SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS 203:   Cognitive Science Perspectives on Conflict, Violence, Peace, and Justice 3 units, Spring Quarter 2014-2015, Stanford University Meeting Time: Mondays 3:15-5:45 PM beginning March 30 Location: 460-126 (Greenberg Seminar Room, Margaret Jacks Hall) Instructor: Todd Davies Instructor's Office: 460-040C (Margaret Jacks Hall, lower level) Email: davies at stanford dot edu Phone: x3-4091; Fax: x3-5666 Office Hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays 10:30 - 11:55 AM Syllabus (this page): http://www.stanford.edu/class/symsys203 Interactive website: https://symsys203.wordpress.com/

This version: May 13, 2015 [check this site for updates]

Prerequisites:

Completion of a course in psychology beyond the level of Psych 1, or consent of the instructor. Note: The course materials and blog will be publicly available, but class sessions are open only to students enrolled in the course.

Course Overview:
 
This advanced small seminar explores research by cognitive scientists on questions that have traditionally been investigated by historians, political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, e.g. What are the sources of conflict and disagreement between people?, What drives or reduces violence and injustice?, and What brings about or is conducive to peace and justice? The course will be taught as a reading seminar: We will read books and articles, and discuss them both online and in class.

The course will be organized around two books (which should be available prior to the first day of classes in the textbooks department at the Stanford Bookstore):

• Steven Pinker (2011), The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined; and
  

• Joshua Greene (2013), Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
  

The written component of the course will take place online, with weekly 300-500 word comments on the assigned readings, graded in a mixed instructor/peer scheme (see below for details).  Comments must be made ahead of each class session by 5 pm so that everyone can read them before that week's discussion.  I will lead the discussions of the common readings (weeks 2-8), turning it over to student presenters/discussion leaders in the last phase (weeks 9-10). A schedule is posted below.

Requirements:

Each student is required to (a) attend and participate regularly, (b) do the assigned reading and post at least one reaction comment (300 to 500 words) on this website per week, by 3 pm on the day of class, (c) read and provide confidential peer scores for their own and other students' comments, and (d) select and present a focus topic in class, provide sample readings for the class at least one week ahead of their presentation, and lead a discussion on their focal topic during the final weeks of the course. Reaction comments will be posted on the course blog, which will be linked by the first day of class. Peer and self-scores will be due each Thursday by 12 noon for the comments on the previous Monday's reading. There is no final paper or exam in the course.

• See the discussion guidelines for tips on how to contribute to in-class discussions. 

• See the comment guidelines for tips on writing blog comments.

• See the presentation guidelines for tips on preparing and leading your presentation/discussion

Schedule:

Week 2 (April 6) -- The Better Angels of Our Nature, Preface and chapters 1, 2, & 3

Week 3 (April 13) -- The Better Angels of Our Nature, chapters 4 & 5

Week 4 (April 20) -- The Better Angels of Our Nature, chapters 6 & 7

Week 8 (May 18) -- Moral Tribes, chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12 + live video discussion with Joshua Greene

Week 9 (May 25) -- NO MEETING; HOLIDAY

Week 10-A (June 1) -- Student-led Discussions I

Week 10-B (Wednesday, June 3, 6-8:30pm) -- Student-led Discussions II
NOTE: Special day and time for our last meeting

Grading

The course grade will be based on the following breakdown:

• 15% for attendance and participation
• 45% for online comments
  
• 40% for your presentation and discussion leading

Grades for the presentation/discussion leading and attendance/participation will be assigned by me alone. Grades for comments, however, will be graded in the following way:

Each week, I will solicit from each student a score (out of 5 points possible) for every other student's comments that week. Individual peer scores will be kept confidential between me and the student issuing the score. I will average my own score for each comment with the median peer score for that comment to arrive at a weekly comment score for each student.

Suggested Books for Student-Led Discussions (Weeks 9-10):

Peace+Justice Studies Initiative