Alberto POSTIGLIONE | COOPERATIVE AGENTS FOR CONFLICTS RESOLUTION
Alberto POSTIGLIONE COOPERATIVE AGENTS FOR CONFLICTS RESOLUTION
cod. SA22500005
COOPERATIVE AGENTS FOR CONFLICTS RESOLUTION
| SA22500005 | |
| DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT & INNOVATION SYSTEMS | |
| EQF7 | |
| GLOBAL STUDIES AND EU | |
| 2025/2026 |
| OBBLIGATORIO | |
| YEAR OF COURSE 1 | |
| YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2025 | |
| AUTUMN SEMESTER |
| SSD | CFU | HOURS | ACTIVITY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INF/01 | 9 | 63 | LESSONS |
| Objectives | |
|---|---|
| LEARNING OBJECTIVES THE COURSE AIMS TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A SOLID THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL FOUNDATION TO UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS THAT LEAD INHERENTLY SELF-INTERESTED ACTORS (SUCH AS INDIVIDUALS, FIRMS, STATES, ETC.) TO DEVELOP COOPERATIVE BEHAVIORS IN CONTEXTS CHARACTERIZED BY LIMITED RESOURCES AND REPEATED INTERACTIONS OVER TIME. PARTICULAR ATTENTION WILL BE GIVEN TO THE MECHANISMS THROUGH WHICH COOPERATION CAN EMERGE EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF A CENTRAL AUTHORITY, THANKS TO IMPLICIT SANCTIONING MECHANISMS, SUCH AS EXCLUSION FROM SHARED BENEFITS. STUDENTS WILL ANALYZE THE STRUCTURE, BEHAVIOR, AND EVOLUTION OF COMPLEX NETWORKS OF AGENTS IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DOMAINS, ACQUIRING SKILLS IN CONCEPTUAL MODELING AND COMPUTER SIMULATION. EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON THE STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF NETWORKS AND KEY TOPOLOGICAL MODELS, WITH IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF SMALL-WORLD NETWORKS, SCALED NETWORKS, AND SCALE-FREE NETWORKS. THE COURSE WILL ALSO INTRODUCE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS, HIGHLIGHTING FEATURES SUCH AS NON-LINEAR INTERACTIONS, FEEDBACK PHENOMENA, SELF-ORGANIZATION, SYNCHRONIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTATION. STUDENTS WILL BE GUIDED TO RECOGNIZE THAT BEHIND THE APPARENT COMPLEXITY OF REAL-WORLD SYSTEMS LIE ORDERED STRUCTURES AND REGULARITIES THAT REQUIRE HOLISTIC APPROACHES AND ADVANCED SIMULATION TECHNIQUES. A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE COURSE WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE ANALYSIS—THROUGH GAME THEORY—OF THE ITERATED PRISONER'S DILEMMA, USED AS A REFERENCE MODEL TO UNDERSTAND THE TENSION BETWEEN SELF-INTERESTED AND COOPERATIVE BEHAVIORS IN DYNAMIC SCENARIOS. FINALLY, ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL MODELS WILL BE EXAMINED TO STUDY THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL NORMS, ALLIANCE FORMATION, AND CONFLICT DYNAMICS, INCLUDING THE LANDSCAPE MODEL AND THE TRIBUTE MODEL. BY THE END OF THE COURSE, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO DESIGN, IMPLEMENT, AND COMPARE COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES USING TOOLS FROM EVOLUTIONARY GAME THEORY AND SIMULATION MODELS, APPLYING THEM TO THE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL PHENOMENA. |
| Prerequisites | |
|---|---|
| BASIC CONCEPTS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, AS BY ANY COURSE OF "FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE" TAUGHT IN NON-SCIENTIFIC COURSES. A GOOD ABSTRACTION CAPACITY IS USEFUL TO IDENTIFY THE FUNDAMENTAL DATA TO BE USED DURING THE COMPUTER SIMULATION OF A PHENOMENON. |
