Topic: Thinking through Language

Appropriate for First Year students.

TimeDaysLocationInstructorGERCreditOPUS Class NumberSyllabus (Tentative)
1:00pm-2:15pm
TuTh
Math & Science Center - W307C
Porcarelli, Angela. FSEM. 41332 TBA.

January 18, 2012- May 01, 2012

Catalog Description: Every semester. Seminar designed to engage freshmen in aspects of inquiry and research into areas of Italian culture through mutual exploration of subject matter. Primary mode of classroom discourse is dialogue and group projects.

Semester Details:

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

Content:  How do words capture human experience? Does language shape thought? Do people who speak different languages think differently? Could cross-linguistic cognitive differences be tools for investigating the role of experience and language in the acquisition and representation of knowledge? Because of new experimental evidence, all these questions are today at the center of the debate about the extent to which language influences nonlinguistic cognition. In this course, using an interdisciplinary approach (linguistics, literature, philosophy, psychology and cognitive anthropology), and observing and participating in some of the research conducted in the CLS (cognitive and linguistic system lab) at Emory University, we will investigate the broadly conceived theme of language and the human mind.

Readings:  Students will use a selection of articles available on reserve for this course.

The schedule of courses on O.P.U.S. is the official listing of courses, including days and times they meet and the General Education Requirements they satisfy. Students should use course descriptions as general guidelines. Course requirements, grading details, book lists, and syllabi are subject to change.