Establishing a New Degree Program Around Cognitive Science is Worthwhile

The cognitive science student organization Intelligenzia ry this week made a statement in favor of continuing the intake of cognitive science education at the Faculty of Arts as soon as possible. In our opinion, the uncertainty about the future of education has continued for too long, and the absence of new students is harmful to the continuity of the discipline. Opening admission would be possible by establishing a cognitive science specialization track in an existing program or alternatively in an entirely new digital humanities degree program.

The statement below was sent to the university's vice rector, the dean of the Faculty of Arts, and the head of the Department of Modern Languages. The dean agreed in their response about cognitive science's potential, and the student representatives of cognitive science were welcomed to negotiations regarding cognitive science once the new departments begin their work in January. This appears to be a promising direction, and Intelligenzia continues its educational policy influence in the Faculty of Arts. Cognitive science researchers and students also play an important role as the significance of the discipline and its research topics is brought forward more actively. The October AI & Philosophy event was an excellent example of this.

Dear Vice Rector Sari Lindblom, Dean Hanna Snellman, and Department Head Ulla Tuomarla, We are contacting you as representatives of cognitive science students and would like to express our concern for the continuity of our discipline. We are worried about the survival of cognitive science in Helsinki, as new students have been admitted to the cognitive science degree program last in autumn 2015. We hope for prompt action on this matter, as discontinuing cognitive science education would be a loss for both the University of Helsinki and cognitive science expertise in Finland. Cognitive science produces absolutely essential knowledge in today's world about human information processing and human-machine interaction. Our student organization is often asked about opportunities to study cognitive science, and the research topics of the field attract wide interest with their timeliness. For example, the AI & Philosophy event organized by cognitive science staff and students and SFY ry in October 2017 gathered over 300 listeners for the entire day. In January 2017, cognitive science transferred from the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences to the Faculty of Arts and has since been at the Department of Modern Languages as part of the LingDA master's program, but not as its own specialization track. This solution was from the beginning thought to be temporary, and cognitive science is indeed moving to the Department of Digital Humanities (DDH) being established at the turn of the year. This is absolutely the right direction, and cognitive science certainly has much to offer the department. During the faculty transfer, discussions were held about cognitive science continuing as a specialization track either in an existing or later established master's program. However, it has come to our attention that establishing a cognitive science specialization track and continuing intake now appears uncertain. This is concerning, as a new specialization track would have to be established at the latest before 2023, otherwise education will be discontinued when degree requirements expire. We would now like to emphasize the importance of promptly establishing the specialization track for the success of the new department and the survival of the cognitive science discipline. As you surely know, the university's task is, in addition to producing research, also to organize teaching. One of the key goals of the University of Helsinki's 2017-2020 strategy is to bring students to the center and involve them in research already at the beginning of their studies. For the new digital humanities department to renew and develop, students interested in the department's disciplines are also needed to continue its research work. The cognitive science education program has traditionally attracted many research-oriented and motivated students who often also continue as doctoral students. Popular research practice courses have also produced valuable data for research groups and even international article publications. It would be possible to create a genuinely interdisciplinary master's program in line with Big Wheel goals around cognitive science, for example combined with digital humanities and computer science. Promptly filling the cognitive science professorship would be extremely important for planning the future of cognitive science education. The professorship, unfilled since 2013, is fortunately mentioned in the Department of Modern Languages' personnel plan, but filling the position should also be transferred to the DDH department's plans. With a timely and research-focused digital humanities master's program, where cognitive science would be one of the specialization tracks, the Faculty of Arts and the University of Helsinki could raise their profile internationally as well. Cognitive science, in turn, would gain new students and a decision for the long-continued uncertainty. We therefore hope you will consider the significance of establishing the cognitive science specialization track in your decision-making. Respectfully, Intelligenzia ry, Cognitive Science Student Organization