Course Syllabus

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MATH 7.04 SPRING 2025
First-Year Seminar: Analyzing Network Data

Instructor:  Peter J. Mucha, Kemeny 240,
peter.j.mucha@dartmouth.edu, https://mucha.host.dartmouth.edu. 

Lecture Information:  9L (MWF 8:50–9:55), Haldeman 028.

Please hold the 9LX hour (Thursdays 9:05–9:55) open for possible use.

Full class meetings at the 9LX time, with attendance expected, will be held on 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, and Tuesday 6/3, with other possible dates TBD.

Office Hours:  Tuesdays 1:30–2:30 and Thursdays 11–12 in Kemeny 240, and by appointment (a DM on the Dartmouth Slack will almost always get a faster response than email).

Full Syllabus: syllabus.pdf

Course Schedule: Note future topics listed here are tentative and will likely move around as time permits. An "R" in the schedule means we will have class in the Thursday X-hour. Similarly, a "T" means we will have class in the corresponding Tuesday time (9:05–9:55). Materials referenced include the texts by Christakis & Fowler ("CF"), Kolaczyk & Csardi ("KC"), and McCabe.
Week Topics

1

MWF

Introduction to Network Analysis and Social Networks

  • Monday 3/31: Course organization, installing R, and start KC Chapter 2.
  • Wednesday 4/2: KC Chapters 2 and 3.
  • Friday 4/4: Introduction to Writing Assistants. Start KC Chapter 4.

2

MWF

Critically Evaluating a Journal Article

  • Monday 4/7: Class discussion about CF Chapters 1 and 2.
  • Wednesday 4/9: Crafting a thesis. Peer feedback about journal article summaries.
  • Friday 4/11: Class discussion about CF Chapters 3 and 4.

3

MWF

Economic and Political Networks, Your Ego Network, Constructive Feedback

  • Monday 4/14: 
  • Wednesday 4/16:
  • Friday 4/18:

4

MWF

Models of Networks

  • Monday 4/21: 
  • Wednesday 4/23:
  • Friday 4/25:

5

MWF

Writing as Thinking about Network Calculations in a Computational Notebook

  • Monday 4/28:
  • Wednesday 4/30:
  • Friday 5/2:

6

MWRF

Network Calculations (cont’d), Constructive Feedback

  • Monday 5/5: 
  • Wednesday 5/7:
  • Thursday 5/8:
  • Friday 5/9:

7

MWRF

Reading to Improve Our Writing, Writing Like a Mathematical Scientist

  • Monday 5/12: 
  • Wednesday 5/14:
  • Thursday 5/15:
  • Friday 5/16:

8

WRF

More Applications of Networks, Constructive Feedback

  • Monday 5/19: No class meeting
  • Wednesday 5/21:
  • Thursday 5/22:
  • Friday 5/23:

9
  • No class meetings

10

MTW

Final Project Reports, Constructive Feedback

  • Monday 6/2: Hold for short project presentations
  • Tuesday 6/3: Hold for short project presentations
  • Wednesday 6/4:

Course Summary:

Date Details Due