Course Aims & Objectives:

Many artists have addressed questions of visual perception and cognition; this course aims to introduce art students to the basic problems and concepts in the philosophy of knowledge and the psychology of cognition. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to describe and think critically about the fundamental presuppositions of cognitive science. They will be able to debate these issues with one another, and to relate these topics to the development of new media technologies. Finally, they will also be able to address these questions in their own artwork. The guiding assumption of this course is that a strong understanding of cognitive theory will help students acquire a better understanding of how artworks engage with the user.