Academic regulations for Master’s degree in Cognitive Semiotics

1. The outline provisions of the academic regulations The academic regulations for Master’s degree in Cognitive Semiotics (2007) have been drawn up by Board of studies, Scandinavian Institute and have been approved be the Dean of The Faculty of Humanities on 26-09-2007 The academic regulations take effect on 01-09-2007 On successful completion of the Master’s degree in Cognitive Semiotics, the student will be entitled to use the title Master of Arts in Cognitive Semiotics The academic direction and primary subject areas of the programme The aim of the Master’s degree is to: • strengthen the student’s academic knowledge and skills and to improve theoretical and methodological qualifications and increase his autonomy in relation to the Bachelor level; • provide the student with greater scholarly insight through advanced use of concepts, theories and methods in the studied topics, including training in scientific work and methodology that further develops the student’s ability to perform more specialised professional functions and to participate in scientific development work; • qualify the student for further education, including the PhD programme, cf. the Executive Order regarding the PhD programme and the PhD degree (the PhD Executive Order). Academic skills and qualifications A Master’s degree in Cognitive Semiotics gives the student the following qualifications and skills: Qualifications: Upon completion of the programme, the student will have knowledge, understanding and skills in the following areas: • knowledge of general semiotic theories, historical as well as current, on the fundamental elements of meaning and understanding; • insight into cognitive theories on e.g. consciousness, the memory system, the attention system and imagination as well as knowledge of the key principles of social cognition; • knowledge of the basic assumptions in Cognitive Linguistics, including an understanding of the general cognitive processes upon which text production and text interpretation rest; • knowledge of the basic hypotheses in Cognitive Aesthetics, including the cognitive processes upon which the conversion from visual information to conceptualised meaning are based, as well as knowledge of the basic structures of literary works of art and their relation to human cognition. Skills: Through academic course work, the student acquires the following academic and social competences: • the ability to identify the general principles of meaning regardless of the medium of communication and thus acquire a smooth capacity to function in an analytically active and creative manner in relation to any given communicative situation, be it linguistic or visual, artistic or non-artistic, commercial or non-commercial; • the ability to understand the meaning effects of a linguistic expression and the underlying cause; • the ability to analyse and understand the intended meaning of a visual expression, including understanding the cause of the expression’s meaning effects, even when these are not explicitly intentional; • the ability to compare objects from different domains with respect to their meaning effects by means of a developed sense of and thorough insight into the conditions that would justify such a comparison, and thus develop the ability to function trans-disciplinarily; • the ability to understand meaning phenomena (texts, images, film, art), both as objects – how do they make sense? – and in relation to the person who perceives them – why do they make sense to a person, what is it that makes them particularly effective to people; • the ability to understand the general cognitive principles that govern social communication , including the ability to localise the source of the inefficiency of a communicated message. Authority The Education Ministerial Order, order no. The Education Executive Order No. 338 of 6 May 2004 on Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes at universities, VTU, see http://www.au.dk/en/rules/2004/bek338 Admission requirements and prerequisites This programme grants access to: The Master’s degree in Cognitive Semiotics gives access to a PhD degree programme. Transitional regulations The student can be transferred from the 2001 and 2006 regulations to the 2007 regulations in accordance with the following guidelines: A passed examination in Cognitive Semiotics is transferred to Cognitive Semiotics. A passed examination in Cognitive Linguistics is transferred to Cognitive Semantics. A passed examination in Cognitive Aesthetics is transferred to Visual Art and Literary Art. A passed examination in Mind and Cognition is transferred to Social Cognition and General Cognition.

