Course Syllabus

 

Course Description

What does a dolphin talk about? How does a bat see with sound? Why might an elephant listen with its feet? Who taught cats to communicate with a single look? And when will AI allow us to understand each other?

This course is an expedition into the extraordinary sensory worlds of animal and artificial minds. We will journey from the ocean depths to the digital frontier, exploring how diverse species perceive and navigate their scenery, examining everything from how migratory birds use Earth’s magnetic field to how AI models construct meaning. Through engaging case studies and lively, constructive classroom dialogues you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for animal cognition and communication, and firsthand experiences with the neuroscience that both affords and is inspired by AI.

This course takes a dual approach examining both the brain’s ‘hardware’ and the mind’s ‘software.’ This perspective is essential for thinking critically about fundamental questions like consciousness, sentience, and our responsibilities toward both Animal and Artificial Minds.

So whether your passion is psychology, neuroscience, technology, or animal behaviour, you’ll find them all woven together here: Are we on the brink of decoding the languages of other species? And what can their minds reveal about the future of AI and, importantly, about ourselves?

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

S-tudy the remarkable sensory worlds of animals through key neuroscience concepts.

E-xplore how new tools reshape our understanding of animal ‘hardware’ and AI ‘software.’

N-otice the patterns linking perception and action across human, animal, and AI studies.

S-ynthesise perception theories to compare & illustrate the unique sensory realities across species.

E-ngage in thoughtful dialogues on topics such as AI ethics and the scientific pursuit of understanding sentience.

Expectations of the Students

This course is designed for students from psychology, neuroscience, biology, and computer science who are driven by a curiosity about the nature of minds. If you are intrigued by the inner lives of animals, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, and the fundamental questions of what it means to perceive and feel, you will find a home in this interdisciplinary course.

The Copenhagen Advantage: Studying this topic in Copenhagen offers a distinct advantage, providing a living laboratory where theory and practice converge. You will have unique opportunities to:

• Connect theory to observation by studying the complex social dynamics of elephants at the Copenhagen Zoo, a world-class institution that allows for direct application of cognitive theories.
• Get in touch with pioneering research in bioacoustics, leveraging Copenhagen's position as a hub for scientific innovation to explore how technology is decoding the hidden conversations of the animal kingdom.
• Engage in a global dialogue on neuroethics and animal consciousness, leveraging Copenhagen's role as a center for European scientific and philosophical debate to explore the profound ethical questions recently amplified by the 2024 New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness.

This course offers a rare synthesis of hands-on fieldwork, computational methods, and critical ethical inquiry, placing you at the intersection of some of the most important scientific and philosophical questions of our time.

Faculty

Hi, I’m Sebastian and I teach four courses at DIS:

• The Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity
• The Social Brain
• The Cognitive Neuroscience of Animal and Artificial Minds
• Positive Psychology

Here are a few facets of my life that might peak your interest:

Art Meets Science

I recently worked as a tech artist at the Danish science museum Experimentarium, contributing to their interactive exhibition Future Humans. I built a “futuristic blind date” experience that let visitors explore three emotional modalities in real time:

• Galvanic skin conductance
• Face tracking
• Voice tracking

The goal was to let people "feel" tomorrow’s emotion-technologies and play with their perceptions.

Educator with a team-sport mindset

I’ve been awarded Denmark’s “Best Tutor,” and since then I’ve designed and led six immersive courses across three Danish universities. I run classes with a flat hierarchy and a high level of collaboration - think studio energy with scientific rigour.

Innovation and applied AI

I created a cognitive science app that combines psychology and machine learning to infer personality from social media data while prioritizing privacy. I built my first AI Chatbot when I was 13, placed second in the Danish Championships of AI and now consult Welfare Technology Centres across Denmark on practical, innovative and ethical ways to integrate AI into their services.

 

Approach to Teaching

I see myself less as a lecturer and more as a guide for our expedition. The topics we’re exploring—the minds of animals and AI—are too weird and wonderful for a simple download of facts. My approach is all about shared discovery and hands-on learning, driven by asking big questions rather than just memorizing answers.

What you can expect from me in the classroom:

• My job is to set the stage. I'll bring in the core ideas, the strange case studies, and the latest research to get us started. From there, my main role is to be a catalyst for our conversations, using the 'Central Questions' you see in the calendar to spark debate and push our thinking.

• Think of me as your partner in this. This material can be dense and challenging, and I'm here to help you work through it. I want to help you connect your own interests to the course and develop your projects. In our discussions, curiosity is valued more than certainty. A good question is often more useful than a simple answer, and every voice deserves to be heard.

