| Course Title: Seminar in Perception and Cognition: 'Language and Thought' |
| Start Date: 09/06/2023 End Date: 12/19/2023 |
| Term: Fall Semester 2023 |
| Description: Languages differ in the way they describe the world. For example, the noun for bridge is feminine in German, but masculine in French. Russian has two words for blue, while English has only one. The Piraha (an Amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe) arguably have no number words. In this course, we will be asking to what extent these cross-linguistic differences are reflected in thought. That is, do German speakers think bridges are more feminine than French speakers do? Can Russian speakers discriminate different shades of blue better than English speakers? Can the Piraha count? In exploring these questions, we hope to discover how tightly linked language and thought are. |
| Distribution(s): III - Social Sciences , TP - Topics Course |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Mara Breen | mbreen@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 09/06/2023 - 12/19/2023 | Seminar | Monday | 01:30PM - 04:20PM | REES - Reese | 301 | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: PSYCH-204. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags | ||
| NEURO0001 | NEURO: Neuroscience & Behavior Major | This course has been approved to count towards the Neuroscience and Behavior major. |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open | Capacity: 15 | Enrollment: 13 | Available: 2 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| Title: Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Language Author: Deutscher, Guy Copyright: 2010 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 080508195X Publisher: Metropolitan Books |
Required | 28.00 |
| Title: The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language Author: McWhorter, John H. Copyright: 2014 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780199361588 Publisher: Oxford University Press |
Required | 19.95 |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is the complete book list for this class. |