The CoPsy seminar series are back and brimming with new and exciting research! The Developmental Brown Bag (DBB), Perception & Action Seminar (P&A), and Social-Cog Seminar (SCSBB) will explore the department themes of AI and society, mental and brain health, and collective cognition as they relate to each seminar’s disciplines. In past years, these seminars functioned independently, studying facets of their own sub-discipline in their series. This year, however, the topics are hoping to foster greater cross-disciplinary conversations across each of the different seminar series by integrating emergent and crucial themes of the cognitive and psychological sciences.
As one of the P&A organizers, PhD student Jacob Lader, said, “It [will] be great for undergraduates or PhD students to go to these talks because it will broaden their horizons in terms of what research is going on in the field. I think it's a great way to see a lot of different research that's being done.”
Open to all people of the University, including undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members, these series will feature speakers from universities across the world.
Each of the seminar series will begin in early March, with events occurring on Mondays at 12:00 PM (DBB), Thursdays at 12:00 PM (P&A), and Fridays at 2:00 PM (SCSBB). All events will take place in the Metcalf Research Building, Room 305 (Dome Room), on Zoom, or available in both ways.
Interested people can learn more by:
- Exploring the Developmental Brown Bag website or emailing julia_marshall1@brown.edu.
- Reading the Perception and Action website, subscribing to the Perception and Action email list emailing perception-action-seminar@brown.edu.
- Accessing the Social-Cog website the seminar’s Google Calendar and joining the Social-Cog event announcement email list.
Developmental Brown Bag:
Through the lens of developmental science, this seminar series will study this year’s departmental themes with an array of engaging speakers.
As the organizer of the series, Dr. Julia Marshall shared, “The primary goal of this seminar series is to showcase cutting-edge research in developmental science, highlighting innovative approaches and fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. We hope attendees leave with a deeper understanding of current trends and ideas in the field.”
The 2025 series, occurring on Mondays from 12:00 PM-1:30 PM in-person at the Room 305 (the Dome room) of the Metcalf Research Building, will begin on March 10 and conclude on May 5.
Dr. Kara Weisman and Dr. Peter Blake, both at Boston University, make up the first two sessions. As speakers, they will explore different facets of collective cognition.
Subsequent speakers Dr. Tanya Levari at Harvard University, Dr. Lauren DiNicola at the University of Virginia, and Dr. Zhenghan Qi at Northeastern University will examine different aspects of mental and brain health related to their research.
For more information about each speaker, please explore the following:
Perception and Action Seminar:
Featuring speakers from across the world, the Perception and Action Seminar will delve into the themes of the department.
As one of series organizers PhD student Jacob Lader explained, “Perception and action deals with how people understand the things that they see, hear, touch, smell (the senses), how they process those things and how they act on them.”
With speakers found through faculty, postdoctoral, and graduate nominations, the seminar spans a wide range of topics. As Lader added, “Even though this is all under the umbrella of perception and action, we do have a range of speakers who come from backgrounds ranging from neuroscience, neuroimaging, to high level psychology. Since there's that range, by going to the talk series, we hope that it encourages people to think about these broader questions on a variety of levels and to engage with people in the community beyond just Brown.”
The 2025 series will take place in Room 305 (the Dome room) of the Metcalf Research Building from noon to 1:00 PM from March 6 to May 15. Meetings will occur exclusively in-person or Zoom with the potential for graduate student lunches with in-person speakers.
Speakers are categorized by theme, with Dr. Armin Seyfried at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Dr. Fabian Kessler at Darmstadt University, Samuel McDougle at Yale University, and Dr. Yossi Yovel of Tel-Aviv University speaking to collective cognition and behavior. For AI in the world, Dr. Samantha Wood at Indiana University and Marc Schoenwiesner at Leipzig University will provide insight. For the third theme of mental and brain health, Mariusz Furmanek at University of Rhode Island and Katja Doerschner at Giessen University will share their research expertise. Dr. Jeffrey Taube of Dartmouth University will explore the neurobiology of 3D spatial orientation in the first session, as well. Finally, doctoral candidate Dr. Anthony Bruno will speak to close out the series!
For more information about the speakers, the following describes:
- Jeffrey Taube
- Armin Seyfried
- Fabian Kessler
- Samuel McDougle
- Yossi Yovel
- Samantha Wood
- Marc Schoenwiesner
- Mariusz Furmanek
- Katja Doerschner
- Anthony Bruno
Social-Cog Seminar:
The Social-Cognitive Seminar combines social psychology and cognitive science to explore the CoPsy 2025 themes. In merging these disciplines, attendees can learn about a wide variety of topics, from computation and neuroimaging to the impacts of exposure to discrimination.
The 2025 series will span March 7 to May 9, occurring weekly on Fridays from 2-3:30 PM in Room 305 (the Dome room) of the Metcalf Research Building.
PhD student Sky Gin, the organizer of this series with Dr. C. Malik Boykin, shared that the series will feature invited researchers presenting key topics, including collective cognition, AI and the mind, and mental and brain health. Dr. Maria Eckstein (Google DeepMind) will discuss cognitive models of decision-making and how AI can enhance our understanding of human cognition. Dr. Eva Pietri (University of Colorado Boulder) studies social cognition in diversity and inclusion contexts, particularly how people interpret and react to bias-reduction interventions in STEM. Dr. Jones Taylor (Rutgers University) examines the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying group dynamics and social influence. Dr. Ajua Duker (New York University) investigates moral cognition and how individuals make ethical decisions in social contexts. Dr. Cinoo Lee (Stanford University) explores how brain networks shape individual and collective cognition, particularly in dynamic social environments. These speakers will present via Zoom.
Dr. Robb Rutledge (Yale University) will engage in person, discussing computational approaches to understanding mood, motivation, and decision-making. Hosted in conjunction with Brown University’s Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka (PsychoHairapy) integrates psychology and hairstyling as a unique therapeutic approach to mental health in Black communities. These in-person talks will also be available via a simultaneous Zoom option. They also excitedly will host CoPsy PhD candidate Haley Keglovits who will present a practice dissertation defense in a dedicated session.
Cookies and coffee will also be provided.
For more information about the speakers, the following explores:
- Maria Eckstein
- Eva Pietri
- Robb Rutledge
- Valerie Jones Taylor
- Ajua Duker
- Haley Keglovits
- Cinoo Lee
- Afiya Mbilishaka
Cookies and coffee will also be provided.