2. The Structure of the programme Overview of exams - Module / first-year exam Exam title / type of examination Subject type / marking Sem./ECTS Cognition and Semiotics Cognition and Semiotics Constituent and mandatory 1. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 20 ECTS Cognitive Linguistics Cognitive semantics Constituent and mandatory 2. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS Text Linguistics Constituent and mandatory 3. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS Cognitive Aesthetics The Visual Work of Art Constituent and mandatory 1. sem. - External exam with an external examiner Graded 10 ECTS Literary Art Constituent and mandatory 2. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS Mind and cognition Social Cognition Constituent and mandatory 2. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS General Cognition Constituent and mandatory 3. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS Elective subject (10 ECTS / 3. sem.) Work Experience Placement Elective course 3. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS Elective subject Elective course 3. sem. - Internal exam with a co-examiner Graded 10 ECTS Thesis Thesis Constituent and mandatory 4. sem. - External exam with an external examiner Graded 30 ECTS

Diagram of the programme's structure - 1. semester 2. semester 3. semester 4. semester Cognition and Semiotics 20 ECTS The Visual Work of Art 10 ECTS Cognitive semantics 10 ECTS Literary Art 10 ECTS Social Cognition 10 ECTS Text Linguistics 10 ECTS General Cognition 10 ECTS Elective subject 10 ECTS Thesis 30 ECTS

Rules and regulations for academic progression - The Cognition and Semiotics module must be the first subject passed. In the Cognitive Linguistics module, the student must pass Cognitive Semantics before sitting for the examination in Text Linguistics. In the Cognitive Aesthetics module, the student must pass Visual Art before sitting for the examination in Literary Art. Students cannot hand in a thesis until they have passed all other examinations for the Master’s degree programme.

3. The programme's individual subjects and exams: Cognition and Semiotics This module gives the student the following qualifications: • knowledge of the main cognitive theories and theories of meaning and concepts, methodologies and fundamental assumptions related to the field; • a general overview of standard cognitive problems such as categorisation, conceptual metaphors, blending, meaning schemas, concept formation and sign theory; • knowledge of the experiential and sensorimotor basis of meaning structures as well as their dependence on the communicational context. The module gives the following competences: • The student learns to quickly and accurately pinpoint the basic structures (or so-called schemata) that support all meaning comprehension and meaning construction for both linguistic and visual meaning phenomena. The student becomes able to understand and analyse a given meaning phenomenon in a real-life situation, whether it involves image or text. The student strengthens his/her communication comprehension and therefore the ability to understand the reasons why communication does or does not function adequately in a given situation. The module consist of the following exams: 1. Cognition and Semiotics Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student: • masters the basic concepts and theories of cognitive semiotics; • is familiar with the basic concepts of meaning creation (such as schemas, frame, metaphorical mappings, blending); • is familiar with the relationship between bodily/perceptual experience and linguistic meaning structures; • is able to analyse actual meaning phenomena whether perceptive or linguistic; • is able to structure own material logically and express himself/herself clearly. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English Course description Cognition and Semiotics provides an introduction to the basic concepts and theories of cognitive semiotics. It presents the student with the schematic basis of meaning construction and the concepts tied to it (metaphor, image schemas, frame, blending, etc.). It aims to give the student insight into the way in which meaning construction is bound up with perception and sensorimotor experience. It attempts to give the student a general understanding of what meaning is, regardless of whether it is expressed in language or images, in speech or in perception. Finally, it aims at providing the student with the general theoretical tools he/she needs to analyse specific meaning phenomena. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Written Supplied/asked question 2 week(s) Submission Remarks Scope of assignment: max. 15 standard pages. Cognitive Linguistics This module gives the student the following qualifications: • knowledge of basic hypotheses and fields within cognitive linguistics; • knowledge of the relationship between linguistic syntax and semantics; • knowledge of the relationship between language and other cognitive skills such as: perception, attention and memory; • knowledge of the relationship between linguistic theory and other disciplines such as perception theory, cognitive psychology, neurocognition and gestalt theory. The module gives the following skills: • The module gives the student practical and accurate skills in understanding and determining the composition of texts in a broad sense (from individual statements to large bodies of texts). • The student therefore becomes able to determine the basis of the meaning of a text, including in particular an understanding of ways to achieve aesthetic effects by exploiting general cognitive principles for linguistic creation. The module consist of the following exams: 1. Cognitive semantics Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on evaluating the extent to which the student: • is familiar with the linguistic mechanisms which underpin the meaning effect of a sentence; • is able to link specific linguistic constructions to more general cognitive skills; • demonstrates understanding of the way the world of human experience is reflected in linguistic constructions. