1. State of the Undergraduate Program in Cognitive Science Spring 2016

2. The State of the Program is … Awesome!

3. Strengths

4. 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

5. Size and Make-up of Majors Small Program –~50 COGS majors (great faculty:student ratio!) By major: –~20 COGS –~20 COGS/CSCI (awesome dual!) –~5 COGS/GSAS –~5 Other COGS dual (MATH, PHIL, PSYC, BMED,…)

6. Weaknesses

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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’ 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.

10. 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

11. Threats

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. Opportunities

16. Subject Areas Cognitive Anthropology Cognitive Technology and Engineering Computational Neuroscience Cognitive and Social Robotics Communication and Interaction Education, Learning, and Cognitive Development Cogno-Ethics

17. CISL@EMPAC Cognitive and Immersive Systems Laboratory

18. Research

19. Undergraduate Research Cog Sci students are strongly encouraged to do hands-on research Undergraduate Research Program (URP) –http://www.rpi.edu/dept/urphttp://www.rpi.edu/dept/urp –Fill out URP form: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 formIndependent Study/URP Registration form for $ (Third Friday of semester: February 12) Research can be used for Senior Thesis

20. 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

21. Other Summer Programs Undergraduate Summer Fellowship Program in Vision Science, University of RochesterUndergraduate Summer Fellowship Program in Vision Science Probably others as well … Usually applications are due sometime in February, so this is a good time to look at summer programs!

22. 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

23. Online Courses Udacity (~40 courses, mostly CSCI, self-paced, wide variety of course lengths)Udacity –Introduction to AI, Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, The Design of Everyday Things Coursera (500+ courses; wide variety)Coursera –Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Computational Neuroscience, Natural Language Processing, etc. EdX (100+ courses, various fields)EdX Possibility of getting 1-2 credits Independent Study for successful completion of courses (Add Deadline: Friday, 2/5)

24. 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 pageSpeaker Series If you think of a potential speaker, let me know!

25. 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)

26. Paperwork Declare or add Cognitive Science Major –Fill out Change of Major formChange of Major form –Advisor: Bram van Heuveln –Curriculum Coordinator: Betty Osganian (Carnegie 108) 1 credit for lectures –Fill out Independent Study formIndependent Study form 2940/4940 COGS “Issues in Cognitive Science” Senior Thesis –Find thesis advisor –Fill out Thesis Registration formThesis Registration form URP –Fill out URP formURP form –For credit: Fill out Independent Study form as wellIndependent Study form Credits to be determined by project advisor Deadline: course add deadline: Monday, 2/6 –For $: Find faculty member with $! Deadline: Friday, 2/10