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| THE COURSE COMPRISES A TOTAL OF 63 HOURS (10 ECTS), DIVIDED INTO 45 HOURS OF LECTURES AND 18 HOURS OF LABORATORY WORK. IT IS STRUCTURED INTO THREE DIDACTIC MODULES, EACH INTEGRATING THEORETICAL INSTRUCTION WITH PRACTICAL EXERCISES. MODULE 1 – COMPLEX SYSTEMS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS (32 HOURS) •INTRODUCTION TO COMPLEX SYSTEMS •FUNDAMENTALS OF GRAPH THEORY AND MAIN NETWORK METRICS •COMPLEX NETWORKS AND TOPOLOGICAL MODELS •DIFFUSION DYNAMICS (E.G., INFORMATION, VIRUSES) IN SOCIAL NETWORKS •CONCEPTS OF SMALL-WORLD NETWORKS AND WEAK TIES •SCALE-FREE NETWORKS •LABORATORY: SIMULATION OF NETWORK FORMATION AND EVOLUTION USING THE “FITNESS PREFERENTIAL ATTACHMENT” MODEL MODULE 2 – COOPERATION AND THE ITERATED PRISONER’S DILEMMA (24 HOURS) •INTRODUCTION TO GAME THEORY •THE COMPLEXITY OF COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR •THE ITERATED PRISONER’S DILEMMA MODEL •EVOLUTION AND SELECTION OF COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES •LABORATORY (IN-CLASS): DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIES FOR SIMULATED TOURNAMENTS BASED ON THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA MODULE 3 – OTHER SIMULATION MODELS (7 HOURS) •EMERGENCE AND STABILIZATION OF SOCIAL NORMS •GENETIC ALGORITHMS AND OPTIMIZATION INSPIRED BY NATURAL EVOLUTION •LANDSCAPE MODEL: FORMATION OF ALLIANCES BASED ON AFFINITY BETWEEN ACTORS (E.G., MILITARY, POLITICAL, INDUSTRIAL ALLIANCES) •TRIBUTE MODEL: CONFLICT DYNAMICS AND POWER ASSERTION THROUGH THREATS AND AGGRESSION •LABORATORY: APPLIED HISTORICAL SIMULATIONS (E.G., WORLD WAR II SCENARIOS) |
| Teaching Methods | |
|---|---|
| THE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO FOSTER A LIFELONG LEARNING MINDSET IN STUDENTS, ENCOURAGING THE CONTINUOUS UPDATING OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS, AS WELL AS CURIOSITY AND INTEREST IN TECHNOLOGICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE TEACHING APPROACH SUPPORTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING, ACTIVE LEARNING, AND INDEPENDENT STUDY. LECTURES WILL BE COMPLEMENTED BY PRACTICAL EXERCISES, LABORATORY ACTIVITIES, AND INTERACTIVE DISCUSSIONS. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL SYSTEMATICALLY ILLUSTRATE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THEORETICAL CONCEPTS, PROMOTING ACTIVE STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND PEER COLLABORATION. TO ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING AND ENGAGEMENT, MULTIMEDIA TOOLS, REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES, COMPUTER-BASED SIMULATIONS, AND SUPPLEMENTARY DIGITAL MATERIALS WILL BE EMPLOYED. STUDENTS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO EXPLORE ONLINE RESOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC MATERIALS, INCLUDING THOSE IN ENGLISH, TO INDEPENDENTLY DEEPEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TOPICS COVERED IN CLASS. THROUGHOUT THE COURSE, EACH STUDENT WILL BE INVITED TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT AT LEAST ONE STRATEGY FOR THE ITERATED PRISONER’S DILEMMA, PARTICIPATING IN A SIMULATED TOURNAMENT IN WHICH THEIR STRATEGIES WILL COMPETE WITH BOTH THOSE DEVELOPED BY THEIR PEERS AND WITH WELL-KNOWN CLASSICAL STRATEGIES FROM THE LITERATURE. |
| Verification of learning | |
|---|---|
| THE FINAL ASSESSMENT WILL CONSIST OF: •A WRITTEN TEST WITH MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS; •AN ORAL DISCUSSION ON THE COURSE CONTENT. THE EVALUATION WILL TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE STUDENT’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOPICS COVERED, CRITICAL THINKING ABILITY, AND EFFECTIVENESS IN COMMUNICATION. |
| Texts | |
|---|---|
| •ZAGARE, F.C., GAME THEORY, DIPLOMATIC HISTORY AND SECURITY STUDIES, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2019 •BARABÁSI, A.-L., LINK. LA SCIENZA DELLE RETI, EINAUDI, 2004 •GANDOLFI, A., FORMICAI, IMPERI, CERVELLI. INTRODUZIONE ALLA SCIENZA DELLA COMPLESSITÀ, BOLLATI BORINGHIERI, 2008 •AXELROD, R., THE COMPLEXITY OF COOPERATION, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1997 •AXELROD, R., THE EVOLUTION OF COOPERATION, REVISED EDITION, BASIC BOOKS, 2006 |
| More Information | |
|---|---|
| SLIDES, TEACHING MATERIALS, AND FURTHER RESOURCES FOR IN-DEPTH STUDY WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE INSTRUCTOR’S WEBPAGE: HTTPS://DOCENTI.UNISA.IT/000794/RISORSE |
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