There is a newsgroup for the course at upenn.cis.cse112

COURSE DESCRIPTION

How does Google find what you're looking for? Why do real estate values rise or plummet in certain neighborhoods? Do people act rationally in economic and financial settings? Are you really only six friends away from Kevin Bacon? How does the stock market actually work? What do game theory and the Paris subway have to do with Internet routing?

This course looks at how is our world is connected -- socially, economically, and technologically -- and why it matters.

The answers to the questions above are related. They have been the subject of a fascinating intersection of disciplines ranging from computer science to physics to psychology to economics. Researchers from these areas all strive to quantify and explain the growing complexity and connections of the world around us, and they have begun to develop a rich new science along the way.

Networked Life will explore recent scientific efforts to explain social, economic and technological structures -- and the way these structures interact -- on many different scales, from the behavior of individuals or small groups to that of complex networks such as the Internet and global economy.

This course covers computer science topics and other material that is mathematical, but all material will be appropriate for an educated audience with or without a strong technical background.

INSTRUCTOR

Prof. Michael Kearns
mkearns@cis.upenn.edu
Levine Hall 507
Office hours: Thursday 10:30 - 12 in Levine 507 or by appointment

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Nick Montfort
nickm@nickm.com
Office hours: Monday 3-4 in the Levine Cybercafe, or by appointment

Kilian Weinberger
kilianw@gradient.cis.upenn.edu
Office hours: Friday 1-2 in the Levine Cybercafe, or by appointment

To send mail to Prof. Kearns, Nick and Kilian, mail to cse112@seas.upenn.edu

COURSE LOCATIONS AND TIMES

Attendance at the main lectures should be considered required. They are held Tuesdays and Thursdays 9-10:30, Levine Hall 101.

There are two recitation sessions each week, Tuesday 6-7 in Towne 311, and Wednesday 5-6 in Towne 315 (note room change for Wednesday). These are optional but highly recommended.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

No formal prerequisites. A course in programming is not required, but students should be comfortable using computers and accessing resources on the Internet.

COURSE FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS

The course will be run in a fairly traditional format consisting of the regular weekly lectures, regular problem sets mixing essay questions, computer and web exercises, and simple quantitative exercises. There will be a midterm and final exam. There will be roughly 6 problem sets counting for about 25% of the grade. Collaboration on the problem sets is not permitted. The midterm will count for another 25% and the final for 50%.

INFORMATION ON ACCESS TO SEAS COMPUTING FACILITIES

All students must get Eniac accounts if they do not have them already. Your Eniac accounts will be used for all communications regarding the course and you will be asked to provide your Eniac username on all assignments and tests. Sign up for an Eniac account here.

All students enrolled in CSE 112 have access to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences computer labs. We will test all the software that you are required to use on Windows computers using Internet Explorer. This software is generally written in Java and may work on other platforms, but we cannot guarantee it.

PC Labs can be found in:
Towne M62   Towne M70   Towne 142   Towne 143   Towne 144
More information on the labs is online.

You will need to print and turn in materials, and you may not be able to your all your printing in the SEAS labs. For a fee, you can print longer documents at the SEAS library on the 2nd floor of Towne. Of course, you can also print on your own printer or elsewhere where you have access to a printer.

READINGS, LINKS AND OTHER MATERIAL

In addition to numerous papers, programs, and other material available on the web and linked to at the appropriate spot in the schedule below, we will examine large parts of the following books, which should be considered required texts for the course:

Here are links to some other relevant general resources for the course:

COURSE SCHEDULE

The schedule given below is approximate, and will change depending on our pace. As we finish each topic, its font color will be changed from yellow to red, so the first yellow topic is where we are currently. Also, readings will be added to the required reading list as we proceed, so please monitor these entries regularly. Assigned readings should be completed by the time we finish with a topic in the lectures (at the latest). If a topic turns from yellow to red before you've finished the assigned readings, you're behind.

Course Overview (1 lecture)

The Networked Nature of Society (2 lectures)

Contagion, Tipping and Networks (2 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING AND HOMEWORK (note that two articles have been added below):

Related readings and material:

Quantifying Networks: A Brief Introduction to Graph Theory (1 lecture)

NO CLASS ON TUESDAY, FEB 3!

Social Network Theory (4 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING:

Related readings and material:

The Web as Network (2 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING AND HOMEWORK:

Related readings and material:

Context, Motivation, and Influence: Emergence of the Global from the Local (2 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING:

THURSDAY, MARCH 4: MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Note: the midterm will cover the material up to and including "The Web as Network".

WEEK OF MARCH 8: SPRING BREAK, NO CLASSES

Social Equilibrum: An Introduction to Game Theory (2 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING:

Related readings and material:

Interdependent Security Games (1 lecture)

ASSIGNED READING:

Related readings and material:

How Do People Really Act?: Behavioral Game Theory (2 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING AND HOMEWORK:

Market Economies and Networks (3 lectures)

Related readings and material:

Optimize or Mimic? Evolutionary Game Theory (2 lectures)

ASSIGNED READING AND HOMEWORK:

Related readings and material:

Here is a link to the EGT applet

Here is are some interesting examples for the EGT applet

Internet Economics (1 lecture)

Related readings and material:

Course Review (1 lecture)

FINAL EXAMINATION: MONDAY, MAY 3, 11 AM, 101 LEVINE
Note: the final exam is cumulative, and covers the material of the entire course.