To declare your minor, follow this link.
The Minor in Cognitive Science requires 6 credits, distributed as follows:
- ONE credit for the introductory course COGS 001
- THREE credits from different breadth areas (excluding Mathematics), and
- TWO credits from a single concentration.
Core Course: 1 credit
The interdisciplinary field of Cognitive Science is surveyed in the following course, which should normally be your first stop if you are interested in the major or minor in COGS. It is offered in the Fall term annually.
- Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGS 001/CIS 140/LING 105/PHIL 044/PSYC 107)
Breadth Requirement: 3 credits
To ensure more substantive knowledge of the wide-ranging fields that contribute to Cognitive Science, all students must take one course from three of the five breadth areas listed below. The list below includes all breadth areas affiliated with the COGS major, with the exception of Mathematics. Please refer to the breadth requirements on the Majors page for course options.
- Psychology
- Computation
- Language
- Philosophy
- Neuroscience
Concentration: 2 credits
COGS minors are required to take two courses from a single concentration within the Program: Cognitive Neuroscience, Computation and Cognition, or Language and Mind. Please refer to the courses on the Majors page to see their suitability and availability. For the minor, we do not accept STAT or MATH classes to fulfill concentration credits (but we do accept CIS).
To maintain continuity between the breadth and concentration, each concentration course must have a counterpart in the breadth. For example, to count a PSYC course in the concentration, you must also complete the PSYC breadth.
Additional information
No more than 3 of the 6 credits required for the COGS minor may be counted to fulfill the requirements of another major or minor. The minimum grade for any course counted toward the COGS program is C-.
For general program information, please contact Program Manager Jessica Marcus: jmarcus@upenn.edu.
For advising information, please contact the advisors to the College major, Dr. Charles Yang or Dr. Russell Richie. Cognitive Science Advising will be a mixture of in-person and online. Dr. Yang’s Fall 2022 advising hours are Thursday 1:45-3:45pm in 3401 Walnut Room 315C, or on zoom at this link. Dr. Richie’s Fall 2022 advising hours can be found on his website here.