PNP Seminar

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 596

'Social cognition' refers to the cognitive mechanisms that underpin an agent's capacity to effectively navigate situations involving other agents. In this seminar, we will consider some classical philosophical questions that implicate social cognition, as well as contemporary cognitive science that illuminates it. Questions considered include: Do we know that others have minds like ours? If so, how? Are categories like 'belief' and 'desire' scientifically respectable, or should they be replaced with alternative categories derived from scientific investigation? Is social cognition primarily a matter of attributing mental states to predict and explain behavior, or do we more often deploy alternative strategies? What structural differences obtain between human and non-human social cognition, and what experimental methods could we use to determine the differences? How does social cognition develop in infants and young children? What can an understanding of social cognition tell us about broader social issues like political polarization? What can recent work in artificial intelligence teach us about social cognition? Prerequisite: PNP major in second semester Junior or Senior standing with a 300-level course in philosophy or PNP, graduate standing or the permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: EN S; AS SSC; FA SSC; AR SSC

Topics in Embodied Communication

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 4140

This course is about listening. We will begin by mediated and unmediated listening with the human auditory system and continue into an exploration of multi-modal listening, focusing on vibration and on somatic attention. We will work in the "studio," which will include a music studio, a dance studio, and the environment. Our investigation will include the study of sensing in more-than-human organisms as well as theoretical perspectives from sound studies, critical improvisation and history of science. The course will encourage the perspective that the practice of listening is a political act of tending to the invisible, the non-normative, and the incomplete.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM

PNP Dissertation Preparation Seminar

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 501

The purpose of this course is to provide a forum for graduate students improve their works in progress. Students will receive feedback on written and oral presentations of chapters of their dissertation, qualifying papers, and prospectuses. Students will circulate their written work in advance for written feedback from other members of the course. Students will also present their own work to the group. All registered participants in the group will also be required to provide written feedback and to participate in group discussions. Prerequisite: P-N-P graduate standing.
Course Attributes:

PNP Seminar

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 595

This research-focused seminar examines recent developments in the scientific and philosophical understandings of pleasure and pain, including their nature, psychological role, and value. Seminar participants read, discuss, present, and research contemporary literature drawn from neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and other relevant fields. Each participant conducts a semester-long research project that culminates in an original final paper. Prerequisite: PNP major in second semester Junior or Senior standing with a 300-level course in philosophy or PNP, graduate standing or the permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: EN S; AS SSC; FA SSC; AR SSC

Grammar and Vocabulary Acquisition

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 467

This course examines theoretical and instructional implications of research on grammar and vocabulary acquisition. Topics include making form-meaning connections during language learning; developmental stages; the role of input and input processing; explicit and implicit methods of grammar instruction; pertinent factors in vocabulary acquisition, such a learning context and processing resource allocation; and comparisons of incidental and direct vocabulary instruction techniques. Major theories of language acquisition (e.g., nativism, emergentism) are critically examined in light of the research presented, and research findings are applied to instructional practices.The Section A 6:00-7:00 PM is a preceptorial for undergraduates.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU BA; AS LCD

Physics of the Brain

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 350

Concepts and techniques of physics are applied to study the functioning of neurons and neuronal circuits in the brain. Neurons and neural systems are modeled at two levels: (i) at the physical level, in terms of the electrical and chemical signals that are generated and transmitted and (ii) at the information-processing level, in terms of the computational tasks performed. Specific topics include: neuronal electrophysiology, neural codes, neural plasticity, sensory processing, neural network architectures and learning algorithms, and neural networks as dynamical and statistical systems. Course grade is based primarily on an individualized term project. Prerequisite: Phys 191-192 or Phys 193-194 or Phys 197-198 or Phys 205-206, or permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: FA NSM; EN TU; EN SU; BU SCI; AR NSM; AS NSM; EN BME T2

Advanced Metaphysics

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 4142

Through readings from both classical and contemporary sources, a single traditional metaphysical concern will be made the subject of careful and detailed analytic attention. Possible topics include such concepts as substance, category, cause, identity, reality, and possibility, and such positions as metaphysical realism, idealism, materialism, relativism, and irrealism. Prerequisites: one course in Philosophy at the 300-level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM

Advanced Epistemology

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 4141

Competing theories of knowledge and belief justification will be considered. Careful attention will be given to selected problems such as skepticism, certainty, foundations, coherence, perception, induction. Prerequisites: one course in Philosophy at the 300-level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM

Conceptual Foundations of Modern Science

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 3581

Where does modern science come from? This course examines the winding paths by which the dominant scientific world-views of the 20th century became established. We will discuss a variety of broad themes: scientific method or methods, revolutionary science, the relationship between science and society, and the aims of science. This course is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of the history of science. Instead, we will focus upon a few key figures - Galileo, Newton, Darwin, - and we will read both primary and secondary literature on their significance to these broad themes. Prerequisites: one course in Philosophy at the 100 or 200-level, or permission of the instructor. Priority given to majors in Philosophy & PNP.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM

Cognition and Culture

PHILOSOPHY-NEUROSCIENCE-PSYCHOLOGY 3383

This course examines the influence of evolved cognitive dispositions (the way natural selection engineered the human mind) on the transmission of cultural knowledge. Dispositions present from early childhood make certain kinds of cultural knowledge particularly easy to acquire, and therefore, culturally stable. We also consider the evidence for differences in cognitive processes triggered by different social environments. Emphasis is on empirical studies and experimental methods in the study of cultural similarity and differences. Prerequisite: Psych 100B, Anthro 160B or permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: EN S; BU BA; AS SSC; FA SSC; AR SSC