Master’s Programme in Cognition & Communication

Department of Media, Cognition and Communication

University of Copenhagen

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of processes of consciousness in the broadest

sense. In its classic incarnation, cognitive science has been dominated by neuroscience,
psychology and computer science, but core disciplines of the humanities are increasingly
taking part in the shaping and development of the field. Simultaneously, corporations are
increasingly asking for candidates who can convert knowledge about cognition into products
and services concerning interpersonal communication—both face-to-face and as mediated by
technologies. The Master’s programme in Cognition & Communication at the University of
Copenhagen combines an interdisciplinary and theoretical focus with a practical principle of
relevancy in the context of media and people:

How can we understand cognitive processes associated with the widespread media
consumption of individuals in modern society?

Programme Details
The humanities-based cognitive programme Cognition & Communication is a 2-year study
programme, including a six-month thesis project. The combined course-load is thus
equivalent to 120 ECTS points including the thesis.
The study programme endows candidates with theoretically rooted and empirically
based insight into fundamental aspects of human cognition. This cognition is not solely
rooted in language, but builds upon the interplay between senses, emotions, thoughts and
actions. The interaction between people takes place simultaneously at all of these levels, and
increasingly involves media and other technological interfaces. Cognitive science supplies
theories and tools for the modelling, analysis and understanding of the processes in both
human-human as well as human-machine interaction.
The study programme combines theoretical studies with concrete empirical analyses
to supports the progressive construction of academic competencies. The study programme is
structurally constituted by consecutive and concluding course progressions followed by
exams or evaluation.

Examples of central topics that will both be introduced in the core modules and examined
more thoroughly in courses related to elective subjects are, among others:

• Embodied Cognition: How does our bodily reality constrain and enable our
experiences and understanding of the surroundings?
• Embodied Communication: How does the media and interpersonal communication
facilitate and utilize body language?
• Modality-specific Cognition: How do the neural underpinnings of vision and hearing
play into audiovisual communication, and how does sensory input relate to verbal
communication?
 • Social Cognition: How do we experience other people—how is our understanding of
the self and others connected? How does an understanding of the brain’s architecture
offer insights into the processes of communication as both active and interactive
processes?
• Reality Status Evaluation: Which mental processes support the evaluation of the
reality status (online reality, mediated simulated reality as fiction, hypothesis, fact,
advertising, etc.) of communication elements?
• Emotions: Which roles do emotions and feelings play in our cognitive abilities and
our experiences of self and others?
• Values: To which degree and in which way is human action motivated by values?
• Empirical Methodologies: Which qualitative and quantitative methods are relevant for
investigations into the meaning of cognition and communication for interaction
between humans?
• Communication and Learning: How are communication patterns learned, and how
does one communicate in a learning-oriented way?

Forms of Teaching and Working

All teaching is in English. The forms of teaching and working are based on the principle of
theoretically rooted practical relevance in connection with human cognition and
communication in daily life. Students will participate, often collectively, in oral and written
exercises related to analysis as well as presentation technique, sometimes in cooperation with
external partners.

Job Market Profile

Candidates are educated in theories and methods from philosophy, film and media studies,
psychology and sociology in order to analyse how and why humans think, feel and
experience certain things in their interaction with other humans and with different media—
not least in those instances where humans relate to other humans through the media. Media
should here be understood in the broad sense as all of the designed objects and environments
we increasingly surround ourselves with at work as well as in other places—from the
telephone through television to the PC and the gaming console.
Since processes of thought and emotion figure prominently in almost all human
interaction, along with the simultaneous omnipresence of digital media technology, the
candidates’ advanced understanding of patterns of interaction may help them solve problems
in many work contexts. The candidates’ key competencies will be their understanding of the
bodily, emotional and cultural aspects of cognition as well as of communicative processes in
relation hereto.

The candidate will be able to work within areas such as:

• Problem solving related to human factors in work contexts

• Human Resource Management
• Design and evaluation of software and hardware, especially concerning simulation of
intelligent processes in connection with products
• Planning and implementation of user surveys
• Communication assignments, also in connection with more technical solution models
• Production of fiction and experience design (film, TV, web design, computer games)

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 • Consulting services, knowledge services, and the communication of knowledge in
relation to design and evaluation of various products and media products.

In addition to academic research and independent undertakings, particularly obvious

fields/sectors are:

• Communications, including organisational communication

• Advertising and PR (emotional design, consumer and stakeholder surveys)
• The entertainment media business (audiovisual fiction including computer games)
• Information and Communication Technology corporations (software and hardware
development and system design)
• Education
• Production (primarily developers and producers of assisting technology, e.g. products
for users with special perceptual and cognitive needs, such as the blind or reading
impaired)
• Cultural institutions
• The health sector
• The consultant business

Anchoring, Steering Committee and Research Environment

The study programme is anchored at the Department of Media, Cognition and
Communication at the University of Copenhagen. A steering Committee––consisting of
professors Torben Grodal, Dan Zahavi and Klaus Bruhn Jensen––in cooperation with the
department’s study board has the overall responsibility for the programme.
The study programme’s subject area is highly prioritized research-wise at the department:
The department houses the Danish National Research foundation’s Center for Subjectivity
Research (CFS); professor Dan Zahavi is the director of CFS, as well as the co-editor of the
journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. CFS is the pivot for a number of
internationally oriented activities (conferences, symposiums, master classes, etc.), some of
will be part of the study programme. Two of the department’s research priority areas, namely
those of Cognition, Culture, Interaction and Audiovisual Communication (under the direction
of professor Torben Grodal) and Digital Communication and Aesthetics (under the direction
of professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen) likewise regularly host symposiums and smaller
conferences with the possibility for student participation. As a result students will have
extensive opportunities to participate in research conferences, guest lectures and the like.