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Undergraduate Studies in
Cognitive Science
Update
February 3, 2010
B.S. in Cognitive Science
Approved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Quick approval by Provost, President,
Board of Trustees, and New York State
• Day of Celebration?!?
• Students can now declare Cognitive
Science as major or add as dual major
Curriculum for BS in Cognitive
Science
• Basic Math /Science
– Calc. I + II, Discrete Structures or Diff. Eq.
– Comp Sci I, Data Structures, Intro to Algorithms
– Intro to Biology
• 10 core courses:
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Minds & Machines
Introduction to Cognitive Science
Introduction to Logic
Experimental Methods and Statistics
Cognitive Psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Cognitive Modeling / Programming for AI and Cog Sci
Sensation and Perception / Structure of Language
Phil of AI / Knowledge and Rationality / Metaphysics & Consciousness
• 2 Electives
– Cog Sci related courses from PHIL, PSYC, CSCI, and a few others)
• Undergraduate Thesis
Possible Dual Majors
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COGS / CSCI
COGS / MATH
COGS / GSAS
COGS / PSYC
COGS / PHIL
COGS / PHYS?
COGS / COMM?
COGS / BIOL??
COGS / CSE??
COGS / BMED??
COGS prefix
• Cognitive Science related courses will be
listed under COGS
• Please know that the COGS prefix is not
going to count towards either Humanities
or Social Science credit.
– If a course has a Humanities component, we’ll
cross-list it with PHIL. If a course has a Social
Science component, we cross-list with PSYC
Minors
• No minors have been defined (yet) for COGS.
• We need to think about this:
– What concentrations?
• Artificial Intelligence? Cognitive Technology?
• Cognitive Modeling?
– Which courses and how many?
• Remember we do have Cog Sci related minors:
– PSYC: minor in Cognition
– PHIL: minor in Logic, Computation, and Mind
Other Concentrations
and Programs
• GSAS has Cognitive Science concentration
– Contact: Elizabeth Large
• IT has Cognitive Science track (as well as
Psychology track)
– Contact: Bram van Heuveln
• 5 year Masters in Management in Technology
Commercialization and Entrepreneurship
program with Cognitive Science track
– Contact: Jeff Durgee
• 5 year Co-Terminal (M.S. and B.S.) degree
program
– Contact: Brett Fajen
Minds & Machines Program
• Used to serve as undergraduate Cognitive
Science program
• Will get more narrow (original) focus, and
bring ‘Machines’ back in its vision.
• Program in “Cognitive Technology”:
– Artificial Intelligence
– Cognitive Robotics
– Synthetic Characters
• Students “joining” the “program” will be
expected to take certain specific courses
and engage in undergraduate research,
mostly in RAIR lab.
M&M Seminar
• After this semester, the 1 credit “M&M
Seminar” will either be discontinued, or it
will follow more the format of the graduate
seminar:
– Read paper beforehand
– Generate Question
– Write 1 paper
– Register for “Issues in Cognitive Science” at
400 level
– Restricted to COGS majors?
Undergraduate Research
• Cog Sci students are strongly encouraged to do handson research
• Undergraduate Research Program (URP)
– http://www.rpi.edu/dept/urp
– Fill out URP form:
• You have to write a 500+ words proposal!
• for course credit (deadline: 2/8)
– Also fill out an Independent Study/URP Registration form
• for $ (deadline: 2/12)
– Summer URP:
• $3500 stipend for 10-week summer research under guidance of
professor
• Deadline of Application: February 19
• Research can be used to do Senior Thesis
LEGO Robotics
• The Center for Initiatives in Pre-College
Education (CIPCE) is looking for students
to work with local middle and high school
students in LEGO Robotics activities.
– Possibility of full-time summer jobs!
– Contact: Melissa Hershey
Research Assistantship - Human Learning,
Video Games and Brain Plasticity
• Brain and Vision Laboratory, department of Brain and
Cognitive Sciences, U. of Rochester, Rochester NY
• Two-year research assistantship to study the effects of
video game playing on decision making, cognition and
transfer of learning
(www.bcs.rochester.edu/people/daphne/).
– designing/programming experiments,
– scheduling/testing subjects,
– analyzing data (behavioral, eye tracking and brain imagingMRI).
• For those interested in gaining experience in the field
before entering a graduate program.
• Contact: Daphne Bavelier at U. Rochester
Paperwork
• Declare or add Cognitive Science Major
– Fill out Change of Major form
– Advisor: Bram van Heuveln
– Curriculum Coordinator: Betty Osganian (Carnegie 108)
• 1 credit for lectures
– Fill out Independent Study form
• 200/400 PHIL/PSYC “Minds and Machines Seminar”
• Senior Thesis/Capstone Project
– Find thesis advisor
– Fill out Thesis Registration form
• URP
– Fill out URP form
– For credit:
• Fill out Independent Study form as well
• Credits to be determined by project advisor
• Deadline: course add deadline: Monday, 2/8
– For $:
• Find faculty member with $!
• Deadline: 2/12