66-116 DC First-Year Seminar: Networks: Where do they Come From? What do they Tell Us?

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

Thirty years ago, the word network was mostly used in reference to computers or television broadcasting channels. Now we have networks of friends, enemies, phones, stars, tweets, international governments, terrorists, etc. Where do these networks come from How are they built What do they represent As we learn more about how everything is connected, we also face challenges in trying to understand the data that a network can generate. In this course, youll learn about networks from a New England monastery facing a political crisis to social groups of friends is obesity contagious what about divorce to 15th century marriages among prominent Italian families to international political disputes and skirmishes is the enemy of my enemy my friend to the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users. Along the way, well explore how to describe, visualize, analyze, and even break down the networks that surround us.

Prerequisites: none listed

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