| Instructor: | Huzefa Rangwala [1], Room #4423 Engineering Building, rangwala@cs.gmu.edu [2] |
| Time & Location: | Tue: Innovation Hall 134, 4:30-7:10pm |
| Office Hours: | Instructor: Tue 2:00-4:00 pm |
| Text Book: | Required (Free): Networks, Crowds and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World by Easley and Klienberg Book Free Here. [3] |
| Optional: Networks, An Introduction by Newman Amazon Link [4] | |
| Several research papers will be linked as required reading. | |
| MS CS Breadth Area Satisfied: | Artificial Intelligence & Databases |
Please note the syllabus is subject to change to enrich the student's learning experience :). Feel free to email rangwala@cs.gmu.edu [2] for questions, concerns, or even say hi
| Course Description |
|---|
| Today (2015), several web services and applications allow users to communicate with each other (e.g., Twitter, Facebook), create, collaborate and share articles (blogosphere), pictures (e.g., FlickR), videos (e.g., YouTube), interests (e.g., Pinterest), develop code (e.g., Scratch) and sentiments (e.g., Twitter). Besides social networks, information networks are found in a ranged of domains ranging from gene-regulatory networks, actor-movie networks and inter-country trade networks. Analyzing this complex, multi-modal time-varying networks to extract useful knowledge is pertinent and useful tools of study. This course will cover recent research on the analysis of social and information networks, focusing on the algorithms behind network analysis and their applications in different domains and settings. |
| Course Prerequisites |
| CS 583 & CS580 + Strong proficiency in C programming language. All assignments will require programming. |
| Course Format |
| This is a specials topic seminar class. A combination of lectures, group discussions, student presentations will be used for covering topics associated with this class. Besides material from the textbook, topics not discussed in the book may also be covered. Homework assignments and final project will require a substantial programming effort. Exams and homework assignments must be done on an individual basis unless stated. Any deviation from this policy will be considered a violation of the GMU Honor Code [5]. |
| Course Outcomes |
As an outcome of taking this class, a student will be able to
|
Tentative Topics:
| Two Homework Assignments (Programming-based) | 25% |
| Four Paper Reading Summary, Critiques | 20% |
| Class Participation and Discussion | 5% |
| Final Project with several milestones. | 50% |
| Project Milestone 2 (Proposal and Pitch) | 5% |
| Final Project Presentation (Poster/Online Video) | 15% |
| Final Project Report and Source Code Submission | 30% |
| Grade | Score Range |
|---|---|
| A | 96-100 |
| A- | 92-96 |
| B+ | 88-92 |
| B | 84-88 |
| B- | 80-84 |
| C+ | 76-80 |
| C | 72-76 |
| C- | 68-72 |
| F | < 68 |
| Attendance |
|---|
| Attendance is not compulsory but highly recommended for doing well in the class. This class has lots of active learning exercises, and they will be a lot of fun. Extra credit i.e., 5% grade is devoted to active discussions in the classroom and will be possible with attendance.. |
| Email Communication: |
| The best form of communication to the instructor is via email or via Piazza. Please ensure you put "[CS 695]" in the subject header for a timely and quick response. |
| Discussion Forum |
| We will use Piazza for discussion forum. Sign up link: piazza.com/gmu/spring2015/cs695/home. The paper reading activities will be done via piazza and your participation in those activities is essential. |
| HW Solutions |
| HW solutions cannot be made available online to prevent future classes from plagiarism. Copies will be made available only on the day the graded assignments are returned. |
| Assignment Submission |
|
Please ensure that the assignments are submitted on-time, before class begins as instructed. No late submissions are permitted. |
| Make-Up Exams & In-completes |
| Make up exams and incomplete grade will not be given for this class. |
| Late to Class |
| Please arrive to class on-time. Coming late to class is disruptive to your fellow class mates. |
| Academic Honesty and GMU Honor Code |
| Please visit the GMU Honor Code [5] and the CS Department Honor Code [6]. Violating this policy involves getting a failing grade in this class. |
| Disability Statement |
| If you have a documented learning disability or other condition that may affect academic performance you should: 1) make sure this documentation is on file with the Office of Disability Services (SUB I, Rm. 222; 993-2474; http://ods.gmu.edu/ [7]) to determine the accommodations you need; and 2) talk with me to discuss your accommodation needs. |
Links:
[1] http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~hrangwal
[2] mailto:rangwala@cs.gmu.edu
[3] http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/
[4] http://www.amazon.com/Networks-An-Introduction-Mark-Newman/dp/0199206651
[5] http://oai.gmu.edu/honor-code/
[6] http://cs.gmu.edu/wiki/pmwiki.php/HonorCode/HomePage
[7] http://ods.gmu.edu/