NeuroHumanities at Purdue

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Welcome to the Center for NeuroHumanities at Purdue

Founded in 2008, the Center for NeuroHumanities is a multi-departmental coalition dedicated to exploring the nexus where humanities and cognitive theory come together. Drawing on discourses in the sciences and the humanities, the Center promotes and develops research that explores not only an empirical understanding of the mind as found in Psychology, Biology, Neuroscience, and Information Theory, but also its theoretical development in Philosophy, and its representation in literature, and the discursive relationship between all of the "kinds of minds." The Center also encourages other scientific, quantitative, and consilient approaches to literary theory and performance studies, including, but not limited to, evolutionary and anthropological approaches.

At Purdue, affliiates from multiple fileds make the Center an interdisciplinary endeavor that provides an organizing structure within and across existing departments and courses at Purdue, as well as offering its own unique courses. 

Additionally, the Center invites and hosts speakers from a variety of related fields, from both the extended national and international academic community, as well as from Purdue.

Cognitive Literary Association

The Cognitive Literary Association is an international literary association dedicated to the development of the interdisciplinary study of cognition. The CLA extends free membership to anyone in the academic community, with the eventual goal of organizing an annual conference and the publication of a peer-reviewed journal.

Friends of the Cognitive Literature Association

(Co)Ignition 

(Co)Ignition is the name of the Purdue NeuroHumanities committee that holds regular meetings open to the public - faculty and students welcome - invites outside speakers to Purdue each semester, and attends and organizes conferences in the field.

Regular meetings center either on current publications in the field of cognitive studies, works by upcoming speakers, or (Co)Ignition member research presentations. Faculty and students alike are invited to attend and students may seek out additional program information from these (Co)Ignition Steering Committee Members.

Recent Publications by Center for NeuroHumanities Faculty Affiliates

  • Mancing, Howard, and Tatevik Gyulamiryan, editors. A Character Named Cervantes. University of Toronto Press. https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487558888
  • Kelly, Daniel (with co-authors Michael Brownstein and Alex Madva). Somebody Should Do Something. How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change (monograph). MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049788/somebody-should-do-something/ 
  • Leverage, Paula. “Creative Etymologies: A Cross Disciplinary Analysis of Creativity.” Leonardo (The MIT Press), vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 235-40. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02701 
  • William, Jen. “‘An Adventure of the Strangest Kind’: Dialogue Across the Centuries in Paul Scheerbart’s Fantasy Novella Cervantes.” A Character Named Cervantes, edited by Tatevik Gyulamiryan and Howard Mancing, University of Toronto Press, pp. 59–70. https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487558888 
  • Leverage, Paula. “Theory of Mind and Lies in Marcel Carné's Les Visiteurs du soir.” The French Review, vol. 98, no. 2, pp. 15-31. https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2024.a947598. 
  • Leverage, Paula. “Narratives of Space and Time in Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, vol. 66, no. 1, 2023, pp. 160-78. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2023.0009 
  • Kelly, Daniel. "Explaining Social Normativity: Introduction to the Discussion Forum on
  • Cecilia Heyes’ 'Rethinking Norm Psychology'.” Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 4-11.https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231187404
  • Mancing, Howard, and Jen William. Restoring the Human Context to Literary and Performance Studies: Voices in Everything (monograph). Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-89078-0 
  • William, Jen. “Embedded Mental States, Literariness, and the Mutual Cross-Disciplinary Benefits of Cognitive-Literary Analysis.” Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 57–76. (Special issue on “Reading Mind: German Studies and the Neurohumanities.”) https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.58.1.3

