Fall 2014

• We had 9 graduating cognitive science majors last spring:
– 3 straight COGS
– 1 COGS/CSCI dual
– 4 COGS/GSAS duals
– 1 COGS/PHIL dual
• We have 7 incoming COGS freshmen
– Largest incoming cohort so far

• 46 COGS majors (27 male, 19 female)
• By year:
– 16 seniors
– 15 juniors
– 8 sophomores
– 7 freshmen
• By major:
– COGS: 19
– COGS/CSCI: 19
– COGS/GSAS: 3
– Other duals: 5 (PSYC,BMED,BIOL,ISCI)

• Basic Math /Science
– Calc. I + II
– Comp Sci I, Data Structures, Foundations of CSCI, Intro to Algorithms
– Intro to Biology
• 10 core courses:
– Minds & Machines / Philosophy of Science
– Introduction to Cognitive Science
– Introduction to Logic
– Experimental Methods and Statistics
– Cognitive Psychology
– Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
– Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
– Cognitive Modeling / Programming for AI and Cog Sci
– Sensation and Perception
– Knowledge and Rationality / Metaphysics & Consciousness
• 2 Electives
– Cog Sci related courses from PHIL, PSYC, CSCI, and a few others
• Undergraduate Thesis

• 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 / PHYS?
• COGS / COMM?

• Cognitive Science minor:
– Introduction to Cognitive Science
– Plus 3 more courses (Minds and Machines counts)
• Possible future minors:
– Cognitive Technology (AI, Cognitive Robotics)
– Cognitive Engineering (Cognitive Modeling)
• Remember we do have Cog Sci related minors:
– PSYC: minor in Cognition
– PHIL: minor in Logic, Computation, and Mind (takes only 1 extra course in addition to COGS courses!)

• GSAS has Cognitive Science concentration
– Contact: Ralph Noble (nobler@rpi.edu)
• ITWS has Cognitive Science track (as well as
Psychology track)
– Contact: Bram van Heuveln (heuveb@rpi.edu)
• MGMT: 5 year Masters in Management in Technology
Commercialization and Entrepreneurship program
(Cognitive Science track)
– Contact: Jeff Durgee (durgej@rpi.edu)
• COGS: 5 year Co-Terminal (M.S. and B.S.) and 7 year
Co-Terminal (PhD and S.B) degree programs
– Contact: Wayne Gray (grayw@rpi.edu)

• Udacity (~50 courses, mostly CSCI, self-paced)
– Introduction to AI
– Artificial Intelligence for Robotics
• Coursera (400+ courses; wide variety)
– Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Computational
Neuroscience, Natural Language Processing, etc.
• EdX (~70 courses, various fields)
• I can give 1-2 credits Independent Study for successful completion of these courses (Add
Deadline: Monday, 9/8)

• RPI has a Study Abroad agreement with the
University of Sussex, that has an excellent
Cognitive Science Program
• Other students have gone to University of
Groningen and University of Nijmegen, both in the Netherlands
• Study Abroad Informational Sessions:
– Thursday, September 4 at 12:15 in the Union, room 3202
– Wednesday, September 10 at 12:15 in the Union, room 3202
– Thursday, September 11 at 8:00pm in the Union, room 3602
– Wednesday, September 17 at 12:15 in the Union, room 3510

• There are several people that can help you:
– Faculty Advisor/Mentor
• Helps with general direction of your studies
– Keeps you on track; Suggests courses based on your interests
• Mandatory Student-Advisor Meeting (SAM)
– Staff Advisor: Betty Osganian, 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

• Dr. Carl Hart, Associate Professor of
Clinical Neurobiology, Columbia
University
• Tuesday, September 30, 2014,
4:00 - 6:00 PM
• EMPAC - Concert Hall
• In the first HASS Inquiry Lecture of the semester, Dr. Carl Hart will discuss his groundbreaking work that sheds new light on common ideas of race, poverty, addiction, and drugs.

