PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FIRST SEMINAR WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE BPCN SEMINAR ROOM: JENTOWER, 18TE ETAGE. LEUTRAGRABEN 1.
FILMS to SCIENCES
SCIENCES to FILMS
IS QUALITY ACCURACY? OR ACCURACY IS QUALITY?
Brain functions, general psychology, metal disorders, AI in films.
Is it anything worth to watch and discuss?
Find your answers in "Cinema Cognitivo " -How popular films depict today’s neuroscientific findings?
The course will present a list of popular films with direct relevance to cognitive neurosciences. The students are expected (1) to watch the films and (2) give a critical comment / Referat and lead a discussion on the accuracy and errors of one given film. The cognitive neuroscience topics, the films are referring to, should be introduced properly first, refreshing everyone’s knowledge on the topic and finally critically discussed how popular believes / artistic depictions misshape or mirror them correctly. Finally, the group should rank and judge each film according to its accuracy. The list of the films is composed of the following items below. Language: English.
Requirements:
Every student needs to choose one of the listed topics/films on the first occasion. From this topic they need to prepare a Referat during the semester in the following format:
First and most importantly, they need to present the group the scientific background of the topic. The previously learned material must be refreshed and additional state-of-the-art knowledge about the topic must be presented. This presentation should be done by Powerpoint slides and be approximately 20-40 min long. It must go deeper than the previously learned material about the topic! Next, the speaker shall list aspects of the film which the group should discuss together. These aspects should be categorized into accurate, correct depictions, matching our current knowledge about the cognitive functions and inaccurate/false/artistic representations or errors. This second part of the seminar should be a discussion with the audience. There is no need here that the speaker tells everything, rather (s)he should lead a discussion on the topic and make a consensus about the positive and negative aspects of the depiction of the topic in the given film.
Finally, the group should give a ranking from 0-100 to the film, according its relevance, accuracy and other aspects.
If the Referat is given by more than one student, then the above described task shall be split in the following way: if two people choose a film, then they both should contribute to the introductory lecture about the topic and thereafter one should list the accuracies while the other should list the mistakes of the film and they should discuss them with each other, with the contribution and arguments of the audience.
In order to have a real, meaningful discussion EVERY STUDENT IS EXPECTED TO WATCH THE FILM PRIOR THE SEMINAR. For this, we at the BPCN purchased all the DVDs and will organize their watching together at the seminar room of the BPCN (Jentower, 18te etage) every week, prior to the seminar on Fridays 16.00-18.00. ONLY STUDENTS ENROLLED TO THE COURSE ARE ALLOWED TO COME TO THESE EVENTS!
Kindly see the list of films, topics and dates below in a tabular format.
In case of questions please contact Prof. Gyula Kovács.
We wish you a fruitful and informative time during the seminar.
Literature
http://psychmovies.com/
Motz B, (2013) Cognitive Science in popular film: the cognitive science movie index TICS 17: 483-5
Nelson EM (2002) Using film to teach psychology: a resource of film study guides
Conner DB (1996) From Monty Python to Total Recall: A feature film activity for the cognitive psychology Course Teaching PSychology. 23: 33-35
Wiertelak EP (2002) And the winner is: Inviting Hollywood into the neuroscience classroom. The J. Undergra Neurosci Ed 1: A4-A17
Film-list:
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Memento
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Still Alice
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Anomalisa
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Regarding Henry
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Awakenings
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Rain man
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Matchstick Man
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Beautiful mind
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Requiem for a dream
Ex Machina
On the first sight
Dopamine
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