BA/BS in Cognitive Science

Vassar's Cognitive Science program describes itself as the oldest undergraduate degree-granting program of its kind in the world. It invites students to explore the nature of mind and intellect wherever they are found. The field asks what a mind is, whether it is simply a brain, what makes it conscious and how it handles perception, emotion and action. It also asks whether machines could have minds if they were built appropriately. Cognitive science draws on contributors from philosophy and psychology as well as anthropology, linguistics, neuroscience, biology, mathematics and computer science. Their theories, technologies and methods are applied together to a single question, which is the hallmark of the field. The program sits within the liberal arts curriculum at Vassar College, so students are able to combine it with study in other departments and programs across the college as they plan their courses.