Students may have a new opportunity to learn more about how
society’s behavior patterns work from a minor drawing from
multiple powerhouses in the social sciences.
The prospective minor ““ human complex systems ““ will
allow students to study the social systems people create, as well
as how humans interact and behave within those systems.
Students will analyze social systems, breaking them into smaller
parts in order to observe people’s interactions and behavior
using up-to-date technology.
This technology includes live simulations of human interaction,
virtual video game worlds, and robots programmed to mimic human
behavior using models such as “The Sims,” “The
Matrix,” “The Real World” and
“Survivor.”
Each of these media illustrate how people create artificial
realities so they can observe ““ and sometimes study ““
how social systems are created, which is a key concept of the
minor.
The minor will be a part of UCLA’s social science
division, and the faculty comes from several departments such as
the anthropology, communication studies, political science,
sociology and management departments.
Creation of the minor came out of a discussion about organizing
a human complex systems general education cluster course, which
received mixed reviews from some faculty, who thought it would be
too advanced for freshmen.
The planners then decided it would be best if students had some
background in the social sciences, said Dario Nardi, one of the
executive directors of the minor.
Most of the required courses for the pending minor have been
taught before, which allows automatic enrollment in the program,
said Dwight Read, executive chairman for the minor.
The material of the minor will influence a student’s
overall perspective because the content can be more readily applied
to everyday life than other studies, Nardi said.
“The common response from students who have taken related
courses is that it changes the way they see the world,” Nardi
said.
The odds of the minor being implemented for the winter quarter
are quite good, Read said.
“If it does not pass for winter quarter, it will
definitely pass for spring,” he said.
The proposal for the minor has not reached the Academic Senate
““ which determines academic policy matters for the university
““ but is under review by the faculty executive committee.
Robin Garrell, chairwoman of the committee, declined to comment
on the likelihood of the minor being approved having not seen the
revised proposal, but said the committee would review the proposal
later this quarter.
Cathy Lee, a fourth-year political science student, said she
finds the upcoming minor interesting and wants to enroll as soon as
it becomes available.
“(The minor) struck me as an innovative, transdisciplinary
approach to analyzing socio-political issues,” Lee said.