The Undergraduate Major in BCSWho is the major for?The major in Brain & Cognitive Sciences offers rigorous but accessible natural science concentrations for students interested in the brain and how it enables us to perceive, to think and to learn. The curricula have two aims:
The curricula provide excellent routes to learn the logic and methods of scientific inquiry, how to reason critically, and provide unique opportunities to engage in real research problems at the frontiers of knowledge. For students seeking a general intellectual qualification, Brain & Cognitive Sciences offers some special attractions. First, the questions studied are inherently interesting and immediately relevant. How do we recognize sounds, and learn our native language? What is the brain doing as we listen to speech, identify a face, or reach for a pencil? How do we remember what happened yesterday or during our childhood? How do these remarkable capabilities develop during infancy, and how does the brain become organized to perform tasks that often exceed the capacity of modern computers? Second, the curricula in Brain & Cognitive Sciences provide a uniquely accessible approach to the logic and methods of scientific enquiry: because the disciplines are relatively young, in many areas of study students are brought quickly to the frontiers of knowledge, where they can become engaged directly on real research problems, learning to reason formally, and to write scientific reports succinctly and fluently. The CurriculaThe department offers two degrees, the Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) in Brain & Cognitive Sciences and the Bachelor of Sciences degree (B.S.) in Brain & Cognitive Sciences.
Both degree curricula are built around a common curriculum that integrates biological, behavioral and computational approaches to the study of perception, language, thinking, learning, and the development of these capacities. Two foundation courses provide a general introduction to the field; one examines the neural machinery that underlies behavior, and the other introduces the domain of cognitive science. Three core courses build on this introduction by providing a fuller exploration of the major scientific problems we study--perception and action, cognition, and language. Finally, a course in Experimental Design and Analysis and a laboratory course provide a solid grounding in the scientific method and prepare students who might choose to undertake major research projects. These courses stress analytical thinking and the laboratory courses also emphasize the development of technical writing skills. Beyond the core curriculum, students pursuing both degrees have considerable freedom to explore special topics that interest them. Students pursuing the B.A. degree take four upper-level elective courses that form a coherent group, or "track." A track can be relatively narrowly focused (for example, on language, artificial intelligence, or development), or it can be broader in scope. Tracks can be drawn from a collection of approved B.A. track themes or assembled by a student with guidance from a faculty member. Students pursuing the B.S. degree similarly take four BCS courses that form a coherent track, but also take two allied field electives that fit into the track (see B.S. track themes), and two additional electives that can be either BCS or related allied field courses. |
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