How do people maintain a sense of well-being in their lives? Each person’s path to well-being in body and mind is unique—arising from an awareness of his or her needs, goals, and what each find fulfilling. The Well-being minor includes a wide variety of courses that explore the nature of what it is to be human and to orient oneself in the world, to have relationships, make decisions, be creative, and make discoveries.

The Linguistics minor offers a scientific and applied approach to the study of human language, highlighting the endlessly surprising nature of this sophisticated mode of communication. Students who complete this minor will be prepared to use creative problem-solving skills for linguistic investigation and understand linguistics as a scientific discipline as distinct from language-related skills such as foreign language learning or being a good writer.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming pervasive in our lives, and affects us in ways both obvious and subtle. This minor will prepare students to think intelligently about the field.

Students come to learn practical AI techniques as inspired by Cognitive Science theory and viewpoints, and apply them to real-world problems.

Students will also be trained to reflect on the extent on limits on the possibilities of AI, how it compares and contrasts with natural intelligence, and what ethical and societal impacts AI has or may have.

This minor focuses on the nature of reasoning and formal systems, and the relations they bear on the study of mind and consciousness whether natural or artificial (artificial intelligence, AI).

The customized minor is designed for students who want to sample a variety of topics within psychology or select a set of courses that share a common theme. Students will learn how behavior and thought are influenced by cognitive, emotional, developmental, social, and environmental factors, and how to apply psychological principles.

This minor is designed for students who want to gain proficiency in research methods and statistics as they are applied to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

The Minor in Philosophy allows the interested student to attain a foundation in philosophy that will complement any academic major.

The doctoral program in Cognitive Science was launched in 2003 with the aim of making seminal contributions to the field by training the next generation of world-class cognitive scientists.  In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of cognitive science, this program trains students to integrate theories, methods, and tools from a variety of fields.