Course Offerings

  • ANTH 10000 - Introduction To Anthropology
    • A general introduction to anthropology's holistic approach to human nature and behavior. A basic survey of biocultural developmental and evolutionary processes, and human uniformity and diversity through time and across space.
  • ANTH 10500 - Cultural Anthropology
    • A survey of the principles underlying variations in human culture and behavior. Emphasis is on culture as an adaptive mechanism and on how societies function. Topics include technology, social organization, economy, politics, ideology, and language.
  • ANTH 20300 - Biological Bases Of Human Social Behavior
    • This course is an introduction to human social behavior from the perspective of biological anthropology, with special emphasis on human evolution and non-human primates. Topics include aggression, communication, learning, maturation, sexuality, and the evolution of social systems.
  • ANTH 20400 - Introduction To Human Evolution
    • An outline of human evolution. Relates changing human physical characteristics with evolving social and cultural adaptations. The relationships of humans to other primates are explored within an evolutionary framework. Documents transformation of human culture over the last two million years.
  • ANTH 41400 - Introduction To Language And Culture
    • An exploration into the nature of human communication, particularly the structures, functions, and substance of human language. Focus is on the interpenetration of language, culture and cognition, on the evolution of language and speech, and on their uses in everyday life.
  • ANTH 43500 - Primate Evolution
    • This course considers both living and fossil primate forms. Special emphasis is placed on primate skeletal and dental morphology, ecological adaptations, the brain and other neurological systems, and social behavior.
  • ANTH 43600 - Human Evolution
    • This class examines the fossil evidence for human evolution and theories proposed to explain the development that led from the origin of primates to modern humans. This course will include lectures, exercises with fossil casts, presentation, and discussions.
  • ANTH 51400 - Anthropological Linguistics
    • This class examines the fossil evidence for human evolution and theories proposed to explain the development that led from the origin of primates to modern humans. This course will include lectures, exercises with fossil casts, presentation, and discussions.
  • ANTH 53500 - Foundations Of Biological Anthropology
    • Covers such topics as history of evolutionary thought; genetics, race, and human variation; fossils and paleoanthropology, evolutionary principles, ecology, and speciation; primate behavior; and theories on the social behavior of early humans.
  • ANTH 53700 - Paleoanthropology
    • Detailed survey of evolution of humankind, beginning with the earliest known hominids through modern Homo sapiens. Theoretical perspectives on human origins, relationship between biology and behavior, and the ongoing nature of evolution in the recent past.
  • ANTH 54100 - Psychological Anthropology
    • Traces theoretical and methodological development of psychological anthropology from nineteenth-century beginnings to current research. Topics include: the relationship of childrearing practices to cultural forms; psychological aspects of myth and folklore; the structure of cognition; the interaction of culture and identity.
  • BIOL 11700 - Principles of Ecology and Evolution
    • Principles of organismic and evolutionary biology; a phylogenetic synopsis of the major groups of organisms from viruses to vertebrates; an introduction to genetic, evolutionary and ecological processes, population biology, community ecology, and behavior. This course is open only to science majors. Instructor's permission required for non-biology majors.
  • BIOL 28600 - INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
    • Evolutionary processes and ecological principles associated with individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Topics include genetic drift, natural selection, adaptation, life tables, population dynamics, competition, predation, biodiversity, and ecological stability, with emphasis on natural systems.
  • BIOL 31100 - INTRODUCTION TO EVOLUTION
    • A study of evolution as a basic concept of the biological sciences; an examination of current scientific methods of experimentation within the area, as well as evidences for, and possible mechanisms of, evolutionary change. 
  • BIOL 31700 - Addiction: Biology, Psychology, and Society
