<div><br></div><div>fyi,</div><div><br></div>Deb is teaching a course on &#39;Social Machines&#39; (by their definition)<div><br></div><div>yours,</div><div>max<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: Deb Roy &lt;<a href="mailto:dkroy@media.mit.edu">dkroy@media.mit.edu</a>&gt;<br>Date: Wed Jan 28 2015 at 5:59:06 PM<br>Subject: [msgs] New Seminar: MAS.S65 — Introduction to Social Machines<br>To:  &lt;<a href="mailto:msgs@media.mit.edu">msgs@media.mit.edu</a>&gt;,  &lt;<a href="mailto:ml-all@media.mti.edu">ml-all@media.mti.edu</a>&gt;,  &lt;<a href="mailto:mas-students@media.mit.edu">mas-students@media.mit.edu</a>&gt;<br><br><br><div style="word-wrap:break-word"><div><h3 style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 10px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:22px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:1em;font-weight:500;font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">MAS.S65 — </em></strong><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Introduction to Social Machines: Building Systems Solutions for Social Change.</em></strong></h3><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Instructors: Deb Roy, Preeta Bansal, William Powers, Russell Stevens</strong></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Guest lectures: Daniel Dennett, Larry Lessig, Andrew Heyward, Sandy Pentland, John Clippinger</strong></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Credits:</strong> 3-0-6 (H)</div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><b style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Seminar:</b> Wednesday, 10 am — 12 pm, E14-493</div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><b style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Lab:</b> Alternate Thursdays, 2 pm — 4 pm, E14-493</div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif">Digital networks have radically increased the speed and scope with which individuals can effect social change, transforming the relationship between people and institutions. But the impact to date of this transformation has been more disruptive and <em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">ad hoc</em>, as opposed to constructive and systematic. Existing tools and practices for harnessing the potential of digital networks have failed to sustain a public sphere where institutions and individuals can come together to understand, learn and act constructively on societal problems.</div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif">This seminar will explore theories and practices for building systems solutions to drive sustainable progress on critical social challenges such as literacy, development, equality and well-being. Seminar content will cover both LSM “hemispheres”:</div><ul style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 23px 16px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;list-style-position:initial;line-height:26px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Social</em> – As in the social sciences, broadly (e.g., economics, political science, education, sociology, anthropology, architecture, philosophy, history, law), and how technology can be applied in these areas to fuel social change.</li></ul><ul style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 23px 16px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;list-style-position:initial;line-height:26px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">Machines</em> – As in computer science, data analysis and software development and how such systems can enable social change. These sessions will include topics such as semantic and network analysis, pattern discovery, data visualization and mobile app technologies.</li></ul><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif">A continuing theme of the seminar will be how these two hemispheres can come together in <em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline">social machines</em> that help create better “responsive systems” – the networks connecting individuals and institutions (government, schools, press, police, etc.) that underpin villages, cities and countries around the world.</div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif">The seminar will operate on two tracks, with weekly sessions focused more on the Social hemisphere and led by guest lecturers preeminent in their respective fields (confirmed guest lecturers to date include <a href="http://www.lessig.org/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(126,190,197)" target="_blank">Larry Lessig</a> on technology and law, <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(126,190,197)" target="_blank">Daniel Dennett</a> on the philosophy of mutual visibility, <a href="http://www.heywardadvisory.com/about/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(126,190,197)" target="_blank">Andrew Heyward</a> on technology and journalism,<strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"> </strong><a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/people/sandy" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(126,190,197)" target="_blank">Sandy Pentland</a> and <a href="https://idcubed.org/team_member/john-henry-clippinger/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(126,190,197)" target="_blank">John Clippinger</a> on personal data in the digital public sphere). These weekly sessions will be supplemented with “labs” led by LSM staff/students focused on technology tools such as NLP, network analysis, data visualization, mobile app development, etc.</div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 1em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:23.799999237060547px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:&#39;Open Sans&#39;,Arial,sans-serif">The course will include weekly reading assignments and a final project in which students prototype technology tools that address social challenges. Grading will be 50% class participation and 50% final project.</div></div><div><br></div><a href="http://socialmachines.media.mit.edu/2015/01/22/laboratory-for-social-machines-spring-2015-seminar/" target="_blank">http://socialmachines.media.mit.edu/2015/01/22/laboratory-for-social-machines-spring-2015-seminar/</a></div></div></div>