Collin Lucken
Hastings Postdoctoral Scholar in AI & Humanity
Bowdoin College
My research investigates how understanding is generated through material and practical engagement—in scientific laboratories, engineering workshops, artificial systems, and digital environments. I work at the intersection of philosophy of science, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and digital and computational studies, with particular attention to the epistemic role of engineering practice and embodied cognition. This work is informed by prior training in chemical and biomolecular engineering (B.S., NYU) and robotics and intelligent autonomous systems (M.Eng., Cincinnati). Prior to my current position, I worked as an oilfield mechanic in North Dakota, a baker at Momofuku Milk Bar, and an engineer at Cooper Genomics and Proctor & Gamble.
News
- 2025 Recruited a team of undergraduate student ambassadors as part of the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity.
- 2025 Joined Bowdoin College as Hastings Postdoctoral Scholar in AI and Humanity.
- 2025 Article published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science: “Leveraging participatory sense-making and public engagement with science for AI democratization.”
- 2025 PhD dissertation completed: Engineering Progress in Science, University of Cincinnati.
- 2024 M.Eng. in Robotics and Intelligent Autonomous Systems completed.
Research Areas
Five interconnected lines of inquiry. For details and publications, see the research page.
Scientific Progress & Engineering Epistemology
Developing an operative account of scientific progress that treats instruments, models, and calibration routines as epistemic achievements comparable to theoretical contributions.
Minimal Agent Simulations & Embodied Cognition
Developing an empirical research program designing and running minimal agent simulations as a method for applying recent advances in agentic coding to embodied cognition research.
Science Communication as Epistemic Practice
Investigating how public engagement and science communication function as cognitively generative practices—reshaping researchers’ own understanding through dialogue with diverse communities and stakeholders.
Ethics & Phenomenology of Video Games
Developing a phenomenological account of struggle, striving, and self-development in soulslike and competitive online video games, engaging the debate between Aristotelian perfectionism and Nietzschean self-overcoming.
Whewell, Carnap, and the Architecture of Scientific Concepts
Historical research on how philosophers of science have understood the relationship between conceptual frameworks and empirical inquiry, with implications for contemporary epistemology.