Dec 06, 2025  
2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog 
    
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2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog

Cognitive Science

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Arising as a named field in the middle of the 20th century, Cognitive Science (CogSci) is the interdisciplinary investigation of the mind. It seeks to understand the nature of cognition (in a broad sense) by making use of a variety of disciplinary lenses, based on the belief that no single academic discipline can give a full or complete explanation of the mind. As with many interdisciplinary endeavors, the full scope of disciplinary membership varies from program to program, but most accounts attribute central roles to six co-equal disciplines: Anthropology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Computer Science. Aspects of each of these disciplines-for example, philosophy of mind or the computer science subfield of artificial intelligence-attempt to investigate such mental phenomena as belief acquisition, language development, evolution of consciousness, or the relationships among art, culture, and cognition, to name only a few topics.

Learning Outcomes

  • Breadth of knowledge: Students should acquire breadth of knowledge across the fields that contribute to cognitive science, including grasping the key issues at stake and taking a range of disciplinary perspectives across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
  • Depth of knowledge: Students should acquire depth of knowledge in one core disciplinary subject or interdisciplinary topic of the cognitive sciences and cognitive humanities and develop a robust understanding through advanced coursework and scholarly research.
  • Appreciation of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary inquiry: Students should be able to articulate the value of studying the mind, cognition, language, and knowledge using a combination of philosophical, empirical, formal-analytic, and cultural-historical approaches.
  • Application of knowledge: Students should be able to use critical thinking to evaluate and interpret evidence, to develop original and creative arguments, and to apply cognitive science concepts, theories, and research findings to contemporary and enduring questions.

 

Pitzer Advisers: C. Fought, T. Justus, B. Keeley, C. Strauss.

Programs

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