About the Cognitive Science Program
The Cognitive Science Program’s mission is to provide interdisciplinary, high-quality training to undergraduate and graduate students in the science of the human mind that prepares students to tackle global and multicultural challenges.
Cognitive science is the study of how intelligent beings (including people, animals, and machines) perceive, act, know, and think.
It explores the process and content of thought as observed in individuals, distributed through communities, manifested in the structure and meaning of language, modeled by algorithms, and contemplated by philosophies of mind.
Its models are formulated using concepts drawn from many disciplines, including psychology, linguistics, logic, computer science, anthropology, and philosophy, and they are tested using evidence from psychological experiments, clinical studies, field studies, computer simulations, and neurophysiological observation.
Upcoming Events
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Mar
29
Logic Colloquium: Ainsley May (UC Irvine) 2:00pm
Logic Colloquium: Ainsley May (UC Irvine)
Friday, March 29th, 2024
02:00 PM
Zoom
Join us for a talk by
Ainsley May (UC Irvine):
“Meaning in Mathematics: a folkloric account”
Current accounts of meaning in mathematics face a dilemma between triviality and over-specificity. On the one hand, intensional accounts of meaning such as possible world semantics give the trivial result that every mathematical theorem has the same meaning since they are all necessarily true. This triviality is unsatisfactory because we clearly hold some mathematical theorems have different meanings from others. On the other hand, hyperintensional accounts like impossible worlds and structured propositions allow us to distinguish between necessary truths. However, they are so fine-grained that it becomes difficult to uniformly identify the salient semantic features.
In response to this dilemma, I propose an account of mathematical meaning called the folkloric account. On the folkloric account the content of a mathematical theorem is the collection of models, within some reference class of models, that make the theorem true. The appeal of this account is partly that it retains central aspects of world-based accounts, such as evaluation within a model. Yet it overcomes their limitations by incorporating more models to represent different mathematical theories and structures without allowing absolutely every such structure. Here, I introduce the folkloric account and use examples to highlight some of its strengths and identify weaknesses to address in future research. -
Apr
1
‘A Double Life’ with Director & Producer Catherine Masud 4:00pm
‘A Double Life’ with Director & Producer Catherine Masud
Monday, April 1st, 2024
04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
The Dodd Center for Human Rights
About the Film
A Double Life unravels the mystery of Stephen Bingham’s past as a civil rights activist/lawyer and political fugitive, including his alleged involvement in a 1971 prison rebellion that left six people dead. In the aftermath of this incident, he spent 13 years living underground in Europe under an assumed identity, finally returning in 1984 to stand trial. The film presents a multi-layered portrait of a turbulent era and the role of one individual seeking justice for others and later for himself.
Trailer
Speakers
Catherine Masud is an award-winning filmmaker and an Assistant Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Digital Media and Design and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
Stephen Bingham, the protagonist of A Double Life, has dedicated his legal career to providing support and advocacy on behalf of the marginalized and disenfranchised.
Luca Falciola is a lecturer in history at Columbia University and the author of Up Against the Law: Radical Lawyers and Social Movements 1960s-1970s.
Sponsors
This event is supported by the Human Rights Film & Digital Media Initiative, a collaborative venture between the Department of Digital Media & Design and the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs at the Gladstein Family Human Rights, as well as the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages and the Humanities Institute.
Contact Information:
Alex Branzell, Events & Communications Coordinator, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut
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Apr
2
Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Katrina Kish 5:00pm
Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Katrina Kish
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024
05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Manchester Hall
Doctoral Defense Title: Care for Perspective: A Liberatory Virtue Analysis of Trust and Distrust
Department: PhilosophyContact Information:
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Apr
3
Undergraduate Fellows’ Talk: Breanna Bonner and Nathan Howard 2:30pm
Undergraduate Fellows’ Talk: Breanna Bonner and Nathan Howard
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024
02:30 PM - 03:30 PM
Homer Babbidge Library
Breanna Bonner will present on, “‘The Space Between Black and Liberation’: Analyzing Black Women’s Experiences of Intersectional Invisibility Within Liberation Movements.” Her project advisor is Evelyn Simien (Political Science).
Nathan Howard will discuss his project, “Homofascism: The Queering of Hate.” His project advisor is Tracy Llanera (Philosophy).