Core Courses in the Social Science Ph.D. Program

SS 201 abc. Analytical Foundations of Social Science.

The first quarter covers the fundamentals of decision theory and social choice theory. The second and third quarters focus on game theory and related topics, such as dynamic programming. Throughout the course, basic theory is developed and illustrated with applications to voting, elections, markets, bargaining, auctions, public economics, industrial organization, and other fields of economics and political science. Instructor(s): Chambers, Palfrey, Echenique.

SS 202abc. Political Theory.

An introduction to the central problems of political theory and analysis, beginning with the essential components of the democratic state and proceeding through a variety of empirical topics. These topics will include the analysis of electoral and legislative institutions, legislative agenda processes, voting behavior, comparative political economy, and cooperation and conflict in international politics. The student will be sensitized to the primary empirical problems of the discipline and trained in the most general applications of game theoretic reasoning to political science. Instructor(s): Ordeshook, Ueda, and Alvarez.

SS 205 abc. Foundations of Economics.

This is a graduate course in the fundamentals of economics. Topics include comparative statics and maximization techniques, the neoclassical theory of consumption and production, general equilibrium theory and welfare economics, public goods and externalities, the economic consequences of asymmetric information and incomplete markets, and recursive methods with applications to labor economics and financial economics. Instructor(s): Border, Echenique, and Ledyard.

SS 222 abc. Econometrics.

Introduction to the use of multivariate and nonlinear methods in the social sciences. Instructor(s): Sherman, Hoderlein, and Sherman.

Workshops and electives offered each year:

SS 210abc Foundations of Political Economy.

Mathematical theories of individual and social choice applied to problems of welfare economics and political decision making as well as to the construction of political economic processes consistent with stipulated ethical postulates, political platform formulation, the theory of political coalitions, and decision making in political organizations. Instructor(s): Iaryczower, Yariv, and Mattozzi.

SS 211 abc. Advanced Economic Theory.

Advanced work in a specialized area of economic theory, with topics varying from year to year according to the interests of students. Instructor(s): Chambers.

SS 212 abc. Application of Microeconomic Theory.

A working seminar in which the tools of microeconomic theory are applied to the explanation of events and the evaluation of policy. Instructor(s): Ledyard (together with SS 205).

SS 213 abc. Financial Economics.

First term: Asset pricing theory, statistical tests on historical data and evidence from financial markets experiments. Second term: Financial econometrics, with emphasis on applications to risk management. Third term: General equilibrium foundations of asset and option pricing theory. Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 214. Mathematical Finance.

A course on fundamentals of the mathematical modeling of stock prices and interest rates, the theory of option pricing, risk management, and optimal portfolio selection. Students will be introduced to the stochastic calculus of various continuous-time models, including diffusion models and models with jumps. Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 216. Interdisciplinary Studies in Law and Social Policy.

A policy problem or problems involving the legal system will be studied, using concepts from at least one social science discipline. Each offering will be taught by a law professor, alone or in conjunction with a member of the social science faculty. The topic will differ from term to term, so the course may be taken more than once. Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 223 abc. Advanced Topics in Econometric Theory.

A course in quantitative methods for second- and third-year social science graduate students. May be repeated for credit. Instructor(s): Moon and Sherman.

SS 227abc. Identification Problems in the Social Sciences.

There is a tension in modeling social science phenomena between making strong assumptions, which lead to descriptive or normative conclusions that are precise when the assmptions hold but invalid when they do not hold, and making weak assumptions, which lead to less precise conclusions, but hold more generally. The preponderance of social science research to date takes the former approach. This course studies recent advances in the latter approach. The course will review the work of Manski on bounds identification and estimation and trace some of the developments in this line of research to the present. Various applications of the methodology will be considered, including applications to Stanford-9 test-score data and data on organic pollutants in the Love Canal. Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 228. Applied Data Analysis for the Social Sciences.

This course covers issues of management and computation in the statistical analysis of large social science databases. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation will be the focus. This includes a study of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Substantive social science problems will be addressed by integrating programming, numerical optimization, and statistical methodology. Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 229 abc. Theoretical and Quantitative Dimensions of Historical Development.

Introduction to modern quantitative history. The tools of economic and political theory applied to problems of economic, social, and political development in a historical context. Instructor(s): Hoffman and Rosenthal.

SS 231 abc. American Politics.

A three-term course in American politics and political behavior. While drawing from contemporary materials, the course will emphasize the historical background of American political institutions. Instructor(s): Alvarez and Ueda.

SS 232 abc. Historical and Comparative Perspectives in Political Analysis.

Provides a knowledge and understanding of developments in both the American past and in other parts of the world. Instructor(s): Rosenthal.

SS 240. Techniques of Policy Research.

The application of social science theory and methods to the formulation and evaluation of public policy. Instructor(s): Alvarez.

SS 241ab. Introduction to Social and Information Sciences.

Introduction to techniques and methods used in research at the intersection of social and information sciences: aggregation of dispersed information and optimal allocation of resources through markets, networks, and other social systems; formation and off-equilibrium behavior of these systems; distributed cognition; related computational issues; aggregation, allocation, formation and equilibration enhancements through technology - hardware and software, economic theory applied to the design of communication networks and computational systems; distributed information systems supporting economic activity. Instructor(s): Ledyard.

SS 251. Human Brain Mapping: Theory and Practice.

A course in functional brain imaging. An overview of contemporary brain imaging techniques, usefulness of brain imaging compared to other techniques available to the modern neuroscientist. Review of what is known about the physical and biological bases of the signals being measured. Design and implementation of a brain imaging experiment and analysis of data (with a particular emphasis on fMRI). Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 252. Experimental Design and Research Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience.

This course will cover the basics of experimental design, research methods, and statistics for use in cognitive neuroscience, including factorial designs, parametric designs, randomized block designs, nested designs, repeated measure designs; the statistics required to analyze such data, including t-tests, linear and multiple regression analyses, analysis of varience, random and fixed effects, all under the rubric of the general linear model, and model-free or "non-parametric" statistics. Undergraduate students may register with instructor's permission. Instructor(s): O'Doherty.

SS 254. Neural Foundations of Preference Formation and Consumer Choice.

This course explores the role of automatic and deliberative processes on consumer decision making from the perspectives of computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics. Instructor(s): Not being taught 2007-08.

SS 255. Topics in Emotion and Social Cognition: Belief and Delusion.

This course will cover recent findings in the psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy of belief and delusion. How do we come to believe something? What role does emotion play in this? How do we explain pathological beliefs such as delusions? Readings from the current literature will integrate philosophical and neuropsychological approaches to this topic. Offered spring 2008. Instructor(s): Adolphs and Woodward.

SS 260. Experimental Methods of Political Economy.

Survey of laboratory experimental research related to the broad field of political economy. Topics: the behavior of markets, organizations, committee processes, and election processes. Emphasis on experimental methods and techniques. Students will design and conduct experiments. Instructor(s): Plott.

SS 280. Modern Topics in Social Science.

This course will teach students about the major modern contributions of social science in fields outside their areas of specialization. It will cover a series of basic topics by reading and discussing the central papers or books that characterize what is known about each topic area. Different sections of the course will be offered in different social sciences (e.g., economics and political science). Instructor(s): Camerer.

SS 281. Graduate Social Science Writing Seminar.

Only open to advanced graduate students in social science. How can social scientists write in a style that makes someone actually want to read their papers? This seminar combines writing exercises with help in planning a professional social science paper and with extensive comments on drafts. Instructor(s): TBD.