One beautiful aspect of the Cognitive Science Major is the broad spectrum of areas and topics within those areas that COGS students can explore within the thirty hours required for the major.

Topical or New COGS Approved courses being offered JTerm 2023 include:

PSYC 4500: The Neuro Experience

This course will explore the physiological and psychological components of neurological disorders, focusing on changes in cognition and delving into how a patient might experience a disease process. Class content is rooted in basic neuroscience and informed by the patient experience. We will consider neurological disorder processes through different neurolenses, including the experience of the cell, the brain, the body, the caregiver/family, the community, and society. 

*Note:  PSYC 4500-Neuro Experience may be used to fulfill either the Cognitive Psychology or the Neuroscience area requirement, but not both. Credits: 3  Instructor: Erin Clabough (To learn more about Dr. Clabough's use of innovative teaching tools and methods in a similar class--click here )

PSYC 4500: Research Methods in Developmental Human Neuroscience

This course offers an introduction to and practical experience with developmental human neuroscience techniques. The course will be laboratory based and will give the students experience with collection and analysis of neuroscientific data. Our primary goal will be to understand how human neuroscience techniques may inform our understanding of the developing brain. We will focus on three techniques: electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We will consider each technique in detail through brief course lectures, readings, and laboratory demonstrations with particular emphasis on implementing these techniques with developing populations. Students will leave the course with an understanding of methodological considerations for data collecting involving developmental populations, and hands-on experience.

*Note:  PSYC 4500-Research Methods in Developmental Neuroscience may be used to fulfill either the Cognitive Psychology or the Neuroscience area requirement, but not both.  Credits: 3  Instructor: Meghan Puglia (To learn more about Dr. Puglia's pioneering research click here )

Past COGS Approved Classes Highlighted in UVA Today include:

PHIL 2500-01 “How To Think About Weird Things” taught in Summer Session 2022 by Philosophy Graduate Student Kirra Hyde is a great example of the variety of philosophy classes within the COGS major that students are able to explore. “Do you believe in flying saucers? Mind reading? The ability to move objects without touching them? Should you believe in anything without proof? And will thinking about things outside your normal experience then help you redefine what you understand about more “normal” things?”  Click here to read about the class.

PSYC 4500-002 “The Neurodegenerative Experience” taught in Spring 2021 by Psychology Professor Erin Clabough—aimed to understand what it is like to live with a neurological disorder. “Each of the course’s three units focused on one of the most well-known diseases: Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s. The course focused on analyzing each from the level of the cell and brain, and from the perspectives of the patient, family, caregiver and community. As a way of uniting micro- and macroscopic perspectives, students were split into three subgroups, each tasked with creating a five-minute “empathy kit” video portraying what it is like to live with one of the disorders. The videos take viewers through a day of activities that mimic life as a patient.” Want to read more? Click here