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English Course description The course deals with linguistic meaning. It aims at explaining the cognitive processes underlying the semantic level in language, including categorisation, the creation of metaphors and metonymies, organisation of a sentence in terms of figure/ground structure, schematisation and the principles for supplementing non-explicit semantic content. In addition, the course explains the different types of sentence structures and the way they are bound up with the semantic level. The connection between language and other cognitive systems is foregrounded. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Oral Supplied/asked question 30 minutes 1 hour(s) Selected Presentation Remarks The candidate must answer a question formulated by the examiner taken from a set syllabus. Materials permitted: Notes and relevant texts included in the syllabus. 2. Text Linguistics Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student: • is familiar with the general principles for the creation of textual coherence; • is able to recognise the most common principles for the meaning effects of a sentence in a broader textual context, including the identification of metaphors, figure/ground structures, point of view and inferences; • is able to distinguish between the analysis of the linguistic level of a fictional text and a literary analysis proper. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English Course description The course deals with textual meaning. It aims at explaining the cognitive principles which govern the combination of sentences into a complex semantic whole, including different types of coherence principles. The course also deals with the way the cognitive principles that apply to a sentence help create the global meaning of a text, including the way a point of view or a vantage point is manifested in the text. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Written Self-chosen subject Submission Remarks Individual written home assignment on a topic of own choice and a scope of max. 15 pages. Cognitive Aesthetics This module gives the student the following qualifications: • insight into the basic structures of aesthetic experience and aesthetic objects, including the relationship between aesthetic perception and everyday perception; • understanding of those basic elements and structures in works of art that trigger specific meaning effects; • understanding of the similarities between everyday and aesthetic meaning construction as well as the particularity of the aesthetic object. This applies to both visual art and literary texts. The module gives the following competences: • the student becomes able to provide a simple and rational description of a work of art, including arriving at an understanding of the cause of the meaning effects; • it teaches the student to identify the mechanisms at play when a work of art has no apparent aesthetic affect; • it strengthens the student’s understanding of the fact that a work of art is not an absolutely singular, unique meaning phenomenon but depends on the cognition of everyday life. Thus, it teaches the student to recognise which creative application of everyday cognition constitutes the core of aesthetic practice; • it teaches the student to explain the meaning of even very complex aesthetic objects in a clear, reasoned manner. The module consist of the following exams: 1. The Visual Work of Art Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on evaluating the extent to which the student: • masters the fundamental means of meaning construction within visual art; • is able to analyse works of art with respect to their meaning effects; • is familiar with the relationship between visual everyday cognition and visual aesthetic cognition; • is able to structure own work logically and express himself/herself clearly. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English Course description The course deals with visual aesthetics. It aims at providing an introduction to the general principles for the way in which the visual system functions, to those features that are intrinsically significant for the visual system and how these features and principles can be exploited creatively in the aesthetic work in view of producing given meaning effects. The course is a general introduction to the means available to artists to create meaning in the visual medium and provides tools for exact aesthetic meaning analysis. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Oral Supplied/asked question 30 minutes 1 hour(s) Selected Presentation Remarks Set oral examination. The candidate must answer a question formulated by the examiner and taken from a set syllabus. Materials permitted: Notes and relevant texts included in the syllabus. 2. Literary Art Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on evaluating the extent to which the student: • masters the fundamental means of meaning creation within literary art; • is able to analyse literary works of art with respect to their meaning effects; • is familiar with the relationship between linguistic everyday cognition and linguistic aesthetic cognition; • is able to structure own material logically and express himself/herself clearly. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English or Danish Course description The course deals with literary texts. It provides an introduction to narrative models and the cognitive mechanisms at the root of the creation of meaning in literary texts. It discusses the means available to artists to create meaning and produce aesthetic effects in literary texts. The course provides an insight into the relationship between aesthetic meaning creation in literary texts and meaning creation in everyday language and everyday cognition. