitate to throw herself completely into whatever she is doing. Exploring neuroscience and medicine Shen, who grew up in Toronto, Ontario, was in middle school when she came across a book called Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind that jump-started her interest in neuroscience. In particular, she was fascinated by neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran’s descriptions of how...