Cultures of the Brain: Cognitive Science and the Humanities
CHUM 300
Fall 2011
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
SISP 302 |
From wireless communications to high-resolution brain imaging devices, contemporary technological advances present us with a digital culture that promises to both exhaustively analyze and radically transform the way we perceive the world. Debates over whether the Internet is rewiring our brains, or how artificial intelligence thinks, have led cultural critics and scientists alike to become increasingly interested in the processes of human cognition. Recent studies of cognition therefore ask to what degree the innate structure of the mind is actually highly malleable, easily shaped by social and technological forces. In this interdisciplinary seminar, we will seek to understand whether neural facts--the structure of the brain and the way it perceives the world--are in fact social values, reflecting the social and technological conditions in which a mind develops. We will read cognitive scientific work alongside other theories of culture and consciousness prominent in the humanities as we explore the ways in which cognitive science and cultural studies are mutually illuminating. Readings will include texts by Jacques Derrida, David Chalmers, Jerry Fodor, Raymond Williams, Sigmund Freud, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu, and Marshall McLuhan. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Information Literacy, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CHUM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
David Chalmers, THE CONSCIOUS MIND: IN SEARCH OF A FUNDAMENTAL THEORY
Jerry Fodor, MODULARITY OF MIND
Jacques Derrida, ARCHIVE FEVER
Jonathan Crary, SUSPENSIONS OF PERCEPTION
Jaron Lanier, YOU ARE NOT A GADGET
Peter Stockwell, COGNITIVE POETICS: AN INTRODUCTION
Raymond Williams, THE LONG REVOLUTION
Marshall McLuhan, UNDERSTANDING MEDIA
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Examinations and Assignments:
two essays or one research paper
two exams |
| Instructor(s): Coombs,David Sweeney Times: .M.W... 01:10PM-02:30PM; Location: CFH106; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 16 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 3 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 8 | JR non-major: 8 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 8 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 7 |
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