State of the
Undergraduate Program
in Cognitive Science
Spring 2016
The State of the Program is …
Awesome!
Strengths
Program
• Balanced between 3 primary areas of
cognitive science: philosophy, psychology,
computer science
• Additional expertise in neuroscience and
linguistics
• Computational emphasis fits ‘typical’ RPI
student
• Lots of Research
• Awesome Faculty
Size and Make-up of Majors
• Small Program
– ~50 COGS majors (great faculty:student ratio!)
• By major:
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~20 COGS
~20 COGS/CSCI (awesome dual!)
~5 COGS/GSAS
~5 Other COGS dual (MATH, PHIL, PSYC, BMED,…)
Weaknesses
Some Missing Areas
• Little work being done in:
– Cognitive Anthropology
• How do biological, cultural, linguistic, and social
forces shape the human mind?
– Cognitive Technology/Engineering
• E.g. Brain-Computer Interface, Cognitive Robotics
Limited Course Availability
• Not enough courses/sections offered on a
consistent basis
• Some courses in catalog not offered at all
– Philosophy of AI
– Cognitive Engineering
• Course Conflicts
Senior Thesis Vague
• No clear guidelines for senior thesis
– Students and faculty alike are unclear on process and
requirements
– Danger of ‘cheap’ theses!
• Recommendation
– Senior Thesis ‘Showcase’
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•
•
•
•
Presentation / poster
Get better idea what a good thesis looks like
Incentive to do good work
Something to show for, be proud of, put on resume
Culmination of 4 year study! Try and do junior year research
to feed into senior thesis.
No Professional Development
• No existing network of coops, internships,
alumni, and potential employers
• Working with Career and Professional
Development Center
– Meet with companies
– Quick sheet for employers
– Show sample of student work
Threats
Little Growth
• Relatively stagnant number of Faculty and
Associated Curriculum
– Notable exception: Dr. Marjorie McShane and
Dr. Sergei Nirenburg!
• Number of students that can be supported
is limited
Cognitive Technology
• Especially at this time of growth of ‘smart’
technology, we are in danger of being left
in the dust by more cognitive technology
oriented programs
Philosophy Component in Crisis
• Not being taught:
– 3-4 additional sections of Minds and
Machines
– Introduction to Philosophy of Science
– Knowledge and Rationality
– Philosophy of AI
• Fortunately, Dan Thero has graciously
volunteered to teach Metaphysics and
Consciousness
Opportunities
Subject Areas
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Cognitive Anthropology
Cognitive Technology and Engineering
Computational Neuroscience
Cognitive and Social Robotics
Communication and Interaction
Education, Learning, and Cognitive
Development
• Cogno-Ethics
CISL@EMPAC
• Cognitive and Immersive Systems
Laboratory
Research
Undergraduate Research
• 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 = course add deadline =
February 5)
– Also fill out an Independent Study/URP Registration form
• for $ (Third Friday of semester: February 12)
• Research can be used for Senior Thesis
Summer URP (SURP)
• Competitive program
– Applications reviewed by multiple faculty
• $4000 stipend for 10-week summer
research
• Need to find faculty member willing to
support research efforts during 10-week
period
• Deadline: February 19!
• SURP
Other Summer Programs
• Undergraduate Summer Fellowship
Program in Vision Science, University of
Rochester
• Probably others as well …
• Usually applications are due sometime in
February, so this is a good time to look at
summer programs!
Wednesday Issues in Cognitive
Science Seminar
• 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 5
talks of your choice
– Register for COGS “Issues in Cognitive
Science” at 400 level
Online Courses
• Udacity (~40 courses, mostly CSCI, self-paced,
wide variety of course lengths)
– Introduction to AI, Artificial Intelligence for Robotics,
The Design of Everyday Things
• Coursera (500+ courses; wide variety)
– Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Computational
Neuroscience, Natural Language Processing, etc.
• EdX (100+ courses, various fields)
• Possibility of getting 1-2 credits Independent
Study for successful completion of courses (Add
Deadline: Friday, 2/5)
Speakers This Semester
• March 9, Paul Bello, Head of Interactive Systems, Naval
Research Laboratory
• April 6, Cay Anderson-Hanley, Professor of
Neuropsychology, Union College
• April 20, Robert Sternberg, Distinguished Professor of
Psychology, Psychometry, and Development, Cornell
• May 4, Lee Giles, Penn State
• All other talks this semester are by COGS graduate
students
• For a complete schedule of speakers go to Speaker
Series off of Cognitive Science department home page
• If you think of a potential speaker, let me know!
Overview Research Groups and
Labs
• Linguistic Agents
– (Dr. Marjorie McShane and Dr. Sergei Nirenburg)
• CogWorks Lab
– (Dr. Wayne Gray)
• RAIR Lab
– (Dr. Selmer Bringsjord)
• Sim Lab
– (Dr. Mei Si)
• PandA Lab
– (Dr. Brett Fajen)
• Visual Reasoning
– (Dr. Bram van Heuveln)
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
• 2940/4940 COGS “Issues in Cognitive Science”
• Senior Thesis
– 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, 2/6
– For $:
• Find faculty member with $!
• Deadline: Friday, 2/10