ITIS 6010/8010: Advanced Complex Adaptive Systems

Room:                       Woodward 441 Instructor:                Mirsad Hadzikadic Office:                        Woodward 443E Phone:                      704-687-8643 Email:                        mirsad@uncc.edu Office hours:           MW 3:30-5:00pm Textbook:                None

Reference Texts “Emergence,” John Holland, Perseus Books, 1998. “From Complexity to Life: On the Emergence of Life and Meaning,” edited by Niels Henrik Gregersen, Oxford University Press, 2003.  “Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity,” John Gribbin, Random House, 2004.  “Information and Self-organization: A Macroscopic Approach to complex Systems,” third edition, Hermann Haken, Springer, 2006.

Course Description Self-organization is a process where the organization of a system spontaneously increases. New, emergent properties appear. Complex adaptive systems like ant colonies, networks of neurons, the immune system, the Internet, and the global economy are a few examples where the behavior of the whole is much more complex than the behavior of the parts.  This course will explore in greater detail some elements of self-organization and emergence.

Course Topics 1.         Complexity 2.         Self-organization 3.         Emergence

Grading Policy (Attendance is mandatory for all class meetings) Presentation 1           10% Presentation 2           10% Presentation 3           10% Project                        50% Final                            20%

Academic Integrity Policy Students have the responsibility to know and observe the requirements of The UNCC Code of Student Academic Integrity (See UNCC Catalog). This code forbids cheating, fabrication, or falsification of information, multiple submission of academic work, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, and complicity in academic dishonesty. There are no special requirements regarding academic integrity in this course. The code will be strictly enforced and is binding on the students. Grade and academic evaluations in this course include a judgment that the student's work is free from academic dishonesty of any type; and grades in this course therefore should be and will be adversely affected by academic dishonesty. Students who violate the code can be expelled from UNCC. The normal penalty for a first offense is zero credit on the work involving dishonesty and further substantial reduction of the course grade. In almost all cases the course grade is reduced to an F. Copies of the Code can be obtained from Dr. Lejk in the College of IT or the Dean of Students Office. Standards of academic integrity will be enforced in this course. Students are expected to report cases of academic dishonesty to me immediately.