CHUM 300 - Cultures of the Brain: Cognitive Science and the Humanities

Institution:

Wesleyan University

Subject:

Center for the Humanities

Description:

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.

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wesleyan.edu

Phone Number:

(860) 685-2000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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