STS 350

Spring 2006 Schedule

Please see The Official Schedule for details of the schedule for University events.  Please note that if any date in the following conflicts with the official schedule and final exam schedules, the official schedules apply.

Exams:

• Hour Exam 1 will be Friday, February 17
• Hour Exam 2 will be Friday, March 24
• Hour Exam 3 will be Friday, April 28 (moved from Friday, April 21).  Please note that this is in the last full week of class.
• The final exam for STS 350 (MWF 3:00) is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10, 4:00 - 6:00.

Lecture/Reading Schedule:

Please note:  This schedule is tentative.  We will probably alter it as the semester progresses.  Each offering of this course is different from the last.  This time the modules on emotions and consciousness are new, and the module on language is greatly expanded.  Exam dates should remain fixed.  If I do need to change an exam date, it will be with plenty of warning and accommodations made for students who can not make the revised exam date (except for the final exam, which is fixed by the University calendar).  I will try to keep this schedule up to date, but you should always check the web pages for This Week and Next Week for more up-to-date information.

Week 1:  Monday, January 16

• Topics
• Introduction
• Descartes sets the stage
• Turing responds
• Reading
• Descartes (to be provided)
• Turing (to be provided)
• Other Notes
• Monday, January 15 is Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday (no classes or office hours)
• Office hours begin next week.

Week 2:  Monday, January 23

• Topics
• What is a computational model?  What is a computer?
• Reading
• Turing (provided last week)
• Marr (a read-and-respond will go along with our discussion next week)
• Lisp Handout
• Textbook chapter 1
• Readings:  Simon
• Other Notes
• Readings from the reader will correspond to chapters assigned in the textbook.  Please see "Guide for the Reader" just following the table of contents in the book of readings

Week 3:  Monday, January 30

• Topics
• An introduction to AI
• Reading
• Textbook chapter 2
• Readings: Johnson-Laird and Byrne (chapter 2)
• Lisp handout (on course home page).  A copy of the Lisp handout will be provided
• Other Notes
•  

Week 4:  Monday, February 6

• Topics
• Representation in AI
• Reading
• Textbook chapter 3
• Readings:  Anderson (reading 3) and Pinker (reading 4).  The Pinker reading may be moved to the language module.  See this week/next week for current details.
• Other Notes
• The first hour exam will be next Friday

Week 5:  Monday, February 13

• Topics
• Problem solving in AI
• Reading
• Textbook chapter 4
• CLIPS handout (on course home page)
• Other Notes
• Monday, February 13, is the last day to drop with an automatic "W".
• The first hour exam will be Friday, Feb. 17

Week 6:  Monday, February 20

• Topics
• Problem solving in AI
• Expert systems
• Reading
• Textbook chapters 4, 5
• Readings: Medin (reading 5) and Gentner and Markman (reading 6)
• Other Notes
• There will be no classes or office hours Friday, Feb. 24 (History of Science Conference)

Week 7:  Monday, February 27

• Topics
• Turing Machines and the Physical Symbol System Hypothesis
• Reading
• Handout on Turning Machines (on the course home page)
• Other Notes
• Discussion of term paper / project Monday
• Paper / Project proposals due (email OK)

Week 8:  Monday, March 6

• Topics
• Connections
• Reading
• Textbook chapters 6 - 8
• Connectionism handout (on the course home page)
• Readings:  Glasgow and Papadias (reading 7) and Rumelhart (reading 8)
• Other Notes
• Friday, March 10 is Mid-term (not an exam date for us)
• The second hour exam will be Friday after our return from Spring Break

Week 9:  Monday, March 13

• Topics
• Spring Break (no classes or office hours)

Week 10:  Monday, March 20

• Topics
• The problem of language
• Reading
• To be provided
• Other Notes
• Annotated bibliography due Monday
• The second hour exam will be Friday, March 24

Week 11:  Monday, March 27

• Topics
• The problem of language
• Reading
• To be provided
• Other Notes
•  

Week 12:  Monday, April 3

• Topics
• The problem of language
• Reading
• To be provided
• Other Notes
•  

Week 13:  Monday, April 10

• Topics
• The problem of emotions
• Reading
• Textbook chapters 9, 10
• Readings Readings:  chapter 9 (Oatley)
• Other Notes
• First draft of term paper due Friday.
• The third hour exam will be next Friday

Week 14:  Monday, April 17

• Topics
• The problem of consciousness
• Reading
• Textbook chapter 11
• Readings chapter 10 (Flanagan)
• Other Notes
• The third hour exam will be Friday, April 21

Week 15:  Monday, April 24

• Topics
• Future directions, future possibilities
• Reading
• To be added
• Other Notes
•  

Week 16:  Monday, May 1

• Topics
• Wrap-up and review
• Reading
• As needed
• Other Notes
• Wednesday, May 3, is the last day of classes
• All term paper/project materials due Wednesday
• No homework / term paper material accepted past this date.

Week 17:  Monday, May 8

• Topics
• Final Exams
• The final exam for STS 350 (MWF 3:00) is schedule for Wednesday, May 10, 4:00 - 6:00.