Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Georgetown College faculty recognize the strength of interdisciplinary studies and how collaboration across disciplines can achieve big results.

One prominent example is the Cognitive Science program. Cognitive science is the study of how knowledge is acquired and used. The discipline combines psychology, biology, linguistics, computer science, physics, math, anthropology, and philosophy.

An interdisciplinary program in cognitive science was first conceived by Professor George Farre, now retired from the philosophy department. He sponsored the first seminar in 1991 and was the program’s first director. The dedication of a core group of interested faculty from both Georgetown College and the Medical Center led to the program offering a minor in 1999. One of those faculty is Dr. Darlene Howard.

The cognitive science program is not associated with a specific department but gathers an interdisciplinary core of faculty research interests and courses. Forty-seven affiliated faculty reside in College departments and seventeen faculty reside in the Medical Center. In addition to Dr. Farre (philosophy), the directors have been Dr. Darlene Howard (psychology), Dr. Paul Portner (linguistics), and the current director is Dr. Josef Rauschecker (physiology and biophysics).

Undergraduate students minoring in cognitive science take two required courses. The first course, offered in the fall, “Introduction to Cognitive Science” (ICOS-201), provides an overview of the conceptual frameworks and methods used in the field. The course is team-taught by several professors, who, in the past, have included Dr. Howard and Chandan Vaidya from the psychology department. Broad questions are examined, such as: What are the neural bases of perceiving and learning? Can machines think? What is the nature of knowledge? How did human intelligence evolve?

In the spring, students register for the second required course, “Research Modules in Cognitive Science” (ICOS-202). Much like the rotations that graduate students experience early in their training, undergraduates learn about faculty research in four modules, each about three weeks long. Several professors from the psychology department have taught modules over the years, including Drs. Rachel Barr, Ben Walker, Vaidya, and Howard. In the spring of 2006, these modules included “Infant Cognition” (Dr. Barr, psychology), “Seeing Language in the Brain” (Drs. Michael Ullman and Matthew Walenski, neuroscience), and “First, Second, and Bilingual Language Acquisition” (Dr. Kendall King, linguistics). Research experiences in ICOS-202 are both at the main and medical campuses.

To complete a minor in cognitive sciences, students are required to take both ICOS-201 and ICOS-202 plus additional course in the cognitive sciences, totaling 18 credits. Students are encouraged, although not required, to complete a senior research thesis.

The cognitive science program has blossomed into a popular minor for psychology majors, as well as majors in many other departments, including biology, chemistry, and computer science. “We had so many students signing up for the spring semester core course that we did not have room for all of them,” said Dr. Howard. “We decided to include the fall course as a prerequisite to reduce the numbers and strengthen the backgrounds of the students enrolled . . . many students want to take the course a second time.”

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