This course aims to expose the students to different areas of human cognition connected with rationality, perception, information processing, computation and language. Issues of particular interest of the course are (i) how language is related to the way we approach problems and make choices, (ii) how language is affected by our perception of the world and the consequences for the way we respond to it and (iii) what properties of natural language, as parts of a self-contained abstract system, are related to the physical brain, and (iv) how different cultural values are reflected in language.
The course is interdisciplinary in that it bears on the biological, psychological, linguistic and social aspects of the human life. Understanding these various issues helps us see who we are as human beings and how we interact with each other as a community.

Continuous Assessment: 70%

Examination: 30%

Examination Duration: 1.5 hours