Curriculum & Syllabi

This curriculum presents the courses of the Social Science for Sustainability program currently offered by Matthew A Turner, PhD. The materials, including the companion book, socmod library, and more, are open and freely available online.

Courses in the curriculum share conceptual foundations including harnessing computational modeling, hands-on applications, and guided training for developing, communicating, and writing quantitative social science research. Students develop highly transferable systems thinking skills; expertise in social, cognitive, and network science; and programming proficiency in R using tidy practices, which is in high demand especially for social scienctists.

Courses

Agent-Based Modeling for Sustainability

EBS 182 / EBS 282
Schedule: Winter 2026 (January 3 – March 24) Syllabus

Developing sustainable societies requires understanding how sustainable practices spread through complex social networks. Students learn to design, program, and analyze agent-based models simulating the social transmission of sustainable behaviors under uncertainty. Skills include high-performance computing, data analysis of large simulation outputs, and dashboarding using R and Shiny.

Opinion Change: Modeling and Measurement

Schedule: Spring 2026 (March 30 – June 23) Syllabus

Opinions shape collective outcomes, from climate policy to sustainable practices. This course explores how social influence drives opinion dynamics, covering models of extremism, polarization, and consensus formation. Students design simulations of interventions, analyze data, and produce publication-style final projects using the socmod R library.

Summer Short Course (TBD)

Schedule: Summer 2026 (August 3 – September 9)

A shorter, intensive offering designed to complement the main curriculum. Details forthcoming.

Open Access & Independent Research

The educational materials we develop and the research we produce will always be openly available to the community. Subscribing supports the delivery of this curriculum and the development of tools, datasets, and modeling frameworks that enable independent scientific research.

# Curriculum & Syllabi {.unnumbered} This curriculum presents the courses of the **Social Science for Sustainability** program currently offered by Matthew A Turner, PhD. The materials, including the companion book, `socmod` library, and more, are **open and freely available online**. Courses in the curriculum share conceptual foundations including harnessing computational modeling, hands-on applications, and guided training for developing, communicating, and writing quantitative social science research. Students develop highly transferable systems thinking skills; expertise in social, cognitive, and network science; and programming proficiency in R using *tidy* practices, which is in high demand especially for social scienctists. ### Courses {.unnumbered} #### Introduction to Social Science for Sustainability **Schedule:** Autumn 2025 (September 22 – December 20) [Syllabus](syllabus-introduction.qmd) This introductory course weaves together strands from psychology, sociology, anthropology, and network science to understand **how different learning processes can promote or inhibit the diffusion of adaptations**. Through interactive lectures and computational exercises, students develop a foundation in modeling human behavior and social systems relevant to sustainability. #### Agent-Based Modeling for Sustainability **EBS 182 / EBS 282** **Schedule:** Winter 2026 (January 3 – March 24) [Syllabus](syllabus-agent-based-modeling.qmd) Developing sustainable societies requires understanding how sustainable practices spread through complex social networks. Students learn to **design, program, and analyze agent-based models** simulating the social transmission of sustainable behaviors under uncertainty. Skills include high-performance computing, data analysis of large simulation outputs, and dashboarding using R and Shiny. #### Opinion Change: Modeling and Measurement **Schedule:** Spring 2026 (March 30 – June 23) [Syllabus](syllabus-opinion-change.qmd) Opinions shape collective outcomes, from climate policy to sustainable practices. This course explores **how social influence drives opinion dynamics**, covering models of extremism, polarization, and consensus formation. Students design simulations of interventions, analyze data, and produce publication-style final projects using the [`socmod`](https://css4s.github.io/socmod/) R library. #### Summer Short Course (TBD) **Schedule:** Summer 2026 (August 3 – September 9) A shorter, intensive offering designed to complement the main curriculum. Details forthcoming. ### Open Access & Independent Research {.unnumbered} The educational materials we develop and the research we produce will **always be openly available to the community**. Subscribing supports the delivery of this curriculum *and* the development of tools, datasets, and modeling frameworks that enable **independent scientific research**.