Star Courses (48 units)

The 4 star courses (48 units) provide students with a basic grounding in core skills needed for research in COS: computational thinking, statistics, and management/policy.  Students are to take a minimum of one 12 unit course (or two 6 unit courses) from each of the required areas.  No course may satisfy more than one requirement, in its entirety. In rare cases the units of a course may be split between two categories such as 6 units in one area and 6 in another. Exactly which courses are taken should be discussed by the student and his/her advisor. Please note the courses listed are illustrative. At CMU new courses are added most years. If there is a course that you and your advisor feel are appropriate simply send an email petition to Dr. Carley asking to count it.

Computation, Organizations and Society (12 Units Star Course Required)

A 08- Ph.D. level (or masters with permission of instructor) course taught by Core COS faculty

  • 08-733 Privacy, Policy, Law and Technology
  • 08-734 Usable Privacy and Security
  • 08-780 Web Commerce, Security and Privacy (must have permission to take as a PhD course)
  • 08-781 Mobile & Pervasive Computing Services (must have permission to take as a PhD course)
  • 08-800 Technology Dialectics
  • 08-801 Dynamic Network Analysis
  • 08-803 Empirical Methods for Socio-Technical Research
  • 08-810 Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems
  • 08-996 COS Independent Study (with a core COS faculty, not your advisor)

Computational Thinking Skills (12 Units Star Course Required)

Address issues of how to reason computationally.  These courses involve the design and development of core algorithms and not just the application of canned programs.

  • 05-834 Applied Machine Learning
  • 08-810 Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems
  • 10-701/15-781 Machine Learning
  • 15-750 Algorithms
  • 15-780 Advanced AI Concepts
  • 15-781 Machine Learning
  • 15-830 Computational Methods in Sustainable Energy
  • 15-853 Algorithms in the Real World

Policy and Management (12 Units Star Course Required)

Address issues of management and policy. Methods courses are not allowed in this area.

  • 08-732 Law of Computer Technology
  • 8-733 Privacy Policy, Law, and Technology
  • 08-801 Dynamic Network Analysis
  • 08-803 Empirical Methods for socio-Technical Research
  • 08-810 Computational Modeling of Complex Socio-Technical Systems (if paper uses a model to address a policy or management issue)
  • 15-892 Foundations of Electronic Market Places
  • 19-701 Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis(6 units)
  • 19-712/18-842 Telecommunications Technology, Policy and Management
  • 47-891 Seminar in Organizational Theory (6 units)
  • 47-899 Seminar in Social Networks (6 units)
  • 90-903 Social network theory (6 units)
  • 90-862 Making Public Policy in the Real World
  • 90-840 Legislative Policy Making
  • 90-904/10-830 Research Seminar in Machine Learning and Policy

Statistics (12 Units Star Course Required)

Address issues of statistical data analysis.  These are meant to provide methodological skill in statistics.

  • 10-702 Statistical Machine Learning
  • 10-705/36-705 Intermediate Statistics
  • 36-727 Probability and Mathematical Statistics II
  • 36-749 Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences
  • 94-834 Applied Econometrics I
  • 94-835 Applied Econometrics II