title: An Instructor's Guide to (Some of) the Most Amazing Papers in Neuroscience.
abstract: Although textbooks are still assigned in many undergraduate science courses, it is now not uncommon, even in some of the earliest courses in the curriculum, to supplement texts with primary source readings from the scientific literature. Not only does reading these articles help students develop an understanding of specific course content, it also helps foster an ability to engage with the discipline the way its practitioners do. One challenge with this approach, however, is that it can be difficult for instructors to select appropriate readings on topics outside of their areas of expertise as would be required in a survey course, for example. Here we present a subset of the papers that were offered in response to a request for the "most amazing papers in neuroscience" that appeared on the listserv of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN). Each contributor was subsequently asked to describe briefly the content of their recommended papers, their pedagogical value, and the audiences for which these papers are best suited. Our goal is to provide readers with sufficient information to decide whether such articles might be useful in their own classes. It is not our intention that any article within this collection will provide the final word on an area of investigation, nor that this collection will provide the final word for the discipline as a whole. Rather, this article is a collection of papers that have proven themselves valuable in the hands of these particular educators. Indeed, it is our hope that this collection represents the inaugural offering of what will become a regular feature in this journal, so that we can continue to benefit from the diverse expertise of the FUN community.
authors.affiliation: Augustana College, Rock Island, IL 61201;
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA 90095;
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grisham
authors.affiliation: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213;
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brasier
authors.affiliation: Millersville University, Millersville, PA 17551;
authors.forename: Shawn P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164;
authors.forename: Samantha S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gizerian
authors.affiliation: Augustana College, Rock Island, IL 61201;
authors.forename: Rupa G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106;
authors.forename: Megan H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hagenauer
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Providence, RI 02912;
authors.forename: Monica L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.affiliation: Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035;
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lom
authors.affiliation: Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063;
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Olivo
authors.affiliation: Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267;
authors.forename: Noah J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Sandstrom
authors.affiliation: Augustana College, Rock Island, IL 61201;
authors.forename: Shara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stough
authors.affiliation: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221;
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vilinsky
authors.affiliation: Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02481.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wiest
keywords: classic papers; neuroscience literature; primary sources; scientific literature; teaching