51²è¹Ý

The minor in philosophy at 51²è¹Ý requires five courses (15 credit hours) in philosophy, of which 3 (9 credit hours) must be advanced courses (3000-level and above).

Matt Lockard mlockard@smu.edu
(for students with last names beginning with A-K)

Brad Thompson 
(for students with last names beginning with L-Z)

Ethics Minor

The minor in ethics is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in ethics. Students take five courses, including at least three courses from the Philosophy Department’s advanced sequence in ethics. Students can choose from courses in ethical and political theory, in applied and practical ethics, and on specialized topics such as liberty, bioethics, and philosophy of law. By “double counting” certain courses, the minor in ethics is easily combined with complementary majors and minors, including human rights, law & legal reasoning, political science, public policy, religious studies, and women’s and gender studies. An interdisciplinary option allows students to count certain courses offered by other departments and programs toward the minor.

Advisor: Luke Robinson lrobinson@smu.edu

An interdisciplinary minor focused on the study of the mind and the nature of cognition and intelligence, from the perspectives of psychology and philosophy, and potentially (depending upon which courses students elect to take) other disciplines including computer science, neuroscience, linguistics, or mathematics. Topics include the nature of cognition, consciousness, perception, memory, emotion, language acquisition, reasoning, decision-making and behavior, using tools from neuroscience, computer modeling, neural networks, artificial intelligence, and formal logic.

Advisor: Justin Fisher fisher@smu.edu

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, incorporating the perspectives of several fields of study. Students will explore the relationship between the brain, the rest of the body, and the environment with respect to affect, behavior, and cognition. The disciplines of biology, psychology, and philosophy are particularly pertinent to this interdisciplinary minor. This interdisciplinary minor is well suited to biological sciences, health and society, and psychology majors, pre-health professions students or those interested in a career in neuroscience.