Symbsys205 » Todd

Week 10 – Student Presentations III

Todd — Thu, 31 May 2007 06:33:40 +0000

Homophily” (David and Erich):

Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M Cook. 2001. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Homophily in Social Networks”. Annual Review of Sociology 27: 415-444.
Robert Putnam. 2000. Bowling Alone. excerpts.

Week 9 – Student Presentations II

Todd — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:33:56 +0000

“Prisons and Crime” (Jack):

Becky Pettit and Bruce Western. 2004. “Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in US Incarceration”. American sociological review (69: 151-169).
Franklin E. Zimring. 2001. “Imprisonment Rates and the New Politics of Criminal Punishment”. David Garland, ed. Mass Imprisonment: Social Causes and Consequences (145-149).
Joel Dyer. 2000.. From “Manufacturing Fear” (chapter 4) and “The Politics of Public Opinion” (chapter 5). The Perpetual Prisoner Machine (103-107 & 142-151). Westview Press.

“Currency Crises” (Jorge):

Paul Krugman. 1997. “Currency Crises”. National Bureau of Economic Research Conference.

Week 8 – Student Presentations I

Todd — Mon, 21 May 2007 20:38:37 +0000

“Stereotype Threat” (Siobhan):

Claude M. Steele, Steven J. Spencer, and Joshua Aronson. 2002. “Contending with Group Image: The Psychology of Stereotype and Social Identity Threat”. Advances in Experimental and Social Psychology (14: 379-407). Elsevier.

“Psychological Health” (Jessica):

Charles S. Carver and Michael S. Scheier. 2000. “Optimism, Pessimism, and Self-Regulation” (chapter 2). Edward C. Chang, ed. Optimism and Pessimism: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice. American Psychological Association.

Week 7 – Technology and History

Todd — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:15:57 +0000

Our past and future: global warming, politics, and singularity.

James W. Kirchner. 2002. “The Gaia Hypothesis: Fact, Theory, and Wishful Thinking.” Earth and Environmental Science 52(March): 391-408.
Paul Pierson. 2000. “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics.” American Political Science Review 94(June): 251-267.
Ray Kurzweil. 2005. “The Six Epochs” (chapter 1), “Epilogue”, and “The Law of Accelerating Returns Revisited” (Appendix). The Singularity Is Near. Viking.
Peter Turchin. 2006. “The Matthew Principle” (chapter 10). War and Peace and War. Plume.
Film: Koyaanisqatsi (screened May 9, ZDVD 3803)

Week 6 – Belief and Desire

Todd — Thu, 03 May 2007 21:59:33 +0000

Psychological positive feedback effects.
Assigned:

Other (note: citation does not constitute endorsement of content):

Week 5 – Income and Wealth

Todd — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:30:55 +0000

Income and Wealth. Investment, success, and inequality.

Discussion guidelines posted

Todd — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:33:28 +0000

I have posted a set of discussion guidelines on the course website, and linked that page from the syllabus. Please read the guidelines before the next discussion. Feel free to add comments here, not to be scored.

Week 4 – Reputation and Quality

Todd — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:50:47 +0000

The Matthew effect and cumulative advantage. See links on the course website to get access to the readings. The film is on reserve in Green Media Center under “The Persuaders”.

Robert K. Merton. 1968. “The Matthew Effect in Science.” Science 159(January 5): 56-63.

Derek de Solla Price. 1976. “A General Theory of Bibliometric and Other Cumulative Advantage Processes.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science (September-October): 292-306

Robert K. Merton. 1988. “The Matthew Effect in Science, II: Cumulative Advantage and the Symbolism of Intellectual Property.”Isis 79(December):, 606-623.

Paul A. David. 1994. “Positive Feedbacks and Research Productivity in Science: Reopening Another Black Box.” In O. Grandstrand, ed.Economics and Technology. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Matthew J. Salganik, Peter Sheridan Dodds, and Duncan J. Watts. 2006. “Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market.” Science 311(February 10): 854-856.

Film: Frontline: The Persuaders (screened April 18 )

Week 3 – An overview of systems science II.

Todd — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:13:55 +0000

Self-organization, complexity, and networks.

Fritjof Capra, 1995. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. chapters 5-6.

Magoroh Maruyama. 1963. “The Second Cybernetics.” American Scientist. 51: 164-179. [link]

Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and Eric Bonabeau. 2003. “Scale-Free Networks.” Scientific American 288(May) [link]

David P. Reed. 2001. “The Law of the Pack.” Harvard Business Review (February): 23-24 [link]

Film: Mindwalk (screened April 11)

Please post comments below.

Week 2 – An overview of systems science (I)

Todd — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 04:10:53 +0000

Systems thinking, feedback, and cybernetics.

Fritjof Capra, 1995. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. chapters 1-4.

Arturo Rosenblueth, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. 1943. “Behavior, Purpose, and Teleology.” Philosophy of Science, 10(January): 18-24. [link]

Please post comments below.