SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind

The SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind It is hard to conceive of a topic of more broad and personal interest than the study of the mind. Whether the area of focus is history, literature, philosophy, economics, anthropology, linguistics, computer science, molecular biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, or the traditional mind-studying disciplines of psychology, neuroscience or medicine, there is an underlying fascination with how the mind works and how it affects what people do. Researchers throughout this range of disciplines are, in fact, after answers to similar questions. The SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara is a catalyst for interdisciplinary study of the relationship of brain and mind. Some of the most exciting areas in cognitive neuroscience lie at the boundaries of neuroscience and psychology, powered by new advanced analytical technologies and tools in physics, chemistry, molecular biology and genetics, engineering and mathematics. The Center integrates a wide range of scholarly endeavors and technologies in the humanities, social sciences and the sciences. These will include, for example, the metaphysics and the philosophy of the mind; methodologies in the social and behavioral sciences; and the relatively recent tools that have been developed in the sciences such as functional neuro-imaging, genetic techniques, computational modeling and immersive virtual environment technology. The key to the success of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind is the unique inter-disciplinary culture of UC Santa Barbara. For a variety of reasons, the academic and teaching climate is unusually free of barriers to collaboration, and the faculty and administration strongly encourage and support work across academic fields. In addition to research, the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind is committed to developing innovative ways to communicate questions and discoveries, and to stimulating discussion among the disciplines to advance our understanding of the relationship of brain and mind. The SAGE Distinguished Visiting Fellow attracts the best academic leaders from a broad array of disciplines around the world to UC Santa Barbara. The interdisciplinary work at the SAGE Center offers far-reaching explanations of human phenomena, such as social interactions, stress, conflict resolution, decision making, consumer economics, criminality, and much more. The ultimate goal of the center is both highly ambitious and refreshingly simple: when you understand the mind, you understand the human condition.