Julien Musolino, PhD

Dr. Julien Musolino is a cognitive scientist, public speaker and author who holds a dual appointment in the Psychology Department and the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS) at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is also a member of the graduate faculty in the Department of Philosophy at Rutgers. Dr. Musolino was born and raised in France and studied at the University of Geneva, in neighboring Switzerland; the University of North Wales, Bangor, in the United Kingdom; and the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania. At Rutgers, he co-directs the Human Computational Cognition Laboratory, and his research spans a broad range of topics in the sciences of the mind with the overarching goal of shedding light on what makes our intelligence distinctively human. Research topics include questions about language, rationality, agency, memory, the cognitive science of religion, and belief formation/updating. Dr. Musolino’s research has been published in leading scientific journals, and it has been funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Musolino’s work also takes a public dimension and explores the implications of cognitive science for a range of issues of broader societal importance. He is the author of the 2015 popular science book “The Soul Fallacy.” Dr. Musolino has been the recipient of multiple teaching awards, has appeared on national television and participated in public debates. His work has been discussed in popular magazines, and he has been a guest on radio and podcast programs in the United States and abroad.