    • It is an interdisciplinary, introduction course taught by a team from the Biology and Psychology Departments. The course will focus on using the processes of addiction to alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, and psychomotor stimulants to teach the basics of biological and psychological science. Example topic areas include neurological/brain function, impact on cognitive function, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, emotion, and motivation, learning and memory, physiology and pharmacology, and the psychosocial aspects of addictions. 
  • BIOL 33300 - ECOLOGY
    • Adaptations of living organisms to environment; natural selection and evolution of species; ecological interactions at organism, population and community levels; dynamics of populations and communities; ecosystem structures and functions; and human impacts on ecosystems.
  • BIOL 43600 - INTRODUCTION TO NEUROBIOLOGY
    • This course will cover key aspects in molecular, cellular, and developmental neurobiology. Topics include: Cell biology of neurons and glia, electrophysiological properties of neurons, electrical and chemical signaling between neurons, synaptic integration and plasticity, development and regeneration of the nervous system, nervous system diseases. Up-to-date research findings and techniques will be included. A basic knowledge of cell biology and protein structure and function is strongly recommended. 
  • BIOL 50300 - INTRODUCTION TO NEUROBIOLOGY
    • Covers basic aspects of the structure and function of the nervous system with a strong cellular and molecular emphasis. Broad areas of consideration will include the cellular and molecular biology of neurons, glia, and muscle, electrical and chemical signaling in the nervous system, neuronal development, and the complex interactions between neurons and the processing and integration of neural activity. A strong background knowledge in cell biology and/or physiology.
  • BIOL 52500 - PRINCIPLES OF NEUROBIOLOGY
    • A survey of fundamental topics in the physiology of the nervous system including a discussion of excitable membranes, the physiology and pharmacology of electrical and chemical synapses, and the organization and function of vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. 
  • BIOL 56200 (AUS 507, PSY 512) - NEURAL SYSTEMS
    • Overview of the structure and function of neural systems including those involved with motor, somatosensory, visual, auditory, learning, memory, and higher cortical processes. Molecular and cellular aspects of neural function are integrated with discussion of relevant neuroanatomy. Background in cell biology, psychobiology, physiology or anatomy is recommended.
  • BIOL 58000 - EVOLUTION
    • A study of evolution as a basic concept of the biological sciences; an examination of current methods of experimentation within the area, as well as evidences for the possible mechanisms of evolutionary change.
  • BIOL 59200 - THE EVOLUTION OF BEHAVIOR
    • An investigation of behaviors as adaptations: specializations of sensory and motor mechanisms involved in behavior; animal communication systems; behavioral ecology; patterns of social behavior as solutions to ecological problems, such as predator avoidance and resource exploitation. Emphasis will be on theoretical principles; examples will be broadly comparative, ranging from microorganisms to mammals.
  • CS 38000 - Artificial Intelligence
    • Fundamental concepts and techniques of artificial intelligence. Search techniques, including local search and constraint satisfaction. Knowledge representation concepts and methods of reasoning. Software agents, machine learning and neural networks, and AI planning systems.
  • CS 41000 - Automata And Computability
    • A finite automaton is a mathematical model for a computational system. Computer science embodies many examples of finite state systems. This course will cover the basic principles of deterministic and non-deterministic finite automata, Turing machines, formal language theory, regular expressions, context-free grammers, the halting problem, and unsolvability.
  • CS 46200 - Introduction To Artificial Intelligence
    • Basic problem-solving strategies, heuristic search, problem reduction and AND/OR graphs, knowledge representation, expert systems, generating explanations, uncertainty reasoning, game playing, planning, machine learning, computer vision, and programming systems such as LISP or PROLOG.
  • CS 47100 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
    • Students are expected to spend at least three hours per week gaining experience with artificial intelligence systems and developing software. Basic problem-solving strategies, heuristic search, problem reduction and AND/OR graphs, knowledge representation, expert systems, generating explanations, uncertainty reasoning, game playing, planning, machine learning, computer vision, and programming systems such as Lisp or Prolog.
  • CS 47800 (BIOL 478 and STAT 478) - Introduction to Bioinformatics
