When students double major in related fields, or if they minor in a field related to their major field, there are sometimes classes that can potentially count toward both sets of requirements. The policies below outline our standard practices for counting a single course for multiple majors/minors (i.e. double-counting).
Double-counting between the Linguistics major and some other non-linguistics major: Given the relatively small amount of overlap with majors in other departments (apart from CogSci), we readily allow double-counting and don’t draw up specific restrictions as long as the Linguistics major requirements are met.
Double-counting between the Cognitive Science major and other majors: Students who want to double-major in Cognitive Science and some other major can double-count several courses for both majors. How many courses overlap is highly variable and will depend on the second major and will depend on which CogSci courses a student has chosen. The rule of thumb is that the Cognitive Science major allows its introductory courses to be double-counted with other majors, but courses taken for distribution requirements and the concentration should not be double-counted with another major (or minor). That said, the high degree of variability in the course structure of each students’ major means that we consider double-counting requests on a case-by-case basis.
If you have questions about individual courses and whether they can double-count in your situation, please contact the Coordinator of the Cognitive Science major (Prof. Abrams: lise.abrams@pomona.edu).
For students interested in majoring/minoring in both majors within the department:
Double-Counting between the Linguistics major and the Cognitive Science major: This is simply a specific case of the general Cognitive Science double-counting policy above. The rule of thumb means that courses taken for the distribution requirement and the concentration in the Cognitive Science major cannot double-count, but the Introductory courses (LGCS 10, LGCS 11) can double-count. (But again, as above, because of high variability in the CogSci major structure we do consider requests on a case-by-case basis.)
Double-Counting between Ling/CogSci majors and minors: Students who want to minor in Linguistics or Cognitive (while majoring in the other) can double-count two courses, one of which is LGCS 010. The other course to double-count can be chosen by the student.