Stanford University Explore Courses

SYMSYS 200: Symbolic Systems in Practice

Applying a Symbolic Systems education at Stanford and outside. The basics of research and practice. Students develop and present a project, and investigate different career paths, including academic, industrial, professional, and public service, through interviews with alumni.

Last offered: Winter 2012

SYMSYS 201: ICT, Society, and Democracy

The impact of information and communication technologies on social and political life. Interdisciplinary. Classic and contemporary readings focusing on topics such as social networks, virtual versus face-to-face communication, the public sphere, voting technology, and collaborative production. Prerequisite: Completion of a course in psychology, communication, human-computer interaction, or a related discipline, or consent of the instructor.

Terms: Aut | Units: 3

Instructors: Davies, T. (PI)

SYMSYS 203: Cognitive Science Perspectives on Conflict, Violence, Peace, and Justice

In recent years, cognitive scientists have turned more attention to questions that have traditionally been investigated bynhistorians, political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, e.g. What are the sources of conflict and disagreement betweennpeople?, What drives or reduces violence and injustice?, and What brings about or is conducive to peace and justice? In this advancednsmall seminar, we will read and discuss works by psychologists, neuroscientists, philosophers, and others, which characterize thisngrowing research area among those who study minds, brains, and behavior.nRequired: Completion of a course in psychology beyond the level of Psych 1, or consent of the instructor.

Last offered: Spring 2015

SYMSYS 204: Philosophy of Linguistics (LINGUIST 204, PHIL 369)

Philosophical issues raised by contemporary work in linguistics. Topics include: the subject matter of linguistics (especially internalism vs. externalism), methodology and data (especially the role of quantitative methods and the reliance on intuitions), the relationship between language and thought (varieties of Whorfianism and anti-Whorfianism), nativist arguments about language acquisition, and language evolution.

Last offered: Spring 2014

SYMSYS 206: Philosophy of Neuroscience (PHIL 167D, PHIL 267D)

Can problems of mind be solved by understanding the brain, or models of the brain? The views of philosophers and neuroscientists who believe so, and others who are skeptical of neurophilosophical approaches to the mind. Historical and recent literature in philosophy and neuroscience. Topics may include perception, memory, neural accounts of consciousness, neurophenomenology, neuroscience and physics, computational models, and eliminativism. (Not open to freshmen.)

Terms: Aut | Units: 4

Instructors: Skokowski, P. (PI)

SYMSYS 209: Battles Over Bits

The changing nature of information in the Internet age and its relationship to human behavior. Philosophical assumptions underlying practices such as open source software development, file sharing, common carriage, and community wireless networks, contrasted with arguments for protecting private and commercial interests such as software patents, copy protection, copyright infringement lawsuits, and regulatory barriers. Theory and evidence from disciplines including psychology, economics, computer science, law, and political science. Prerequisite: PSYCH 40, 55, 70, or SYMBSYS 202.

SYMSYS 210: Learning Facial Emotions: Art and Psychology

Artistic and psychological learning approaches for emotion recognition from facial expressions. The advantages of learning by image-based microexpressions, subtle expressions, macro expressions, art drawing and actor mimicry when there are cognitive deficits due to conditions such as autism. Comparative analysis uses brain studies, learning theory, and human-computer interaction. Studio component conveys the artistic and psychological approaches. Prerequisites: PSYCH 1, SYMSYS 100 or consent of instructor. Go to www.stanford.edu/~dwilkins/Symsys210Enroll.doc to sign up for a Permission Number.

Last offered: Winter 2011

SYMSYS 211: Learning Facial Emotions: Art, Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction

Learning to recognize facial emotions by drawing a live model versus the psychology method of using classified images of subtle and micro expressions. Dimensions of analysis include cognitive modeling and neuroscience. The design of human-computer interaction systems for people with cognitive deficits such as autism and Aspergers, which integrate the art and psychology approaches using methods such as robot heads, avatars, and facial recognition software. Prerequisites: PSYCH 1 or consent of instructor.

SYMSYS 245: Cognition in Interaction Design

Note: Same course as 145 which is no longer active. Interactive systems from the standpoint of human cognition. Topics include skill acquisition, complex learning, reasoning, language, perception, methods in usability testing, special computational techniques such as intelligent and adaptive interfaces, and design for people with cognitive disabilities. Students conduct analyses of real world problems of their own choosing and redesign/analyze a project of an interactive system. Limited enrollment seminar taught in two sections of approximately ten students each. Admission to the course is by application to the instructor, with preference given to Symbolic Systems students of advanced standing. Recommended: a course in cognitive psychology or cognitive anthropology.

Terms: Win | Units: 3

Instructors: Shrager, J. (PI)

SYMSYS 255: Building Digital History: Informatics of Social Movements and Protest

A participatory course focused on the online representation of oral and archival history research. This year's thematic focus is the design and evaluation of history websites focused on social movements and protest. We will survey the field of digital history and its application to social movement research and teaching. The course will utilize materials developed in the 2014 version of the course, which focused on the history of student activism at Stanford. Class will apply lessons from digital history practice and theory to the design of an online repository and community for the collaborative representation and discussion of social movement history at Stanford, and to the further development of source material in a future version of the class. Topics will include participatory design, studies of historical learning, archiving issues, data integrity, and fair representation of different viewpoints, among others.

Terms: Win, Spr | Units: 3-5