Course info

Schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays, 14:30 - 16:40

Classroom: D-106 

Credit Value: 2 credits (4 ECTS credits)

Elective Course for all UG Programs

The human mind and its cognitive processes are a subject of great interest and is the central point of inquiry for subjects like psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics. Using the aid of experimental paradigms, individuals are isolated in controlled settings and made to perform tasks, while scientists infer the processes underlying their behaviors. A crucial thing to inculcate at an early age is that a study of such cognitive processes cannot be carried out, not in a wholly satisfactory manner, by this purely scientific approach of experiments. On the other side we have cultural approaches to a study of the human mind, where human behavior is studied at an aggregate level, and understood as a function of cultural contexts, using interviews and observational methods. This is seen in the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and human behavioral ecology. In the past few decades, there has been a fascinating pull and push between the individual and group levels of investigation, of quantitative and qualitative methods, with researchers from distinct fields coming together to formulate new models and paradigms. 

The aim of this course is twofold:

• Convey the message that the human mind cannot be understood outside its cultural context and vice versa.

• Employ a plurality of methodological and theoretical tools to understand phenomena of (individual or social) behavior. 

  
  

The field of cognitive anthropology, a recent and fast-growing discipline embodying these aims, will guide the teaching of this course. There is a growing recognition that the individual cannot be studied independently of the cultural context in which it develops, and that cultural knowledge and practices cannot be fully understood without peering into individual cognitive processes and biases. This interdisciplinary approach is crucial for understanding the concepts such as fairness beliefs, social justice, institutions, traditions and trust. 

The course will be structured around three themes:

1. Enculturated minds: Does culture shape the way we think? To what extent? 
2. Cultural transmission: How do ideas and practices spread in a community to form a cultural phenomenon? 
   
3. Cross-Disciplinary methodologies: we explore how methods can be mixed to study cross-disciplinary topics such as morality, trust, traditions and institutions, essential dimensions of human sociality and culture.