SYMBO-MS - Symbolic Systems (MS)
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Program Overview
The observation that both human beings and computers can manipulate symbols lies at the heart of Symbolic Systems, an interdisciplinary program focusing on the relationship between natural and artificial systems that represent, process, and act on information. Computer programs, natural languages, the human mind, and the Internet embody concepts whose study forms the core of the Symbolic Systems curriculum, such as computation, representation, communication, and intelligence. A body of knowledge and theory has developed around these notions, from disciplines such as philosophy, computer science, linguistics, psychology, statistics, neurobiology, and communication. Since the invention of computers, researchers have been working across these disciplines to study questions such as: in what ways are computers and computer languages like human beings and their languages; how can the interaction between people and computers be made more accessible and more beneficial?
The core requirements of the Symbolic Systems Program (SSP) include courses in symbolic logic, the philosophy of mind, formal linguistics, cognitive psychology, programming, the mathematics of computation, statistical theory, artificial intelligence, and interdisciplinary approaches to cognitive science. These courses prepare students with the vocabulary, theoretical background, and technical skills needed for study and research at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels. Most of the courses in SSP are drawn from affiliated departments. Courses designed specifically for the program aim to integrate and supplement topics covered by the department-based offerings. The curriculum includes humanistic approaches to questions about language and intelligence and training in science and engineering.
SSP offers BS and MS degree programs. Both programs require students to master a common core of required courses and to choose an area of specialization.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
A candidate for the MS degree in Symbolic Systems must complete a program of 45 units. All courses must be 100-level and above. At least 36 of these must be graded units, passed with an average grade of 3.0 (B) or better, and any course taken as part of the 45-unit program must be taken for a letter grade unless the course is offered S/NC only. None of the 45 units to be counted toward the MS degree may include units counted toward an undergraduate degree at Stanford or elsewhere. Course requirements for the MS degree in Symbolic Systems may be waived after a review by the program office. Waivers are granted at the discretion of the program and only if evidence is provided that similar or more advanced courses have been taken and passed with a letter grade of B or its equivalent, either at Stanford or another institution and as part of another degree program which the student has either completed or is pursuing in parallel with the Symbolic Systems MS degree. Waivers of Core skill area requirements for the MS degree must be approved by the end of the student’s first quarter of enrollment in the program. Course requirements that are waived rather than fulfilled by courses taken at Stanford may not be counted toward the 45 units required for the Symbolic Systems MS degree. For additional information, see the Symbolic Systems website.
Project Area Statement, endorsed with a commitment from a student’s prospective project advisor no later than May 1 of the academic year before the expected graduation year; and
Qualifying Research Paper due no later than the end of summer quarter before the expected graduation year.
The plan of study should be approved by the Program Director, Director of Graduate Studies, or Associate Director in consultation with the student’s primary advisor (for students with an approved Project Area Statement) and designed to support a student’s project as well as the core course requirements for the MS degree (requirements 3 and 4 below). An initial study plan should be delineated on the Master’s Program Proposal Form before the end of the student’s first quarter of study, as the university requires. The Program Proposal must meet university minimum requirements for the master’s degree, including at least 45 units taken at Stanford, all courses at 100-level or above, and 50% of units designated primarily for graduate students (typically 200-level or above). All courses must be in the graduate career. The final version of the Program Proposal, which should specify all the courses which the student has taken and proposes in fulfillment of both the program’s and the university’s course and unit requirements for the degree, is due by the end of Finals Week in the quarter before the student’s expected graduation quarter (i.e., end of winter quarter for a student graduating in the spring).
The Program Proposal must include courses taken for three units or more each that are more advanced than the Symbolic Systems undergraduate core in four main skill areas:
Formal
Empirical
Computational
Philosophical
And in at least three of the following departments (based on the listing as any cross-listing departments):
Computer Science
Linguistics
Philosophy
Psychology
Courses to fulfill the Breadth Requirements must be taken for a letter grade if available, and note that any one single course may be applied to at most one M.S. Core skill area.
For a complete listing of courses, please view the Breadth in Discipline section.
For a full description of this requirement, view the Research of Project Requirement section.
The Symbolic Systems MS Program admits a handful of coterminal students each year. Coterminal students usually complete the program in one academic year.
Applications for Coterminal admission of active Stanford undergraduates are reviewed in the winter and spring quarters. For more details, see the Coterm admissions information on the Symbolic Systems Program website. Admission to the program as a coterminal student is subject to the policies and deadlines described in Coterminal Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. The GRE is not required for Symbolic Systems MS program coterminal applicants.
Many SSP majors also complete coterminal MS or MA degrees in affiliated departments. In addition to the Symbolic Systems MS program, the Department of Philosophy offers a Special Program in Symbolic Systems track for interdisciplinary graduate-level work leading to the Master of Arts in Philosophy.
University Coterminal Requirements
Coterminal master’s degree candidates are expected to complete all master’s degree requirements as described in this Bulletin. Coterminal Master’s Program describes university requirements for the coterminal master’s degree. Graduate Degrees describes university requirements for the master’s degree.
After accepting admission to this coterminal master’s degree program, students may request a transfer of courses from the undergraduate to the graduate career to satisfy the requirements for the master’s degree. Transferring courses to the graduate career requires review and approval of both the undergraduate and graduate programs on a case-by-case basis.
In this master’s program, courses taken during or after the first quarter of the sophomore year are eligible for consideration for transfer to the graduate career; the timing of the first graduate quarter is not a factor. No courses taken before the first quarter of the sophomore year may be used to meet master’s degree requirements.
Course transfers are not possible after the bachelor’s degree has been conferred.
The university requires that the graduate advisor be assigned in the student’s first graduate quarter even though the undergraduate career may still be open. The university also requires that the Master’s Degree Program Proposal be completed by the student and approved by the department by the end of the student’s first graduate quarter.
The Program Proposal must include courses taken for three units or more each that are more advanced than the Symbolic Systems undergraduate core in four main skill areas:
Formal
Empirical
Computational
Philosophical
Courses across the four main skill areas should be taken in at least three of the following departments (based on the listing as any cross-listing departments):
Computer Science
Linguistics
Philosophy
Psychology
Courses to fulfill the Breadth Requirements must be taken for a letter grade if available, and note that any one single course may be applied to at most one M.S. Core skill area
Completion of a substantial project appropriate to the Program Proposal, represented by the MS Thesis. The project and thesis usually take three quarters or more to complete and work on the project may account for up to 15 units of a student’s 45-unit program. The thesis must be read and approved for the master’s degree in Symbolic Systems by two qualified readers approved by the program, at least one of whom must be an Academic Council member. The final thesis is subject to the approval of the Symbolic Systems Program Office. The thesis must be written in English to ensure that the faculty and staff of the Program’s Directorate can read and understand it. A hard copy of the thesis must be submitted to the Associate Director of Symbolic Systems, including the signatures of each reader indicating approval of the thesis for the degree of Master of Science, no later than noon on the day of the University Dissertation/Thesis Submission Deadline for the quarter of a student’s graduation. A digital copy must be uploaded to the Stanford Digital Repository by the same deadline. For more details, see the Master’s Thesis information on the Symbolic Systems Program website.