Great Lakes College Association
Complex Systems Studies Interdisciplinary Meeting
February 21-22, 2003
REGISTER FOR MEETING (If you have any difficulty using
the GLCA registration from, simply email the relevant information to jant@kzoo.edu
A new interdisciplinary approach to the study of complex systems is emerging with
applications to the natural and social sciences. Examples of such research include social networks, neuroscience, artifical
life and intelligence, self organized criticality, new economy, game theory, biocomplexity, and agent based simulations of
social systems. At the research and graduate level there exist a number of programs such as those at the Sante Fe Institute, the Center for the Study
of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, and the New England Complex Systems
Institute. Very little exists at the undergraduate level. The purposes of this meeting are to share our knowledge about
complex systems, to discuss ways of incorporating complex systems studies into already existing curricula, to generate ideas
for creating new curricula, and to establish connections across disciplinary lines between faculty at the GLCA member
schools.
Friday Presentations:
1:15-2:00 COMPLEXITY AND THE MIND, George Kampis (Fujitsu Chair, Japanese Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology; and History and Philosophy of Science, Eötvös University,
Budapest, Hungary)
2:15-2:45 ADDING ARTIFICIAL FEEDBACK TO A SIMPLE AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM:
THE CYBERNETIC NATURE OF ECOSYSTEMS REVISITED, John Petersen (Environmental studies and Biology,
Oberlin College)
3:00-3:30 MACHINE LEARNING IN A DISTRIBUTED AGENT ENVIRONMENT,
Daria Antonova and R. Matthew Kretchmar (Computer Science, Dennison College)
3:45-4:15 SELF-ORGANIZED CRITICALITY IN A BEAD PILE:
Rebecca J. Urban and Don Jacobs
(Physics,
The College of Wooster)
4:30- 5:00 COUPLED REPLICATOR EQUATIONS FOR THE DYNAMICS OF LEARNING IN MULTIAGENT
SYSTEMS:
Yuzuru Sato (Behavior and Dynamic Cognition Group,
Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, Japan)
5:15-5:45 COMPLEX EVENT RECOGNITION AND
MULTIMODAL INTERFACES, Will Fitzgerald (Computer Science, Kalamazoo College)
5:45-6:00 and 8:00-8:15 Poetry reading from her book "DANCING WITH CHAOS," Patricia Monaghan (Interdisciplinary Faculty, DePaul
University)
8:15-9:15 COMPLEX SYSTEMS: CHAOS AND BEYOND, Ichiro Tsuda (Department of Mathematics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan)
Agenda:
Friday Afternoon, Feb. 21, 2003 1:00 - 1:15 Welcome (Olmsted Room, Mandelle Hall) 1:15 - 6:00 Talks on complex
systems by faculty and students.(Olmsted Room, Mandelle Hall) 6:00 - 7:30 Dinner (Stone Room, Welles
Hall) 8:00 - 9:30 Invited speaker (Olds/Upton 207). Saturday, Feb. 22,
2003 (all activities in Stone Room, Welles
Hall) 9:00 - 10:30
Discussion of new courses on complex systems. Péter Érdi will lead the discussion and distribute his syllabi
and begin with a presentation on the interdisicplinary courses he has been teaching. Two students from his course, Sonje
Buckmaster and Charlie Fulton, will give a presentation "History and Network Theory: A General Overview." 10:45 - 11:30 Jan Tobochnik will lead a
discussion on majors, minors, concentrations and other ideas for building interdisciplinary programs. 11:30 - 12:00 Conclusion and discussion of ways to help each other and keep in touch 12:00
- 1:30 Lunch
Overnight Accommodations: Participants are responsible for making their own reservations at the Best
Western Hospitality Inn (269-381-1900) Group Name: Great Lakes Colleges Association REGISTER FOR MEETING
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