Arizona State University Rob Walton College of Global Futures 4 courses 84 total credits
Complex adaptive systems science serves as a common language to fuse different intellectual disciplines and promote the transdisciplinary collaborations needed to confront the intellectual and societal challenges of the modern world. Rather than focus on specialized understanding of a limited suite of phenomena, as is common in most academic disciplines, complex adaptive systems science emphasizes the multidimensional interconnections among phenomena comprising dynamic, evolving systems. Many of the systems most critical to human life and society can be understood and studied in this way, including cells, organisms, populations, ecosystems, societies and technologies. The Doctor of Philosophy program in complex adaptive systems science prepares you to be fluent in the language, concepts and methods of complexity needed to enable this innovative and valuable approach to the complexly coupled human and natural world. By embracing this complex systems perspective on human and natural systems --- and, importantly, the multidimensional interconnections between them --- you become an advocate for and global leader of a new kind of science that has the potential to fundamentally transform science, scholarship and society. ASU is an international leader in complex adaptive systems science. The first of its kind, the School of Complex Adaptive Systems represents the world's leading concentration of researchers in the field --- with more than 100 participating ASU faculty across more than 10 academic units; a growing constellation of research centers; its partner institution, the Santa Fe Institute, with its resident and external faculty; as well as the collaboration with Decision Theater at ASU. Together with Decision Theater, the School of Complex Adaptive Systems is pioneering dynamic decision environments that simulate, visualize and analyze real-world complexity with digital twins and data-driven decision-support tools. This partnership provides you with hands-on learning, transdisciplinary teamwork and real-world impact in areas such as workforce transformation, health equity and resilient development under the guidance of world-class faculty. The collective faculty and partnerships inside and outside ASU offer you a new, advanced doctoral degree program that is distinct in both its scope and level of expertise. You benefit from the knowledge of this large group of researchers, with its distinct combination of theoretical foundations, advanced methods and practical applications in complex adaptive systems science.
| Required Core | 6 credits |
| Focus Area | 6 credits |
| Electives | 48 credits |
| Research | 12 credits |
| Culminating Experience | 12 credits |
| Total Credits | 84 credits |
Required Core
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CAS 570 | Fundamentals of CAS Science | 3 |
| CAS 571 | Applications of Complex Adaptive Systems | 3 |
| Total Required Core | 6 credits | |
Focus Area
Electives
Culminating Experience
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CAS 799 | Dissertation | 12 |
| Total Culminating Experience | 12 credits | |
Additional Curriculum Information
All doctoral students receive rigorous, advanced training in complex adaptive systems science concepts and methods. The program offers two educational and career pathways. Domain science focus area: Students enhance complex adaptive science education with in-depth training in a social, life or physical science field or engineering field. This enables them to make significant contributions to their chosen domain science field from the perspective of complex adaptive systems science. Transdisciplinary bridging focus area: Students enhance their complex adaptive systems science education with knowledge of two or more social, life, or physical science fields or engineering fields. They also may augment this with advanced training in computer science and data science. The goal of this focus is to enable students to use a complex adaptive systems science perspective and framework as a bridge to intellectual fusion across multiple disciplines by applying advanced knowledge of complex adaptive systems science theory, data science and information technology.
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