    • Bioinformatics is broadly defined as the study of molecular biological information, targeting particularly the enormous volume of DNA sequence and functional complexity embedded in entire genomes. Topics will include understanding the evolutionary organization of genes (genomics), the structure and function of gene products (proteomics), and the dynamics of gene expression in biological processes (transcriptomics). Inherently, bioinformatics is interdisciplinary, melding various applications of computational science with biology. This jointly taught course introduces analytical methods from biology, statistics and computer science that are necessary for bioinformatics investigations. The course is intended for junior and senior undergraduates from various science backgrounds. Our objective is to develop the skills of both tool users and tool designers in this important new field of research.
  • CS 48300 - Introduction To The Theory Of Computation
    • Turing machines and the Church-Turing thesis; decidability; halting problem; reducibility; undecidable problems; decidability of logical theories; Kolmogorov complexity; time classes; P, NP, NP-complete; space classes; Savitch's theorem, PSPACE-completeness, NL-completeness; hierarchy theorems; approximation theorems; probabilistic algorithms; applications of complexity to parallel computation and cryptography.
  • CS 48800 - Theory Of Computation
    • Mathematical models of computation including finite and pushdown automata and Turing machines and equivalence of different general-purpose models. Grammars and their relation to automata, Church's Thesis and limits of computation.
  • CS 57200 - Heuristic Problem Solving
    • Design and development of heuristic problem-solving systems. The emphasis is on the development of general data representations, heuristics, and problem-solving strategies that can be applied to a wide class of problems. The task areas explored include game playing, theorem proving, pattern recognition, semantic information processing, cognitive psychology, design synthesis, robotology, and integrated artificial intelligence systems.
  • CS 58200 - Automata And Formal Languages
    • Finite automata, regular expressions; pushdown automata, context-free grammars, their languages and behaviors. Closure properties, pumping lemmas, decision procedures. Deterministic context-free languages and LR (k) parsing; brief survey of the Chomsky hierarchy.
  • CS 58400 - Theory Of Computation And Computational Complexity
    • The theory of general purpose programming systems. Recursive and partial-recursive functions; recursive and recursively enumerable sets. The Church-Turing thesis. The recursion theorem, Rogers' translation theorem, Rice's undecidability theorem. The general theory of computational complexity: there are no general solutions to natural optimization problems. Complexity for specific models of computation: the polynomial complexity classes P, NP, and PSPACE; NP-hard and PSPACE-hard problems, inherently exponential problems.
  • CS 66200 (ECE 662) - Pattern Recognition And Decision-Making Processes
    • Introduction to the basic concepts and various approaches of pattern recognition and decision-making processes. Topics include various classifier designs, evaluation of classifiability, learning machines, feature extraction, and modeling. Prerequisite: ECE 30200.
  • CS 66800 (ECE 668) - Introduction To Artificial Intelligence
    • Discussions of deterministic and heuristic approaches of making systems behave intelligently. Topics include various heuristic search techniques, knowledge representation methods, game-playing, question-answering systems, theorem-proving mechanisms, planning, general problem solvers, and current topics of interest in the artificial intelligence area. Prerequisite: ECE 60000.
  • ENGL 34100 - Topics In Science, Literature, And Culture
    • This course focuses on issues in and representation of science and technology in various texts, including literature, film, science, and theory. *Note that specific offerings of this course may or may not be related to cognitive approaches. Please check the course listing specific to the semester that you seek to enroll.
  • ENGL 46900 - Issues In Contemporary Criticism And Theory
    • Study of recent critical movements and texts. Emphasis on methods of literary analysis, including philosophical, cultural, and formalist approaches. Discussion of, for example, structuralist, psychoanalytic, feminist, Marxist, poststructuralist, and emerging non-Western critical schools.
  • ENGL 56900 - Contemporary Criticism And Theory
    • Study of contemporary criticism and theory generally focused on such schools and movements as structuralism, psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, feminism, new historicism, cultural studies, and gay and lesbian studies. 
  • ENGL 57600 (PHIL 576) - Philosophy And Literary Theory
