ANDREI A. BUCKAREFF, Ph.D., Co-Director
KIMERY LEVERING, Ph.D., Co-Director
Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary program that offers students the ability to study the nature of cognition and its importance in our lives. All students take four foundation courses (Introduction to Psychology, Philosophical Perspectives, Foundations of Cognitive Science, and Moral Cognition) and four distribution courses. The distribution courses come from Anthropology, Biology, Computer Science, English, Mathematics, Philosophy, and Psychology. In fulfilling the distribution requirement, students must take courses in at least three of those disciplines. Of the courses in the distribution requirement, no more than one course can be at the 100-level, at least two courses must be 300-level or above, and no more than two courses (which must be 300-level or above) can be from the student’s major field of study. Coursework for the Minor must be completed with a C average.
The Minor is appropriate for students interested in exploring different dimensions of cognition, including but not limited to the neurobiological underpinnings of cognitive processes, the role of cognition in the production of purposeful behavior and in making moral judgments, and cognition in non-human animals and computers. The Minor will also be useful in preparing interested students for graduate work in any of the various cognate disciplines that together comprise the field of cognitive science.
