Failed actor, dealer, and war correspondent, Bruce Mangan received an  interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Cognitive Science and Aesthetics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991. He taught there in various capacities, inaugurating the Scientific Approaches to Consciousness course, offered jointly by the Psychology and Cognitive Science Departments. He most recently taught at an experimental “college within a college,” the Fall Program for Freshmen at UC Berkeley.

 

Mangan is one of the founding members of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. His research is centered on cognitive phenomenology. This includes expanding William James’ treatment of the ‘fringe’ of consciousness, its relation to meaning, neural networks, and findings in experimental psychology. He also considers philosophical and cultural implications of this approach.