    • Explores the interchanges between philosophy and literary theory that animate such areas as hermeneutics, phenomenology, existentialism, Marxism, feminism, African-American studies, postmodern theory, and cultural studies. *Again, specific course offerings may or may not be cognitively based, or relevant.
  • ENGL 58400 - Literature And Psychological Problems
    • Novels, stories, plays, and other types of literature dealing with important psychological problems. To show how great imaginative writers have treated problems of human relationship with which contemporary psychology is concerned.
  • LC 26500 - Introduction to NeuroHumanities  (Undergraduate Level; 3 credits)
    • New for Fall 2025! This course introduces students to the main developments in the neurohumanities particularly since the 1990s, with focus on cognitive literary and cultural studies. The course emphasizes not only the role of psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and other STEM and social scientific fields in interpreting cultural artifacts, but also how literary and cultural studies contribute significantly to those fields. Students will learn skills which will enable them to consider and interpret works of art, broadly defined, through a highly interdisciplinary cognitive-studies lens as they explore how the humanities are intricately intertwined with the sciences.
  • LC 65000 - Topics In Theory (Graduate Level; 3 credits)
    • Study of theoretical approaches to literature, the arts, or general culture (e. g., cognitive science, deconstruction, feminism, hermeneutics, postmodernism, postcolonial studies, reader response, semiotics). Examines methodologies and confronts them with literary texts. Permission of instructor required. *Note: Certain course offerings may or may not be in line with Center goals. Check individual course listings for details.
  • LING 20100 - Introduction To Linguistics
    • Basic concepts of linguistics and methods of analysis of language; overview of linguistics and the role of language in society. Introduction to phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, and to problem-solving techniques, with material drawn from a variety of languages.
  • LING 50000 - Introduction To Linguistics
    • Fundamental concepts and methods of linguistic analysis of natural languages; overview of linguistics and the role of language in society. Introduction to phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, and to problem-solving techniques, with material drawn from a wide variety of languages. Offered in conjunction with ANTH 514 or AUSL 580 or ENGL 506 or FLL 561.
  • PHIL 22100 - Introduction To Philosophy Of Science
    • An introduction to the scope and methods of science and to theories of its historical development. Topics include scientific revolutions, theories of scientific method, the nature of scientific discovery, explanation, and the role of values in scientific change.
  • PHIL 43500 - Philosophy Of Mind
    • An examination of some central issues in the philosophy of mind. Attention is given to such topics as the knowledge of other minds, the relation between mind and body, the nature of persons, and the analysis of certain relevant concepts such as action, emotion, and perception. Readings are selected primarily from the writings of contemporary philosophers.
  • PHIL 53200 - Studies In Theory Of Knowledge
    • An intensive examination of selected problems concerning the nature of human knowledge, its scope and limits, its relation to sense-perception and memory. Variable content.
  • PHIL 53500 - Studies In Philosophy Of Mind
    • An intensive study of select topics in the philosophy of mind such as the explanation of human behavior, knowledge of other minds, the relation between mind and body, and the nature of persons. Variable content.
  • PSY 10000 - Introduction To The Science And Fields Of Psychology
    • An introduction to psychology as a science and as a profession.
  • PSY 12000 - Elementary Psychology
    • Introduction to the fundamental principles of psychology, covering particularly the topics of personality, intelligence, emotion, abnormal behavior, attention, perception, learning, memory, and thinking. As part of their learning experience, students participate in psychological experiments.
  • PSY 20000 - Introduction To Cognitive Psychology
    • A survey of psychology as the science of mental life, covering theories and research in perception, reading, attention, consciousness, imagery, memory and its improvement, problem solving, creativity, decision making, and artificial intelligence.
  • PSY 22000 - Brain And Behavior: An Introduction
    • A survey of the relation of brain structure and function to behavior. Topics covered include sensation and perception, the effect of early experience on the growing brain, learning, motivation, sleep and dreaming, language and thought, abnormal behavior and brain injury.
