GSI COGSCI Fall

Graduate Student Instructor Position

The Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science is looking to hire up to four GSIs in the Fall 2026 term to lead discussion sections in the following course: COGSCI 200, three sections (anticipated enrollment: 75 students).

Responsibilities:

• Attend all lectures and scheduled discussion days for the course. Verify your own course schedule against the schedule for the course to which you are applying as a GSI. All GSIs are required to attend the lecture and assigned discussion sections. Note that both lecture and discussion sections are scheduled as in-person instruction.
• Hold at least two office hours each week.
• Make discussion section plans and lead the sections as instructor.
• Grade assignments, per lead faculty instruction.
• Meet weekly with the teaching team and respond promptly to emails.
• Additional items listed in fraction calculation form

Required Qualifications:

• Enrolled in good standing as a graduate student at the University of Michigan
• Available to teach the needed Thursday afternoon and Friday section times
• Experience with Canvas
• Relevant academic preparation for teaching the course material
• Willingness to develop innovative approaches in the classroom.
• If the language of instruction at a student's undergraduate institution was not English, the student must be evaluated by the English Language Institute (ELI) for English proficiency and either pass the GSI-OET or have this test waived by the ELI before they can be eligible for a GSI appointment in LS&A.

To be appointed as a GSI or GSSA, a graduate student must be in good standing in their degree program and for Terms I and II, must be registered for not less than six (6) credit hours. With written approval of the student's faculty advisor, five (5) credit hours may be acceptable.

Desired

Qualifications:

• Previous experience as a GSI is desired.
• LSA graduate students are preferred.

Course

Description:

The goal of this course is to provide an integrated overview of some of the major approaches to understanding the mind and brain; approaches that together constitute contemporary cognitive science. The problems associated with understanding how and why our minds work the way they do are some of the deepest, most important and most complex facing science, and no single discipline can lay claim to privileged status when it comes to making progress.

Indeed, much of the recent excitement in the field has come from approaches that draw on the ideas and methods of multiple disciplines. In this course you will get a taste of some of that excitement.

The ideas and methods represented here include those drawn from empirical psychology, linguistics, philosophy, computer science and artificial intelligence, neuroscience, behavioral economics, ethology, and evolutionary biology. Rather than treat each approach separately, we focus on a set of relatively independent topics, each of which engages several of these approaches.

The topics span learning, perception, language, decision making, memory, emotion, morality and happiness. Each time we visit a topic, we will ask:
What theoretical issues are at stake? How are they being addressed? What are the key ideas? What are the basic phenomena, how were they discovered, and what counts as an explanation of them? We will start with topics that illustrate some of the fundamental ideas and then branch out from there. The aim is to arrive at an overview of the big ideas of cognitive science;

the theoretical principles that constitute our current understanding of how our minds work.

Modes of Work:

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Contact Information:

• For questions about how to apply for the position, please contact weinberg-institute

Decision Making Process:

Weinberg Institute staff and the course instructor will review applications. The course instructor will make final decisions about hiring.

Selection Process:

Applications are reviewed, and decisions made, based on each applicant’s knowledge, experience, and past teaching record. Preferential consideration will be given to applicants with relevant academic preparation for teaching the course material.

GEO Contract Information:

The University will not discriminate against any applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, marital status, familial status, parental status or pregnancy status, sex, gender identity or expression (whether actual or perceived), sexual orientation, age, height, weight, disability, citizenship status, veteran status, HIV antibody status, political belief, membership in any social or political organization, participation in a grievance or complaint whether formal or informal, medical conditions including those related to…