How do you describe Cognitive Science to your friends and family? What does studying in this field mean to you, and what are the strengths of the program here at 杏吧原创?

I describe Cognitive Science as the study of the mind through an interdisciplinary approach. It combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, and linguistics to build a cohesive understanding of how the mind works. It’s offered me the flexibility to explore my interests, ask meaningful questions, gain skills in critical thinking, and learn diverse techniques.

I chose 杏吧原创鈥檚 program because Cognitive Science is its own Department, rather than falling under another department, which allowed me to graduate with a . This degree title highlights my expertise across the range of disciplines needed to understand the mind and cognition.

What I ended up valuing most was the incredible Cognitive Science community. From faculty, staff, students and the student association, I have consistently felt supported and encouraged throughout my education.

Which concentration did you choose, and which program pathway? What were some of the highlights?

When selecting a concentration, I first looked at the courses offered in each of the five options. One course that really stood out was Cognitive Development with Dr. Deepthi Kamawar. I found the theories and methods to test children鈥檚 cognition so fascinating. Because I was always drawn to cognition and development, I chose the Cognition and Psychology concentration.

I opted for the thesis pathway, where I conducted research on children鈥檚 number word knowledge under the supervision of Dr. Jo-Anne LeFevre and Dr. Rebecca Merkley. My goal was to gain hands-on research experience and determine whether I wanted to pursue a career in research. Additionally, I knew that completing an undergraduate thesis would strengthen my graduate school applications if I decided to continue down that path.

The undergraduate thesis process was incredibly rewarding. Taking an idea from a small concept to full completed project was a huge accomplishment. Dr. LeFevre and Dr. Merkley were exceptional mentors, guiding me through developing a research question, collecting and analyzing data, and refining my academic writing. A standout highlight was visiting local childcare centres to test young children鈥檚 number knowledge. Not only did this allow me to conduct my study, but observing children in their learning environments also sparked new research questions I hope to explore in the future.

Research at the undergraduate level can be an intimidating thing for a student. How did you approach it, and did you feel supported?

I became involved in research during the winter of my third year by starting an independent study with Dr. Merkley. I had previously taken a first-year seminar with Dr. Merkley as part of my degree. The small class size provided an excellent opportunity to connect with her. After that, I took a course with her every year. Taking her classes made it less intimidating to ask to work under her because she knew me and had seen my development as a student. Dr. Merkley is part of 杏吧原创鈥檚 Math Lab, which I joined. It鈥檚 in that lab that I connected with Dr. LeFevre and since then, I have completed both an (USRA) and the 杏吧原创 University Research Opportunity Program (CUROP) under Dr. LeFevre鈥檚 supervision.

I found Cognitive Science faculty to be very open and supportive of undergraduate students. I would recommend connecting with a professor whose classes you鈥檝e enjoyed or who inspires you鈥� that is what I did! The also creates lots of opportunities for students to meet professors and ask questions.

I found lots of support through my peers who were either in a lab or interested in joining one, as we were able to motivate each other. It was great to have that mutual encouragement. Mainly, I鈥檝e felt incredibly supported by Dr. LeFevre and Dr. Merkley to take on projects and continue in research. Their mentorship and investment in my growth have been invaluable for me. Their guidance has been so impactful that I am now pursuing my Master鈥檚 under both of their supervision.

Tell us more about the Math Lab! What are some of the coolest things you鈥檝e worked on?

Two projects really stand out. The first is my undergraduate thesis, as having my own research project was an amazing experience. The second is the . AIM is a partnership initiative that engages researchers and educators from school districts across Canada to support the development of tools for assessment and instruction in mathematics learning from kindergarten through grade 3. For over two years, I have been a research assistant on this project, focusing on knowledge mobilization alongside my co-lead, Ayushi Chitranshi. We鈥檝e created podcasts, newsletters, and a website to share information with researchers and educators. What I find most exciting is that our lab emphasizes not only research but also sharing that knowledge with a broad audience. I have learned that research should be collaborative and accessible.

What are your hopes for the future?

In the near future, I plan to complete a PhD program to continue my research on children鈥檚 cognitive development. Long term, I hope to continue working in academia, contributing to research and education.