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Written Self-chosen subject Submission Remarks Individual written home assignment on a topic of own choice and a scope of max. 15 pages. Mind and cognition This module gives the student the following qualifications: • knowledge of fundamental hypotheses within the cognitive sciences about perception, memory, attention and emotions; • knowledge of theories about social cognition, i.e. theories about inter-human relations and the basis of social organisation; • knowledge of the interplay between the motor system and perception and the importance of the motor system for social interaction; • insight into the hypotheses developed within recent neuroscience about the neurophysiological basis for theory of mind as well as other more specific cognitive skills. The module gives the following competences: • on the basis of insight into the basic cognitive skills of man, the course strengthens the student's ability to understand why individuals think, speak and experience the way they do and why man's social behaviour is the way it is; • the course enables the student to ascribe general knowledge about the basic structure of cognition and perception into an assessment and analysis of the effect of given meaning phenomena (e.g. advertisements and texts) on a given receiver or group of receivers; • the course strengthens the student’s ability to determine which cognitive or social skills are not intact in a given situation and thus enables the student to make a competent contribution to therapeutic work. The module consist of the following exams: 1. Social Cognition Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student: • is aware of the important differences between the cognition of man and other primates; • is familiar with the important steps in the development of the individual as a social being; • knows the most fundamental principles for language acquisition; • understands the correlation between the development of language and the development of non-linguistic skills. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English Course description The course deals with the interplay between individual cognition and social exchange. It aims at explaining important aspects of the development of the individual as a social being, including the understanding of intentionality and the development of the so-called “theory of mind”. The course provides a rudimentary understanding of the mechanisms underlying language acquisition and an understanding of the way the development of language affects general cognitive skills related to interaction with other people. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Written Self-chosen subject Submission Remarks Individual written home assignment on a topic of own choice and a scope of max. 15 pages. 2. General Cognition Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student: • is familiar with the most common aspects of the visual system and its relation to attention, imagination and the motor system; • knows the most important aspects of memory and the way it works; • is able to correlate localised brain damage with a lack of specific cognitive skills. Method of instruction: The instruction takes place in English and is based on lectures by the teacher with some student contributions. The students are encouraged to participate actively in the instruction whether by asking questions relating to comprehension, adding additional information or providing criticism. Language of instruction: English Course description The course deals with aspects of individual cognition such as perception, attention and imagination, the relation between perception and the motor system as well as memory. Emphasis is placed on the correlation between the topics and the linguistic dimension of the subject. The course also emphasises the neurological basis of cognitive skills and introduces to certain explanatory neurobiological models, including mirror neuron theory and certain theories about the complex relation between the visual and the motor systems. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Oral Supplied/asked question 30 minutes 1 hour(s) Selected Presentation Remarks Set oral examination. The candidate must answer a question formulated by the examiner and taken from a set syllabus. Materials permitted: Notes and relevant texts included in the syllabus. Elective subject The module gives the student the following qualifications: • the ability to apply semiotic theories to specific areas and thereby increase empirical knowledge of these areas (text, literature, images, visual art, computer interfaces, website design, marketing, branding, film, rites, myths, social institutions, neurocognition, neurolinguistics, philosophy of language, etc.); • the ability both to recognise the specificity of a topic in accordance with the knowledge provided by the home department and the general characteristics that make the topic amenable to semiotic analysis; • the ability, if desired, to use the elective subject as a preparatory study for the thesis and thereby acquire more in-depth insight into the collection, processing and structuring of analytical material; • the ability to apply academic insight to actual work tasks in a given situation, company or organisation. The module gives the following competences: • the ability to work in multidisciplinary contexts, include knowledge from other subject areas, adapt analytical tools and methodologies to different types of topics, synthesize knowledge from different areas, identify correlations and respect differences; • the ability to collaborate with individuals with different competences and different knowledge backgrounds and who may be accustomed to applying other methodologies and in that way become able to assess and illustrate a given topic from several different angles. The work experience placement also gives the student the following competences: • the ability to work in a practice-oriented manner and to apply scholarly knowledge, methodologies and skills to the solution of specific tasks for an organisation; • the ability to determine which academic skills are relevant in a given business context and to present arguments in favour of their ability to contribute towards the performance of actual tasks for organisations and businesses; • the ability to collaborate with individuals with a different educational background and apply own knowledge in such a context with a view to translating ideas into activities with commercial value; • the ability to plan and structure tasks appropriately within limited time and with limited resources, including keeping deadlines and performing efficiently. The module consist of the following exams: 1. Work Experience Placement Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student: • is able to describe the institution or company; • explains and is able to analyse own functions in the institution/company; • contemplates what he/she has contributed to the workplace as a result of own qualifications and competences; • explains how the work experience placement has changed or strengthened those qualifications and competences. Method of instruction: The period of work experience placement does not involve any actual instruction but the student has the opportunity to obtain individual guidance. Language of instruction: Danish or English Course description During the work experience placement, the student takes part in the work at an institution or company. The student is responsible for entering into an agreement with the workplace, with the help of the institute/department. A teacher on the behalf of the Board of Studies gives prior approval of the chosen institution or company on the basis of a written consent by the latter describing the tasks the student will be handling. