What happens when revolutions happen without anybody expecting? What caused social norms regarding same-sex marriage to change faster than expected? Some social innovations are able to take root quickly, while others remain in place for many years. What are the factors that influence social development? These include our fashion choices, our religious beliefs, and our opinions about scientific discovery. Complexity and surprise are part of the social world. Individual experiences of the social world are different to the behavior we see in larger societies. Changes to the social network structure - even minor ones - could lead to dramatic shifts in how ideas and behavior are spread through the population. These invisiblea mathematical characteristics of social networks can have profound implications on the way that teams solve problems and the social norms likely to emerge.
The course combines the most recent decade's cutting-edge research into six modules. Each module offers an in-depth analysis of a specific research problem, with a special focus on agent-based models or network theories. You can also use the interactive computational model to make your own explorations.
Learner objectives: Students will have the ability to...
Explain how computers models can be used to solve socially challenging problems
Discuss the use of networks to describe the structure and relationships in social relations
Show how unintended collective behavior can result from individual actions
Provide concrete examples on how social media networks influence social change
Discuss how diffusion can be explained by the rise of social movements and changes in cultural norms as well as the success team problem solving