• We'll connect the dots. This course lives at the intersection of neuroscience, philosophy, AI, and ethics. My job is to help us see the connections, pushing us to look at problems from every angle to build a richer, more complete picture.

So, expect our classroom to feel more like a workshop or a lab than a lecture hall. We’ll spend our time actively grappling with ideas, debating ethical questions, and sharing what we’ve learned from our own observations. My hope is simple: to create a space built on mutual respect and a shared sense of wonder, where we all leave with not just new information, but a fundamentally new way of looking at the incredible variety of minds we share this planet with.

Readings

Core Texts:

• Edd Yong. (2022). An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.
• David Poeppel, George R. Mangun, Michael S. Gazzaniga (2020). The Cognitive Neurosciences, sixth edition
• Michael Tomasello (2022). The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans.
• Clive D. L. Wynne and Monique A. R. Udell (2021). Animal Cognition: Evolution, Behavior and Cognition third edition
• David Eagleman (2020). Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain.

Key Papers, Essays & Perspectives: (A selection of these will be assigned for specific sessions)

• Godfrey-Smith, P. (2016). Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness.
• Ball, P. (2022). The Book of Minds: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens.
• Linden, D. J. (Ed.). (2018). Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience.
• Nagel, T. (1974). What Is It Like to Be a Bat?.
• Pearl, J., & Mackenzie, D. (2018). The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect.
• Singer, P. (2023). Animal Liberation Now.
• Herzing, D. & Starner, T. (2025). DolphinGemma: How Google AI is helping decode dolphin communication.
• Uexküll, J. von. (1934). A Stroll Through the Worlds of Animals and Men.
• de Waal, F. (2017). Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?.
• Aboitiz F., et al. (2021). Identifying animal complex cognition requires natural complexity.
• Briefer, E. F., et al. (2022). Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production.
• Deaner, R. O., Isler, K., Burkart, J., & van Schaik, C. (2007). Overall brain size, and not encephalization quotient, best predicts cognitive ability across non-human primates.
• Herculano-Houzel, S. (2009). The human brain in numbers: A linearly scaled-up primate brain.
• Pilley, J. W., & Reid, A. K. (2011). Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents.
• Schoenemann, P. T., et al. (2005). Prefrontal white matter volume is disproportionately larger in humans.
• Wei et al. (2022). Emergent abilities of large language models.
• Yovel, Y., & Rechavi, O. (2023). AI and the Doctor Dolittle challenge.
• Interspecies.io (n.d.). Interspecies Internet: Exploring Interspecies Communication.
  

 

Policies

Attendance

• We learn best together. Please plan to be at all DIS classes when scheduled.
• If life happens and you miss a class, send me a note by the end of that day so we can keep you in the loop.
• If you miss multiple classes, the Director of Teaching and Learning and the Director of Student Affairs will reach out—simply to check in and support you.
• Absences can affect your grade and standing at DIS. Illness and religious observances are, of course, respected; for multiple absences due to illness, a doctor’s note may be required.

Academic Honesty

• Your ideas matter—and so does giving credit when you build on others’. Do your own work and cite your sources.
• Plagiarism or violating the rules of an assignment results in a final course grade of F and may lead to dismissal. Your home university will be notified.
• Written work may be submitted electronically and checked with plagiarism-detection tools.
• Not sure what counts as proper citation or collaboration? Ask me anytime. I’m happy to help.

Late Work

• Life is busy. If something slips, late essays are accepted up to 3 days after the deadline.
• If you’re hitting a wall, say so early—there’s usually a smarter way than rushing at 2 a.m.

Extensions

• If you need more time, please request an extension more than 24 hours before the due date.

Arriving Late

• Starting together helps everyone focus. Aim to be on time.
• If you’re late, slip in quietly, settle, and check in with me after class for anything you missed.
• Repeated lateness triggers a quick support check with head of the Teaching and Learning department - about solutions, not punishment.

Technology in Class

• Laptops and tablets are welcome for learning tasks: note-taking, literature searches, data work.
• Phones stay put away during class.
• Off-task use (email, chat, social feeds) counts against participation. If you need a quick life-check (urgent text, etc.), step out for a minute and just rejoin afterwards.

Academic Accommodations

• Your learning experience matters. If you have approved DIS accommodations, please send your letter within the first two weeks so I can support you well.
• If there are other ways I can help you thrive - different formats, pacing, or tools then please reach out! I'm always open to talk and adapt!
• Questions about accommodations? Academic Support: academicsupport@dis.dk

Tone and spirit

• This class is a community. Clear expectations protect our time for curiosity, questions, and the kind of conversations that change how we see minds. If something’s unclear or life gets loud, message me early. We’ll adapt, keep you in the loop, and figure it out together.

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org