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Written Self-chosen subject Submission Remarks The examination in Work Experience Placement takes the form of a written report of 12–15 pages. The placement must as a minimum equal one month of full-time work and comply with current requirements to work experience placement (http://www.humaniora.au.dk/uddannelse/ophold/praktik). 2. Elective subject Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student: • is able to apply cognitive semiotic concepts and methodologies to a chosen topic; • demonstrates a strict methodological approach to this application; • combines knowledge from different subject areas; • is able to structure own material logically and express himself/herself clearly. Method of instruction: If the student chooses an elective topic in Cognitive Semiotics, the method of instruction is as described above. In other cases, the method is determined by the institute/department at which the elective is studied. Language of instruction: Danish or English Course description The elective module comprises one course. The aim of the course is to give the student an opportunity to shape his/her educational profile by including other subject areas than those that are strictly related to semiotics. In addition, it gives the student an opportunity to study and analyse a topic that can later be made the subject of a more in-depth analysis in the thesis. The elective can therefore be completed in three different ways: • by attending relevant lessons in Cognitive Semiotics; • by independent study of a topic as agreed with a supervisor; • by taking subjects at the student’s own or other faculties in accordance with the current rules for credits. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Oral Self-chosen subject 30 minutes Presentation Remarks The student submits a written synopsis of max. 7 pages two weeks prior to the examination. The synopsis must include a motivated description of the chosen topic. The choice of methodology must be motivated and the results of the analysis as well as the theoretical conclusions should be briefly indicated. The synopsis is accompanied by a syllabus. The synopsis forms the basis of the student’s presentation at the oral examination and the subsequent discussion between the examiner and the student. The student is given a combined mark in which the written and the verbal presentations carry equal weight. Thesis Qualifications: Upon completion of the programme, the student will have knowledge, understanding and skills in the following areas: • knowledge of select general and specific areas of knowledge within the subject; • the ability to independently and critically define and examine a topic; • the ability to analyse complex material in depth and comment on it; • skills in the application of the scholarly methodologies of the subject; • the ability to communicate about complex issues in a scholarly manner. Skills Through his/her scholarly work with the thesis, the student acquires the following academic and social skills: • the ability to independently plan and carry out a focused scientific investigation of up to six months' duration of a chosen topic and as a result of this process learn to structure an extensive amount of material and issues; • the ability to partake in research work; • the ability to apply scholarly methodology and theory in the work with a specific, limited academic issue at a high academic level; • the ability to work in a project-oriented manner, including the ability to plan and conduct the project work whilst giving due consideration to time and other resources; • the ability to critically assess methodology and theory. The module consist of the following exams: 1. Thesis Objective: In the evaluation of the student’s performance, special emphasis is placed on evaluating the extent to which the student: • demonstrates familiarity with general scientific methodological principles; • demonstrates skills in applying methodologies and theories when independently defining and processing a topic relating to Cognitive Semiotics; • demonstrates general understanding of the subject; • demonstrates understanding of concepts, including the ability to accurately explain the content of the concepts used; • the ability to structure own material and provide consistent arguments; • explains himself/herself clearly. Method of instruction: The framework for individual supervision is agreed with a supervisor. Language of instruction: Danish or English Course description The thesis is a major independent assignment of a scholarly nature and must document the student’s ability to work in a scholarly manner with a limited academic topic of own choice. The topic of the thesis is agreed with the supervisor. The supervisor and the student jointly prepare an agreement with information about the type of thesis (with or without a product) and the topic as well as a plan regarding supervision and the date of submission of the thesis. The thesis can include an independent product prepared by the student. This product can consist of a report or an investigation of a company. METHOD OF EVALUATION 1 Examinees Product Product framework Duration Preparation time Materials permitted Basis for assessment Individual Written Self-chosen subject Submission Remarks The examination consists of a written assignment on a topic of own choice of 60–100 pages.