Office & Contact Information

The Major Programs

The Cognitive Science major is designed to provide a broad interdisciplinary approach to the study of mind that includes courses from different departments and attracts students with a variety of interests. It emphasizes a  multifaceted approach to the study of mind that integrates concepts and techniques from psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, neurology, philosophy and other relevant fields.

For students interested in the liberal arts the Cognitive Science major can be pursued as a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) program. Alternatively, it can be pursued as a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program for students with a stronger interest in the mathematical, neurological and computational foundations of the discipline. The main objective of both programs is to give the student a broad grounding in the integrated sciences of the mind and to connect approaches from different fields. Students must complete a number of core courses for the degree, as well as a number of specialty courses on such wide-ranging topics as logic for artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, animal cognition and the psychology of music.

Career Pathways

A degree in Cognitive Science provides broad intellectual foundations useful for careers in a variety of areas, including teaching, business, social work/counseling and the information technology industry. Undergraduate education in cognitive science also prepares the student for graduate study in appropriate subfields of psychology, linguistics, philosophy and informatics. It is also suitable training for pre-medicine, pre-law, and pre-management students.

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program students select to pursue either the Computational Emphasis (Emphasis 1) or the Neuroscience Emphasis (Emphasis 2).

Major Advisors

Staff advisors are located in Young Hall. To contact a major advisor, email cogsciadvising@ucdavis.edu, schedule an academic advising appointment, or join Drop-In Advising (no appointment needed). 

The major requirements below are in addition to meeting University Degree Requirements & College Degree Requirements; unless otherwise noted. Respective of the Emphasis, the minimum number of units required for the Cognitive Science Bachelor of Science are 107 & 107.

Computational Emphasis

¹

For a list of approved CGS Topical Courses, please see the major worksheet.

²

Important: Each class may only be used to satisfy one Cognitive Science major requirement. The same course cannot be used for multiple groups.

Neuroscience Emphasis

¹

For a list of approved CGS Topical Courses, please see the major worksheet.

²

Important: Each class may only be used to satisfy one Cognitive Science major requirement. The same course cannot be used for multiple groups.