Transcript UpdatesFall2014 - Cognitive Science Department

Undergraduate Studies in
Cognitive Science
Fall 2014
News
• 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
Latest Numbers
• 46 COGS majors (27 male, 19 female)
• By year:
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16 seniors
15 juniors
8 sophomores
7 freshmen
• By major:
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COGS: 19
COGS/CSCI: 19
COGS/GSAS: 3
Other duals: 5 (PSYC,BMED,BIOL,ISCI)
Curriculum
Curriculum for BS in
Cognitive Science (2013+)
• Basic Math /Science
– Calc. I + II
– Comp Sci I, Data Structures, Foundations of CSCI, Intro to Algorithms
– Intro to Biology
• 10 core courses:
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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
Possible Dual Majors
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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?
Minors
• 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!)
Other Concentrations
and Programs
• GSAS has Cognitive Science concentration
– Contact: Ralph Noble ([email protected])
• ITWS has Cognitive Science track (as well as
Psychology track)
– Contact: Bram van Heuveln ([email protected])
• MGMT: 5 year Masters in Management in Technology
Commercialization and Entrepreneurship program
(Cognitive Science track)
– Contact: Jeff Durgee ([email protected])
• COGS: 5 year Co-Terminal (M.S. and B.S.) and 7 year
Co-Terminal (PhD and S.B) degree programs
– Contact: Wayne Gray ([email protected])
Online Courses
• 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)
Study Abroad
• 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:
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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
Advising
Advising
• 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
Talks
High Price: A Neuroscientist’s
Perspective on Drugs and Society
• 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.
EMPAC Talk
• 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 Event: Time Squared
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.
EMPAC Talk –
The Spread Mind
• 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.
Minds and Machines
Thursday Night Lectures
• 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.
Issues in Cognitive Science
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September 3, Michael Lynch, Media and Communications, RPI
– Mockingbird: An Interactive Musical Agent
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September 17, Sergei Nirenburg, Cognitive Science, RPI
– Intelligent Linguistic Agents
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September 24, Edward Deci, Psychology, University of Rochester
– Effective Performance and Psychological Well-being
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October 8, Edward Gibson, Cognitive Science, MIT
– Language as Rational Inference
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October 15, Marjorie McShane, Cognitive Science, RPI
– Computational Cognitive Modeling of Reference Resolution
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October 22, Walter Boot, Psychology, Florida State
– Video Games to Improve Perceptual and Cognitive Abilities
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October 29, Jonas Braasch, Center for Cognition, Comm. & Culture, RPI
November 5, Jeff Huang, Computer Science, Brown University
– human-computer interaction and information retrieval
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For a complete schedule of speakers go to Speaker Series off of Cognitive
Science department home page
1 Credit for
Issues in Cognitive Science
• 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
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: 9/8)
– Also fill out an Independent Study/URP Registration form
• for $ (deadline: 9/12)
• Research can be used for Senior Thesis
Overview Research Labs
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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
Paperwork
• 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