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What is Symbolic Systems? What's New in Symbolic Systems?
The Symbolic Systems Program (SSP) focuses on computers and minds: artificial and natural systems that use symbols to represent information. SSP brings together students and faculty interested in different aspects of the human-computer relationship, including...
  • cognitive science: studying human intelligence, natural languages, and the brain as computational processes;
  • artificial intelligence: endowing computers with human-like behavior and understanding; and
  • human-computer interaction: designing computer software and interfaces that work well with human users.

Symbolic Systems' affiliated faculty come from several departments at Stanford University, including Computer Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, Communication, and Education. Our students are exposed to the tools of these disciplines -- formal methods, philosophical analysis, computer programming, and empirical research -- with the aim of being able to apply the appropriate tool(s) to a chosen area of specialization. SSP alumni are found in various occupations, including software design and applications, teaching and research, law, medicine, and public service.


Welcome alums! If you are an SSP alum and you do not know how to access your account, contact us at the email address "ssp-af at csli dot stanford dot edu". If you know how to log into your account, you can edit your profile by signing in and clicking on "Update profile" under "Your account" on the left sidebar. Also, please contact us if you have address information for alumni whose email addresses do not appear in our database after you sign in.
Congratulations to the graduating class of 2008!
The K. Jon Barwise Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Symbolic Systems Program was presented at Commencement this year to Mike Krieger ('08) for his work as an undergraduate advising fellow (2006-2008).

Congratulations to David Hall ('08), who has won a Firestone Medal for his honors thesis in Symbolic Systems.

The new Symbolic Systems Advising Fellows for 2008-2009 are Jane Huang, Brenden Lake, Mike Mellenthin, Jason Robinson, and Anna Schapiro. The office hours for this year's Advising Fellows and Program Administrators have ended. Office hours for the new staff will begin when classes start in the Autumn.
The next Symbolic Systems Forum will be on Thursday, October 1, 2008 (4:15-5:30 pm in 380-380C), featuring Summer Interns in Symbolic Systems. Check the SSP calendar page for details and abstracts for Forum talks as they are scheduled.

The March 2008 issue of San Francisco Magazine featured a profile of SSP alum Marissa Mayer ('97). Read what she says about her decision to major in Symbolic Systems here on page 6.


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