Cognitive Science @ University of Toronto

	Kaya de Barbaro    2005    Cognitive Science Department, UCSD
	David Bolter       1996    Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, UofT
	Eric Morgen        2004    University of Toronto Medical School
	Blake Richards     2004    Oxford Univeristy (to start in 2006)
	Leo Trottier       2005    Cognitive Science Department, UCSD
	Nick Turk-Browne   2004    Psychology Department, Yale University

Alumni Contact

We love to hear from our alumni! Please let us know of your current coordinates and recent endeavors.

Letters from Alumni

Below are some letters from our Alumni about their experience with CogSci @ U of T and their experience after graduation.

Leo Trottier
CogSci-AI Specialist, 2005

I originally chose the cognitive science program because it looked to be a good compromise between generality and focus. Before arriving at UofT, though, I thought I'd try and find out what cognitive science was all about. I found a website kept by a UofT CogSci undergrad that recommended the book The Mind's I. Reading it, I realised how much about life that I'd been ignoring until then, and how weird and wonderful our own thoughts are. I arrived excited about my course of study, and by the time I'd completed Dr. Vervaeke's Introduction to Cognitive Science I was completely hooked -- there was no doubt in my mind that CogSci was 'where it's at'.

First year also fazed me, though -- no other academic topic had forced me to so question my own identity and the unity of my mind and experience. I didn't know it at the time, but this heralded an eye-opening change in the way I saw myself and the world around me.

Looking back, I doubt that any other program of study could have better prepared me for work, research, or indeed life in general. It is thanks to this University College program that I am now a funded doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego. Moreover, I know that had it not been for CogSci and the University of Toronto's Research Opportunity Program I would not have published three peer-reviewed papers before receiving my degree. No field, save cognitive science, combines wide-ranging philosophical debate with basic science, moving poetry with computer code, and inspiring wonder with deep sceptism. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Eric Morgen
CogSci-AI Specialist, 2004

Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence (CSAI) at U of T helped to give me the interdisciplinary education and breadth of experience that I always knew I wanted from University. With an ability to combine computer science, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, logic, engineering, and neuroscience, the program is very rare in it's scope and flexibility. Beyond that, CSAI is not all consuming, and leaves some free credits to pursue other, unrelated disciplines, or else specialize in an aspect of the program that you find interesting.

For anyone interested in psychology, AI, or linguistics, I would recommend the program highly over a "pure" program of just psychology, for example, because of the unique perspectives that interdisciplinary education fosters. If there is one idea that you will take away from an undergraduate education in CSAI, it is that many of the questions and solutions in the above fields are extensively intertwined. Even if you go on to a PhD in one of the component disciplines of CSAI, the program will be invaluable in giving you a more informed, balanced, and connected view of your discipline.

For me, CSAI went beyond that, and gave me a perspective on life in general that I will always appreciate. Right from the beginning, I knew that I would probably be moving on to medical school, and that was exactly why I chose CSAI as my program. I wanted breadth before I narrowed my academic interests. I wanted a education on the human mind to guide me through the rest of my life, as well as a playground of fascinating disciplines to entertain me for four years. I got both.

David Bolter
CogSci-AI Specialist, 1996

In 1996 I graduated from UofT with a Specialist in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence and a Major in Computer Science. CSAI was an amazing and challenging program. It was challenging, at least for me, but there was really no other choice for a philosophizing hacker who is an Asimov fan. Time and time again researchers talk about the need for interdisciplinary communication and research. This program really is the proof in the pudding!

Since graduation I have been a Software Architect at the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. Projects I have worked on here include: Gnome On-screen Keyboard for Linux and Unix, Multimodal Education Software for students who are blind, Java Haptic Extensions for VRML and Java3D, Audio Pluggable Look-and-Feel for Java Swing Architecture, etc. In fact, when daydreaming, I feel like an early pioneer of Star Trek's "holodeck". (During my time here I have been scouted by such companies as Microsoft, Adobe, and Sun Microsystems. I didn't accept any of these offers as they would have required me to leave Canada.)

My preference has always been the human computer interaction domain, where I can help close the gap (a.k.a. "interface") between computers and humans. The breadth of courses in the CSAI program (including psychology and computer science) assist me "on the job" in this domain. I am reminded of this when I am asked "How did you think of that?" or "Why did you do it this way?" and I can refer not only to user studies, but also to the human cognitive system, from visual perception to higher cognitive processes.

Cognitive Science Program • University of Toronto
15 King's College Circle • Toronto M5S 3H7
Phone: 416-978-8746 • Fax: 416-971-2027

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