Syllabus

20.02.2008: Introduction and logistics

• Patrick Kuhn, Nils Weidmann und Dirk Leuffen. 2006. Tausche Ballack gegen Yakin. ETH Life.
  

27.02.2008: Agent-based modeling I

Required readings:

• Nigel Gilbert. 2007. Agent-based models. Chapters 1 and 2.
  

Recommended readings:

• Robert Axelrod. 2003. Advancing the Art of Simulation in the Social Sciences. Japanese Journal for Management Information System 12 (2):16-22.
• Robert Axelrod, and Leigh Tesfatsion. 2005. A Guide for Newcomers to Agent-Based Modeling in the Social Sciences. In Handbook of Computational Economics: Agent-Based Computational Economics , edited by K. L. Judd and L. Tesfatsion: North-Holland.

05.03.2008: Agent-based modeling II

Mandatory reading material:

• Nigel Gilbert. 2007. Agent-based models. Chapters 3, (4), and 5.
• Steve Bankes. 1993. Exploratory Modeling for Policy Analysis. Operations Research 41 (3):435-449.

Supplementary material:

• John Holland. 1992. Complex Adaptive Systems. Daedalus 121:17-30.
• Steven Bankes. 2003. Improving the utility and rigor of agent-based modeling through ensembles of models. In Agent.
• William Rand, Daniel G. Brown, Scott E. Page, Rick Riolo, Luis E. Fernandez, and Moira Zellner. 2003. Statistical Validation of Spatial Patterns in Agent-Based Models. Proceedings of Agent Based Simulation 2003.

12.03.2008: Tooling

Required readings:

• Nils B. Weidmann and Luc Girardin. GROWLab: A Toolbox for Social Simulation. 2006.
• Robert Tobias and Carole Hofmann. Evaluation of free Java-libraries for social-scientific agent based simulation. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation vol. 7, no. 1. 2004.

Recommended readings:

• Nick Collier. RePast: An Extensible Framework for Agent Simulation. 2002.
• Nicholson Collier and Thomas R. Howe. RePast 2.0: Major Changes and New Features. 2003
• Sean Luke, Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, Liviu Panait, and Keith Sullivan. MASON: A New Multi-Agent Simulation Toolkit. Proceedings of the 2004 SwarmFest Workshop. 2004.
• North, M.J., N.T. Collier, and J.R. Vos. Experiences Creating Three Implementations of the Repast Agent Modeling Toolkit, ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation, Vol. 16, Issue 1, pp. 1-25, ACM, New York, New York, USA (January 2006).
• Michele Sonnessa. JAS: Java Agent-based Simulation library. An open framework for algorithm-intensive simulations. 2004.

19.03.2008: Implementation

02.04.2008: Student proposals

09.04.2008: Applications to sociology

Required readings:

• Lars-Erik Cederman. 2005. Computational Models of Social Forms: Advancing Generative Process Theory. American Journal of Sociology, volume 110 (4), pages 864–893.
• Michael W. Macy, and Robert Willer. 2002. From Factors to Actors: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling . Annual Review of Sociology.

Supplementary material:

• Andrzej Nowak, Jacek Szamrej, and Bibb Latané. 1990. From Private Attitude to Public Opinion: A Dynamic Theory of Social Impact. Psychological Review 97 (3):362-376.
• Thomas Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior, W W Norton & Co Ltd, 1978, Chapter 4.
• Elizabeth Bruch and Robert D. Mare, Neighborhood choice and neighborhood change, UCLA, California Center for Population Research, On-Line Working Paper Series (University of California, Los Angeles), Year 2005, Paper CCPR-013-05.
• James G. March. 1991. Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning. Organization Science 2 (1):71-87.

16.04.2008: Applications to traffic and urban geography (Mr. Jeremy Hackney)

Reading material:

• Daganzo, et al (2006), The Nature of Gridlock Interactive Simulation. http://www.its.berkeley.edu/volvocenter/gridlock/
• Rieser, et al (2007), Truly agent-oriented coupling of an activity-based demand generation with a multi-agent traffic simulation, paper submitted to the World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR).
• Macal (2005), Model Verification and Validation, Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation, Argonne National Laboratory

23.04.2008: Applications to management and economics (Mr. Frank Walter)

• Mark E. J. Newman (2003): The Structure and Function of Complex Networks, SIAM Review, 45.
• Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and Reka Albert (1999): Emergence of Scaling in Random Networks, Science, 286, 509--512.
• Duncan J. Watts and Steven H. Strogatz (1998): Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks, Nature, 393, 440-442.
• Frank E. Walter and Stefano Battiston and Frank Schweitzer (2008): A Model of a Trust-Based Recommendation System on a Social Network, Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 16 (1), 57-74.

30.04.2008: Applications to politics

Mandatory reading material:

• Lars-Erik Cederman and Luc Girardin. Exploring geopolitics with agent-based modeling. Prepared for presentation at University of Tokyo, September 24-25, 2005.
• Lars-Erik Cederman. 2003. Modeling the Size of Wars: From Billiard Balls to Sandpiles. American Political Science Review 97:135-150.

Supplementary material:

• S. A. Bremer, and M. Mihalka. 1977. Machiavelli in Machina: Or Politics Among Hexagons. Problems of World Modeling:303-337.
• Lars-Erik Cederman. 1997. Emergent Actors: How States and Nations Develop and Dissolve.
• Lars-Erik Cederman. 2002. Endogenizing Geopolitical Boundaries with Agent-Based Modeling.
• Lars-Erik Cederman. 2004. Articulating the Geo-Cultural Logic of Nationalist Insurgency.
• Joshua M. Epstein. 2002. Modeling civil violence: An agent-based computational approach.

07.05.2008: Student presentations I

14.05.2008: Student presentations II

21.05.2008: Student presentations III

28.05.2008: Student presentations IV