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Handout-FirstClass

CSCS 501 An introduction to Complex Systems Fall 2009
Rick Riolo rlriolo@umich.edu cscs.umich.edu/~rlr

This course covers a broad range of fundamental topics relevant to the study of complex systems. The course work involves weekly readings and discussion of papers and selections from books. The readings focus on "classics" (ideas,people,books) in the complex systems literature, in order to give students a broad, general understanding for the variety of work that falls under the rubric of complex systems. Topics to be covered will include evolutionary systems, self-organized criticality, highly optimized tolerance, phase transitions, computational equivalence, edge of chaos, cellular automata, small worlds and scale free networks, measures of complexity, approaches to modeling complex adaptive systems and emergence. Authors to be covered include Holland, Axelrod, Kaufmann, Arthur, Bak, Gell-Mann, Simon, Anderson, Jacobs and many more.

The course page is http://cscs.umich.edu/~rlr/CSCS501 which has:

• syllabi for this and for past terms
• candidate readings ( ** please check this out ** )
• course-work and grading policy

This course is required for the CSCS Rackham Graduate Certificate and IGERT programs.

The goals of this course are, roughly:

• exposure to a broad view of complex systems topics, in many fields
• learn a common language and set of concepts
• build a community of students interested in complex systems studies
• have fun reading and discussing some really interesting material!

The challenges to making this a successful course include:

• students with very different backgrounds and skills
• students with different interests
• the breadth of complex systems as a field of study

NOTE WELL: This course (CSCS 501) really is a discussion class:

• I'm not going to lecture, nor lead the discussions.
• I expect students will do the readings and drive the discussion.
• You MUST PARTICIPATE in the discussions to do well.
• I expect students will be asking and and answering questions: This course always has students from many disciplines, so in general some students know (or can quickly learn) about one or another of the topics we cover. I expect students to share their knowledge with the rest of the class as the opportunity and need arises!
• There is lots of useful info is on the net! you can easily find short intro's to most topics we cover with a quick search.
• There are also interesting demo programs on the web, or provided in the Model Library of Netlogo (a simple, free CAS modeling platform). Again, a few web searches will often find good examples to illustrate ideas covered in class. Showing them in class is encouraged, by discussion leaders or anyone.

Please remember: The "field" of Complex Systems Studies is fairly new, so there is plenty of room for a variety of ideas and viewpoints---even the "famous authors" don't always agree.

Grading:

• 33% discussion -- seriously Includes leading the discussion for 2-3 class sessions, and attending regularly and participating in the discussions (with questions/comments in class and via the ctools discussions).
• 33% on each of two short papers: Each will be a summary/commentary/critique of readings, some from class, but most covering material not read in class. More on these later.
• We will also use a few classes for students to briefly present a summary of their mid-term papers (eg 10-12 minutes each). Students have enjoyed this very much, as it gives them a chance to learn what is of interest to others in the class, and it gives them a chance to learn about areas not covered in class.
• No incompletes (except in dire emergency) The papers should be seen as opportunities to explore aspects of Complex Systems that are of most interest to you, so they should be fun to write.

Class Format:

Everyone should read the required readings. For the "optional" readings: Pick at least one (or more!) of these to read and come prepared to discuss/describe them. That way we should usually have a few people who have read each item, so collectively we'll have read them all!

Participants are required to to come to class with at least 1-2 prepared questions/comments about the readings (prepared is usually better than ad lib...). The questions you bring can be simple (eg, a request for clarification or simple explanations) or they can be "deep", and comments can be to agree/disagree with some or all of what we read, or to tell us all about other things you have read, in your field or in general, that are relevant.

Also, participants are strongly encouraged to post questions/comments to the CTools discussion section BEFORE EACH CLASS. Generally try to post well before class, so others can see them and respond in CTools (or in class), and so the discussion leaders (see below) can collate them. Note that the CTools discussion items are intended as seeds for ongoing discussions, before, during and after the official reading day. Please feel free to add your own discussion threads, notes about upcoming lectures of interest, pointers to papers and web pages, etc.

In addition, each session two students will serve as discussion leaders. You can run the session however you want. For instance, you might summarize or at least list what you thought were some of the main points or ideas from the readings. Another approach that has worked well is to have the discussion leaders read and organize the questions students have posted to CTools, collect last minute questions at the start of class, and then lead the group through them, with all participants adding comments, answering questions, etc. Whatever you do as leaders, the idea is to have a good discussion. The expectation is that everyone has done the readings and has thought about them. The leaders should NOT lecture!

(Note: its a good idea for the leaders to use the CTools email address to remind the class 1-day and 0.5-days before class to post questions to CTools.)

*** NOTE WELL ***

• Your grade will depend on participation, which includes how many days you raised questions/comments in Ctools and in class.
• Don't just read, THINK! Perhaps write yourself brief summaries/lists of:

• There sometimes are a lot of readings. There is a lot of ground to cover to

The readings for the class are/will be listed on the web page, with (some) links to online material as needed. Some later readings may changed based on your suggestions/interests, which are always welcome!

The next 4 classes (see syllabus for final word) readings are listed below.
We need two (2) volunteers each...

Mon 14 Sept --- What are Complex Adaptive Systems?

(Plus a little SFI (Sante Fe Institute) History.)

Wed 16 Sept Some more history of ideas from early days at SFI

Mon 21 Sept --- Some basics: CAs, Chaos; More ideas -- Edge of Chaos

Wed 23 Sept --- SFI III - Holland ; Kelly's Biologically Inspired Approach

Books to get NOW include:

Note that:

• The Waldrop and Kelly books are "popular science" books which a bit old, but still give a good flavor for the history of (parts of) the modern complex systems field and (some of) the players. NB these readings are deceptively easy: they raise lots of interesting ideas and challenging, deep questions, so take time to think about what is covered. We will revisit many of the issues they raise throughout the course, so don't expect "final answers"!
• The Flake book has "formal" introductions to a good range of topics that come up again and again. We will interleave his more "textbook" like readings with the other informal material just to keep things lively.
• There will be a few other books to buy---none of them expensive.

• There will also be some material on e-reserves, and some online articles.

NB: Wait-list, etc: Often this class is over-subscribed The final class size will be about 16-20 students. I will give admission priority in (roughly) this order:

generally first-come-first-serve within each category.

If you are registered (or on the wait-list) and plan to drop, please let me know ASAP (THE NEXT 2 DAYS) so others can get into the course. Please send the information below to me ASAP (Today or Tomorrow):

• are you registered (for credit) or not; if not, do you want credit?!
• your area of study, and your interests in general;
• what topics/books/people you'd be most interested in,from here or your suggestions
• any other ideas you have about how this course/reading group should proceed,

    e.g., format of discussions, order of readings, etc.

Also of interest:

• CSAAW (Complex Systems Advanced Academic Workshop): http://cscs.umich.edu/CSAAW/
• the Complex Systems Reading Group (CSRG): http://cscs.umich.edu/CSRG
• CSCS Mail List -- send a request to: cscs@umich.edu