Connections permiate the social, technical and natural systems around us. In this course we will study the networks formed by these connections (using graph theory), and the interaction dynamics that occur over them (using game theory). These tools will give us insight into how groups, markets and societies function, with particular emphasis on emerging online phenomena.

• (1) understand the basics of graph theory and social network analysis
• (2) understand the basics of game theory
• apply (1) and (2) to model the Web and other information systems,

Prerequisites: none, but students should have some programming background

Instructor: Lada Adamic

Reading: Our textbook will be 'Networks, Crowds, and Markets' by Easley and Kleinberg. It is available online in PDF form, but you can purchase it if you'd like a hard copy.

Accommodations for students with disabilities

Academic integrity policy

You should bring a laptop to every class for hands-on in-class exercises and for using LectureTools. If you don't have one, please contact the instructor to arrange for a loaner laptop during classtime.

Course Syllabus

date subject reading (omit advanced material) assignment due (at 5pm) 1 Thu 1/6 overview Ch 1   2 Tue 1/11 games Ch 6   3 Thu 1/13 games (continued)     4 Tue 1/18 evolutionary game theory Ch 7 PS 1 5 Thu 1/20 graphs, modeling network traffic using game theory Ch 2, 8   6 Tue 1/25 power laws and rich-get richer phenomena Ch 18 PS 2 7 Thu 1/27 strong and weak ties Ch 3   8 Tue 2/1 networks in their surrounding contexts Ch 4 PS 3 9 Thu 2/3 structure of the web and other networks Ch 13   10 Tue 2/8 link analysis and web search Ch 14 PS 4 11 Thu 2/10 small world phenomenon Ch 20   12 Tue 2/15 epidemics Ch 21 PS 5 13 Thu 2/17 information cascades Ch 16   14 Tue 2/22 midterm review   initial reports 15 Thu 2/24 midterm (in class, open book)     Tue 3/1 -- winter break --       Thu 3/3 -- winter break --     16 Tue 3/8 network effects Ch 17   17 Thu 3/10 cascading behavior in networks Ch 19   18 Tue 3/15 auctions Ch 9 response comments 19 Thu 3/17 matching markets Ch 10 demo proposal 20 Tue 3/22 sponsored search markets Ch 15 PS 6 21 Thu 3/24 network models of markets with intermediaries Ch 11   22 Tue 3/29 bargaining and power in networks Ch 12 PS 7 23 Thu 3/31 markets and information Ch 22   24 Tue 4/5 voting Ch 23   25 Thu 4/7 property rights Ch 24   26 Tue 4/12 group demos   PS 8 27 Thu 4/14 group demos   28 Tue 4/19 review session   demo write-up   Tue 4/26     take-home final due via cTools   Grading: assignment type % course grade participation 5 9 problem sets 25 midterm exam 20 final exam 25 group demo & demo write-up 15 group report 10