• Why Does Consciousness
Dissolve in Chloroform? The
Story of an Enduring Mystery
• Wednesday, November 5, 7pm
• EMPAC Theater
Biophysicist Luca Turin investigates the difference between sleep and the use of anesthesia in our conscious perception of time.

EMPAC
Concert Hall
Friday, August 29
7pm
Ask me for complimentary tickets!!
Part of Ken Jacobs’ Nervous Magic Lantern series of performances,
Time Squared uses projected light, the most basic ingredient of cinema, to create hallucinatory optical effects. Colored slides, a lens, and a spinning shutter are hand manipulated by the artist to animate the patterns reflected onto the screen, creating stereoscopic effects without celluloid or video.

• Dr. Riccardo Manzotti, PhD
Robotics,
• Thursday, December 4, 7pm
• EMPAC Theater
• In this talk, Dr. Riccardo Manzotti, a philosopher, psychologist, and artificial intelligence scholar, will make the case for the view that consciousness spreads beyond the brain, out into the world.

• All lectures 7-8:20pm in Sage 3303
• Open to the Public! Full schedule of lectures
• October 9: Animal Cognition
– Post-Doctoral Student Oliver Layton shows examples of animal cognition
• October 23: RPI Watson Research
– Graduate student Simon Ellis will talk about Watson, RPI’s involvement with Watson, and ‘Cognitive Computing’
• October 30: Moral Robots
– Dr. Selmer Bringsjord will have a philosophical discussion on how to ensure that robots behave morally
• November 6: Unintended Consequences
– John Milanese tries to find ways to deal with unintended consequences … before they happen.

• September 3, Michael Lynch, Media and Communications, RPI
– Mockingbird: An Interactive Musical Agent
• September 17, Sergei Nirenburg, Cognitive Science, RPI
– Intelligent Linguistic Agents
• September 24, Edward Deci, Psychology, University of Rochester
– Effective Performance and Psychological Well-being
• October 8, Edward Gibson, Cognitive Science, MIT
– Language as Rational Inference
• October 15, Marjorie McShane, Cognitive Science, RPI
– Computational Cognitive Modeling of Reference Resolution
• October 22, Walter Boot, Psychology, Florida State
– Video Games to Improve Perceptual and Cognitive Abilities
• October 29, Jonas Braasch, Center for Cognition, Comm. & Culture, RPI
• November 5, Jeff Huang, Computer Science, Brown University
– human-computer interaction and information retrieval
• For a complete schedule of speakers go to Speaker Series off of Cognitive
Science department home page

• It is possible for undergraduates to receive
1 credit through the Issues in Cognitive
Science Lecture Series:
– Write 1 page response paper about talk for 6 talks of your choice
– Register for COGS “Issues in Cognitive
Science” at 200 (for freshmen) or 400 level
– Restricted to COGS majors or dual majors with PHIL or PSYC

• Cog Sci students are strongly encouraged to do hands-on research
• Undergraduate Research Program (URP)
– http://www.rpi.edu/dept/urp
– Fill out URP form :
• You have to write a 500 word proposal!
• for course credit (deadline: 9/8)
– Also fill out an Independent Study/URP Registration form
• for $ (deadline: 9/12)
• Research can be used for Senior Thesis

• Wayne Gray + grad students, CogWorks Lab
• Michael Lynch, PyClarion and Mockingbird
• Dean McDaniel, Social Interaction (SI) Lab
• Marjorie McShane and Sergei Nirenburg,
Computational Linguistics
• John Licato, Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning (RAIR) Lab

• Declare or add Cognitive Science Major
– Fill out Change of Major form
– Advisor: ???
– Curriculum Coordinator: Betty Osganian (Sage 4301)
• 1 credit for lectures
– Fill out Independent Study form
• 200/400 COGS “Issues in Cognitive Science”
• 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, 9/8
– For $:
• Find faculty member with $!
• Deadline: Friday, 9/12