ARTS001 Human Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Sciences

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Vojtěch Juřík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jiří Matela, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Wei-lun Lu, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Šárka Havlíčková Kysová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jiří Matela, M.A., Ph.D.
Department of Japanese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Japanese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 B2.13, except Mon 13. 11.
Prerequisites
Working knowledge of English (ability to interpret both written and spoken text in English).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 150 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 108/150, only registered: 0/150, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/150
Course objectives
Goal of this course is to introduce students of the Faculty of Arts to humanities from the perspective of one of the most significant interdisciplinary currents in human sciences, Cognitive Sciences. Cognition and its study is the starting and encompassing point of the course. Students will get an idea of how the human mind is approached and studied within cognitive psychology, they will learn about cognitive approaches to the study of language, about the possibilities of studying cultures and intercultural communication from the perspective of Cognitive Sciences, about the analysis of political discourse and about theatre and other performing arts research from the perspective of cognitive theatre studies. The lectures are set to build the concepts from simpler to more complex ones, from the notion of mind, to lexical meaning in language, study of bigger meaningful units (such as sentences and texts), all the way to largest cultural products, such as a piece of art or a political discourse. During their study at the Faculty of Arts, the students will be able to further develop the knowledge acquired in the course, regardless of their specific study program.
Learning outcomes
After finishing the course students will be able to:
- characterize Cognitive Psychology within Psychology;
- describe a research in Cognitive Psychology on an example;
- distinguish approaches of so called "1st Generation of Cognitive Science" and "2nd Generation of Cognitive Science" to the study of language and mind;
- identify metaphorical expression and analyze it from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory;
- introduce basic differences between "classical" and "prototypical" approach to categorization and categories;
- summarize advantages and limitations of contrastive corpus research;
- apply perspectives of Cognitive Science on a study of culture;
- synthetize cognitive approaches with a study of audio-visual arts;
- analyze social and/or political discourse from a perspective of Cognitive Linguistics.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introductory lesson, content and structure of the course
  • 2. Cognitive Psychology and its position within Psychology
  • 3. Cognitive Psychology and how it is being done
  • 4. Cognitive Linguistics and the evolution of approaches to language and mind
  • 5. Cognitive approaches to meaning in language I
  • 6. Cognitive approaches to meaning in language II
  • 7. Cognitive approaches to poetics and/or visual arts I
  • 8. Cognitive approcahes to theatre and/or visual arts II
  • 9. Cognitive approaches to linguistic and cultural diversity I (English)
  • 10. Cognitive approaches to linguistic and cultural diversity II (English)
  • 11. Cognitive approaches to discourse and society
  • 12. Final exam
Literature
    recommended literature
  • LAKOFF, George. The political mind : a cognitive scientist's guide to your brain and its politics. Ed. with new preface. New York: Penguin Books, 2009, xxi, 292. ISBN 9780143115687. info
  • The cognitive linguistics reader. Edited by Vyvyan Evans - Benjamin K. Bergen - Jörg Zinken. 1st pub. London: Equinox, 2007, xiv, 974. ISBN 9781845531096. info
  • The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. Edited by Dirk Geeraerts - Hubert Cuyckens. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, xxx, 1334. ISBN 9780199738632. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, audio-visual presentations, individual work with secondary texts (all the basic study materials are provided via IS).
Assessment methods
Written test: Selection of one right answer out of four options. Class attendance is not compulsory.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
Teacher's information
Lectures nr. 1-8 and 11 are conducted in Czech. Lectures nr. 9 and 10 are conducted in English. Final exam is partially in Czech, partially in English.
The course is conducted in cooperation of the following departments:

Department of Psychology

Department of Japanese Studies

Department of Chinese Studies

Department of Theatre Studies

The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/ARTS001