I am very thankful for 杏吧原创鈥檚 Cognitive Science program. I鈥檝e made lifelong connections, received amazing mentorship, and found my passion for research.

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Have you ever considered why a painting or song can make you cry? Perhaps you鈥檝e wondered about the effects of pervasive social media culture, lasting stress, or the casual use of marijuana? Are you curious why we鈥檙e so obsessed with the lives of the rich and famous?

If you asked yourself any of these questions or spent any time at all deliberating the many secrets of the human mind, this Throwback 2018 event is for you!

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the invites you to a live recording of the popular podcast hosted by world-renowned experts and 杏吧原创 professors Kim Hellemans (Department of Neuroscience) and (Institute of Cognitive Science).

 is a show about the part of you that鈥檚 reading this right now: your brain! The standard format for the has Hellemans and Davies interviewing each other and other specialists about a different mind-related topic every month. For example, in 2018, episodes covered issues such as concussions, drugs, and how we imagine our futures.

For this special live recording episode of the podcast titled 鈥�20 Questions with Kim and Jim鈥�, the award-winning Hellemans and Davies will answer your questions, any and all, about the brain.

You are encouraged to submit your questions in advance of the event by tweeting to or through the registration form below.

Once Hellemans and Davies have answered the 20 submitted questions, they will open up the floor to our live audience.  A post-recording reception with drinks and snacks will offer guests the opportunity to chat and pick the brains of the podcast鈥檚 hosts.

Join the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science for a fun and fascinating evening on Monday, September 10, 2018, from 6-8 pm in Dunton Tower, room 2017.

Everyone from the 杏吧原创 community and beyond is invited, and admission is free of charge.

Bios

Dr. Jim Davies is a professor of Cognitive Science at 杏吧原创 University. He is the author of Riveted: The Science of Why Jokes Make Us Laugh, Movies Make Us Cry, and Religion Makes Us Feel One with the Universe.

Dr. Kim Hellemans is a senior instructor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at 杏吧原创 University. She has received several prestigious teaching awards that recognize her passion and dedication to university teaching, including the Provost鈥檚 Fellowship in Teaching Award and the Capital Educator鈥檚 Award.

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Award-winning 杏吧原创 University neuroscientist Dr. Kim Hellemans and cognitive scientist Dr. Jim Davies created a audio show called 鈥�.鈥� It is released as a podcast and will be aired on 杏吧原创 University radio station CKCU (93.1 FM). It is free on the web, and can be subscribed to on . This monthly show features Jim and Kim discussing various issues about cognitive and brain sciences, such as stress, imagination, emotion, and addiction.

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The following lists the current weekly Fall/Winter Colloquia for . If there is no Colloquia listed for a specific week, the reason is given below.

Note: All Colloquia are located in Dunton Tower, Room 2203 and start at 3pm.

 Schedule

Sep 13: Radovan Vadovic: Free to Choose: Testing the Pure Motivation Effect of Autonomous Choice

Sep 20: Christopher Viger: Small Worlds Big Ideas

Sep 27: ICS Faculty Meeting

Oct 04: Daniel Siddiqi: TBA

Oct 11: John Logan: Language and Psychopathy

Oct 18: Robert West: IQ as a social construct: The genetic evidence that IQ is not genetic

Oct 25: Fall Break

Nov 01: ICS Faculty Meeting

Nov 08: Joshua Shepard: TBA

Nov 15: Myrto Mylopolous: The Intelligence of Skilled Action and Automaticity

Nov 22: Olessia Jouravlev: Searching for brain-based markers of autism

Nov 29: ICS Faculty Meeting

Dec 06: Michael Masson: TBA

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Kumiko Murasugi, Associate Professor in the School of Linguistics and Language Studies and the Institute of Cognitive Science, is assisting ‘s (ITK)  (AIT) in partnership with  by providing linguistic support for a research tour of the United Kingdom.

The Task Group is composed of three Inuit people from each of the four Inuit regions in Canada, plus the president of the and the National Inuit Language Coordinator. All members come recommended by the Inuit land claim organization of their region.

