1. Undergraduate Studies in Cognitive Science
Fall 2019

2. News

3. Graduating and Incoming COGS majors
We had 13 (a record!) graduating COGS majors last spring:
2 straight COGS
9 COGS/CSCI duals
1 COGS/PSYS dual
1 COGS/ITWS dual
We have 10 incoming COGS students

4. Make-Up COGS Majors 63 COGS majors (35 male, 28 female) By year:
Exact same (ties record!) numbers as last year
By year:
15 seniors
21 juniors
18 sophomores
10 freshmen
By major:
COGS: 29
COGS/CSCI: 29
COGS/MATH: 3
Other duals: 3 (PHIL, STS, BFMB)

5. New Faculty John Milanese, Lecturer in Philosophy
Minds and Machines
Philosophy of Science
Ethics of AI
Critical Thinking
Inductive Logic (?)
Ben Weissman, Lecturer in Linguistics
Introduction to Linguistics
Introduction to Cognitive Science

6. Curriculum

7. Old Curriculum for BS in Cognitive Science (before 2019)
Basic Math /Science
Calc. I + II
Comp Sci I, Data Structures, FOCS, Intro to Algorithms
11 core courses:
Minds & Machines
Introduction to Cognitive Science
Introduction to Logic
Experimental Methods and Statistics
Cognitive Psychology
Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
Introduction to Linguistics
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Cognitive Modeling
Sensation and Perception
Metaphysics & Consciousness
2 Electives
Cog Sci related courses from PHIL, PSYC, CSCI, and a few others
Undergraduate Thesis

8. New Curriculum for BS in Cognitive Science (2019+)
Basic Math /Science
Calc. I + II
Comp Sci I, Data Structures, FOCS, Intro to Algorithms
9 11 core courses:
Minds & Machines
Introduction to Cognitive Science
Introduction to Logic
Experimental Methods and Statistics I
Cognitive Psychology
OR Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
Introduction to Linguistics
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
OR Cognitive Modeling
Sensation and Perception
Metaphysics & Consciousness OR Philosophy of Science
2 Electives
Cog Sci related courses from PHIL, PSYC, CSCI, and a few others
Undergraduate Thesis

9. Templates COGS List of Requirements COGS 4 year Template COGS / CSCI
COGS / MATH
COGS / GSAS
COGS / PSYC
COGS / PHIL
COGS / ITWS
COGS / BIOL
COGS / BMED
COGS / CSYS (very tight, but can be done!)
COGS / COMM?

10. Minors All 16 credits (for details on all programs, see Catalog)
Cognitive Science minor
Introduction to Cognitive Science
“Mind, Brain, and Intelligence” Pathway + 1 more course
Psychological Sciences minor
General Psychology
Research Methods
“Understanding Human Behavior” Pathway + 1 more course
Logic, Computation, and Mind minor
Introduction to Logic
“Logical Thinking” Pathway + 1 more course
Linguistics minor
Introduction to Linguistics
At most one foreign language course
“Linguistics” Pathway + 1 more course

11. Other Concentrations and Programs
GSAS has Cognitive Science concentration
Contact: Dr. Ralph Noble
ITWS has Cognitive Science track (as well as Psychology track)
Contact: Dr. Bram van Heuveln
MGMT: 5 year Masters in Management in Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship program (Cognitive Science track)
Contact: Dr. Jeff Durgee
COGS: 5 year Co-Terminal (M.S. and B.S.)
Contact: Dr. Wayne Gray

12. Online Courses Udacity (pretty technical, self-paced)
Introduction to AI, Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, etc.
Coursera (wide variety)
Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Computational Neuroscience, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Machine Learning, etc.
EdX (~70 courses, various fields)
I can give Independent Study credits (number of credits depending on work load) for successful completion of these courses (Add Deadline: Friday, 9/13)

13. Study Abroad
RPI has a Study Abroad exchange agreement with the University of Sussex (U.K.) as well as the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), both of which have excellent cognitive science programs.
Study Abroad Informational Sessions:
Wednesday, September 11 at 12:00
Monday, November 18 at 12:00
All sessions in the Fischbach Room in the Folsom Library
Application deadline for Spring 2020: September 15
Arch Away semester?!

14. Arch Courses typically taught during Arch: Away semester:
Introduction to Logic
Critical Thinking
Research Methods and Statistics I
Behavioral Neuroscience
Cognition and the Brain
Philosophy of Science
Away semester:
Either Fall or Spring works fine with COGS curriculum
Study Abroad
Research w/ COGS faculty
“Individual Learning Experience”
Arch info sessions W 12-1 at Student Hub (4th fl. Sage)

15. Advising

16. Advising There are several people that can help you:
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Helps with content and direction of your studies
Suggest courses based on your career interests
Mandatory Student-Advisor Meeting (SAM)
Staff Advisor: Michelle Riley, Sage 4301
Helps with ‘day-to-day’ issues
Helps get you into courses; get forms signed; can tell you what courses you still need to graduate
Undergraduate Program Director: Bram van Heuveln
All of the above

17. Talks

18. Minds and Machines Monday Night Lectures
All lectures 7-8:20pm in Sage 3303
Open to the Public! Full schedule of lectures

19. Cognitive Science Talks
Wednesdays 12:00-1:30, Sage Pizza!
Most given by RPI Faculty and graduate students
Invited External Speakers for the Semester:
September 11, Dr. Gordon Logan, Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University: Automaticity and Skill Acquisition
September 18, Dr. Arian Ashourvan, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania: “A dynamical systems framework to uncover the drivers of large-scale cortical activity” (Studying tight connection of brain activity and external stimuli)
November 20, Dr. Mark Baker (Linguistics) and Dr. Dean Zimmerman (Philosophy), Rutgers University
For a complete schedule of speakers go to Speaker Series on the Cognitive Science department home page

20. Research

21. Undergraduate Research
Cog Sci students are strongly encouraged to do hands-on research
Undergraduate Research Program (URP)
Fill out URP form:
You have to write a 200 word proposal!
for credit (deadline: same as course Add deadline)
Also fill out Form 4UR
for $ (deadline: 3rd Friday of semester)
Research can be used for Senior Thesis

22. Research Labs / Groups
CogWorks Lab (slides)
Led by Dr. Wayne Gray
Language Endowed Intelligent Agents (LEIA) Lab (slides)
Led by Dr. Marjorie McShane and Dr. Sergei Nirenburg
Social Interaction (SI) Lab (slides)
Led by Dr. Mei Si
Perception And Action (PAndA) Lab (slides)
Led by Dr. Brett Fajen
Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning (RAIR) Lab (slides)
Led by Dr. Selmer Bringsjord
Cognitive Architecture (CogArch) Lab
Led by Dr. Ron Sun
Adaptive Computational Cognition (AdaCog) Lab (slides)
Led by Dr. Chris Sims
Department page to Cognitive Research Labs
Department page to Cognitive Science Research Areas

23. Paperwork Declare or add Cognitive Science Major URP
Fill out Change of Major form
Advisor: Bram van Heuveln
Curriculum Coordinator: Michelle Riley (Sage 4301)
URP
Fill out URP form
For credit:
Fill out Form 4UR as well
Credits to be determined by project advisor
Deadline: course add deadline: Friday, 9/13
For $:
Find faculty member with $!
Office of Undergraduate Education can provide matching funds up to $400
Deadline: …. Friday, 9/13