  • PSY 22200 - Introduction To Behavioral Neuroscience
    • An introduction to how the nervous system controls behavior. Topics include evolution and comparative psychobiology, the neuroscience of sensation and perception, the neuroscience of motivation, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience. 
  • PSY 31100 - Human Memory
    • A survey of theories and research about how humans remember information and why they often forget. Topics include research on amnesia, forgetting, and sensory memory systems as well as on practical issues such as how to improve memory. 
  • PSY 32000 - Behavioral Neuroscience of Sensation And Arousal
    • Brain structure and function underlying sensation, perception, cognition, and arousal. Topics include space, time, color, and pattern recognition, agnesias, agnosias, infant experience, habituation, attention, sleep, dreaming, and consciousness. This course is most accessible to students familiar with natural science concepts. 
  • PSY 32200 - Neuroscience Of Motivated Behavior
    • Neuroanatomical analyses of behavioral functions. Topics include movement, sexual behavior, maternal behavior, hunger, thirst, emotion, pain; addiction, biological rhythms, memory, evolution of the brain, language, hemispheric specialization, brain damage, brain remodeling during development and aging, correlates of cognitive processing. 
  • PSY 32400 - Introduction Cognitive Neuroscience
    • Introduction to the neural bases of complex human mental abilities. Emphasis on integrating research from cognitive science, brain-scanning techniques, and the lesion technique. Topics include perception, attention, memory, language, motor control, planning/decision-making and consciousness. 
  • PSY 33700 - Social Cognition
    • A survey of theory and research on the role of thought processes in social behavior (a combination of social and cognitive psychologies). Topics include causal attribution, person perception, stereotyping, impression formation, event memory, and social judgment. 
  • PSY 41600 - Cognitive Psychology
    • This course is designed to be a survey course covering a variety of research and theories within the field of cognitive psychology. A number of different topic areas will be reviewed including attention, perception, human memory, knowledge representation, language, problem solving, reasoning, intelligence, skill acquisition, and expertise. 
  • PSY 48400 - The Psychology Of Consciousness
    • A survey of psychological experiments and theory in consciousness. An emphasis is placed on altered states of consciousness such as dreaming, hypnosis, drug-induced changes in consciousness, and meditation; and comparison with ordinary consciousness is made. 
  • PSY 51800 - Memory And Cognition
    • A graduate-level survey of theories and research concerned with the acquisition, retention, and retrieval of information. Topics include amnesia, eyewitness memory, forgetting, developmental trends in memory, related issues in attention, language processing, and problem solving. 
  • PSY 58800 (EDPS 537) - Prose Learning And Retention
    • An examination of research and theory related to the learning and remembering of prose. 
  • PSY 61500 - Introduction To Psychobiology
    • A survey of the integrated neurosciences for nonconcentrators emphasizing human physiological psychology. Neural processes of sensory and motor function, arousal and sleep, motivation, learning and memory, language function, and personality disorders will be presented with selected coverage of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, and neuroendocrinology. Both normal and pathological functions will be covered. Not intended for students in the neurobiology program.
  • PSY 62400 - Human Learning And Memory
    • Selected survey of important problems in the encoding, storage, and retrieval of laboratory and naturalistic events. Prerequisite: Coursework in Human Development, Family Studies and related services. 
  • PSY 62500 - Complex Cognitive Processes
    • Surveys research and theory concerned with the nature of the "higher-order" mental processes, including decision making, categorization, problem solving, and language. Fundamental questions regarding the nature of the representations that underlie conceptual and linguistic behavior will be addressed. Permission of instructor required.
  • PSY 63900 - Seminar In Cognition
    • Analysis of current research findings in cognitive psychology. Emphasis is upon design of experiments and theoretical unification of existing data. Prerequisite: PSY 60000, 60100. 
  • PSY 64500 - Social Cognition
    • Cognitive approaches to social psychology. Topics to be covered include attribution theory, impression formation, stereotype formation, perceptual salience, memory for persons and interpersonal events, and the processing of emotionally significant information.