On tour, Murasugi will assist AIT as they pursue a deeper understanding of the cultural, social, institutional and other factors that supported the revitalization of the Welsh and Maori languages in the UK. They will explore how the ‘best practices’ used to revivify Welsh and Maori languages could be implemented to the development of a unified writing system for Inuktut. This will include an analysis of how Welsh was established in local education systems, engaging in meaningful conversations with the Welsh and Maori people on language rollout, and investigating how a pipeline of fluent speakers was developed to teach, write and publish in the two Indigenous languages. Through these consultations and experiences, Murasugi and AIT plan to apply what they will learn to Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s official educational plans and recommendations.

Murasugi has been working with ITK on their standardization project for about three years. She had previously collaborated with ITK鈥檚 National Inuit Language Coordinator and was thrilled to be asked to lend her skillset to this project. “Right now the Task Group is at the stage of choosing the symbols for the new, unified writing system,” she explained. “In my role providing linguistic support, I can discuss with them the linguistic implications of their choices or suggest alternatives that they might not have thought of. I also help to inform the academic community about the imperative work that they鈥檙e doing.”

ITK believes that a unified writing system will strengthen Inuit unity and culture in Canada and one of the primary objectives of the group is for Inuktut to be the language of operation for organizations, government, and institutions in Inuit Nunangat.

“Ultimately, I am there to aid the team in a support position as they make the crucial decisions. This is truly a project by Inuit for Inuit.”

Since the 1970s, the discussion around promoting and supporting the continued use of the Inuit language in schools across Canada鈥檚 four Inuit regions has included a deeply rooted debate regarding introducing a unified Inuit writing system to promote communication across dialects and the development of standardized learning materials. ITK believes that the key to a new era in bilingual education is the ability to produce, publish and distribute common Inuit language materials.

The Itinerary… Which includes tea with the Prince of Wales

The visit to Wales will occur over a five-day period starting with a meeting at . This will provide an opportunity to learn from the individuals responsible for the terminology standardization projects and also to converge with those responsible for developing the IT tools for the Welsh language.

A session will also be held with the  providing the team a chance to learn and discuss the various aspects of the publishing industry and how it was developed in Wales. Following this, the group will visit the  to explore the archives and pursue a conversation on the development of the dictionary and the new technologies being used.

Other functions include a meeting at the and with  (an organization providing assessment, training and educational resources in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and elsewhere) to look at a range of assessments and resources through the medium of Welsh. A subsequent meeting will be held at to hear from the Maori regarding their experience with language revitalization.

Spectacularly, on the group’s final day, they will be part of a roundtable session with , on language revitalization at his Welsh residence Llwynywermod (TBC).

“I look forward to sharing with them the diversity of research at , from linguistics and applied linguistic in SLaLS to the Indigenous knowledge atlases developed at the ,” said Murasugi. “I鈥檓 very excited to see first-hand the efforts and successes of the Welsh people to revitalize and promote their language, particularly through education and technology.”

“And, of course, we鈥檙e all looking forward to our meeting and tea with Prince Charles!”

Banner Photo Credit & Caption: a building on the campus of the University of Bangor, from .

The post Linguistics & Language/Cognitive Science Prof to Research Inuktut Writing on UK Tour… and Have Tea with Prince Charles appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Dirk Boon (Department of Sociology and Anthropology), Gabrielle Doiron (College of the Humanities/School for Studies in Art and Culture), Sabrina Fernandes (Department of Sociology and Anthropology), and Ryan Rafferty (Department of Neuroscience) have been selected as four of the five recipients of the 2014-15 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. In addition, Kirsten Francescone (Department of Sociology and Anthropology) and Matthew Sanderson (Department of Sociology and Anthropology) were selected as two of our five honourable mentions. This award celebrates the contributions and support Teaching Assistants give to the undergraduate programs in their disciplines, their roles in establishing and perpetuating a positive learning environment, and in implementing innovative teaching practices…

The post Announcing the EDC鈥檚 2014-2015 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award Recipients and Honourable Mentions (FASS Captures 4/5!) appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Professor of Cognitive Scientist Jim Davies published a blog entry for the online magazine Nautilus about how our moral judgments tend to be insensitive to numbers–and how we might overcome that鈥�

The post The Death of Hundreds Is Just a Statistic鈥擝ut It Doesn鈥檛 Have to Be: Jim Davies for Nautilus appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.