Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Serious Games: Conflict, Voting and Power
Instructor(s): David Vella, Math and Computer Science
Description: Why didn’t the United States and the Soviet Union enter the 1973 Yom
Kippur War? Is plurality voting the fairest way to choose the President of the United
States or other elected officials? In the United Nations Security Council, exactly
how much more power do the permanent members have than the other nations? In this
seminar, students explore how mathematicians have contributed to the analysis of political
questions like these. Game theory is a field of mathematics that was developed to
study conflict and competition. The players (which can be individuals, teams, corporations,
or entire nations) have conflicting interests and attempt to determine the best course
of action without knowing what their opponent(s) will do. Game theory can be applied
in a wide variety of situations, such a choosing a location to poen a business, understanding
tactical choices made in World War II battles, analyzing the nuclear arms race, deciding
how to vote in an election, or arbitrating a labor dispute. In this seminar, students
will apply game theory and related aspects of voting theory to address the questions
raised above and others like them in a variety of fields from anthropology to politics
and international relations.
Course Offered
