Description

LANGUAGE and the MIND is an advanced course in human thinking and speaking that deals with psychological, cognitive and anthropological aspects of language as a key to mind, intellect and creativity; interrelation of language, thoughts and brain; language in mediating experience, remembering and creating meaning; the instinctive, emotional and rational in our cognition; pre-linguistic cognition of hominids; children’s language learning and language diversity.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion the student will have – Gained an insight into the human language and mind;
– Defined relevant concepts and posed critical questions;
– Identified psychological, social and cultural factors constraining language usage;
– Compared and comprehended the logic of sounds and grammars across languages;
– Discovered interrelations of human biology and psychology of language;
– Applied what learned in class to a researched project;
– Collected primary data to document it and posed questions about the data;
– Framed the project by a relevant theory;
– Presented the project in class and summarized it in writing.

*Course content subject to change