Background

Symbolic Systems (or SymSys) is an interdisciplinary major at Stanford that has graduated 22 classes of students, dating back to 1987. It was founded in the ’80s by several professors who saw a gap in Stanford’s offerings as relates to Cognitive Science (and cognition more broadly). Since it’s interdisciplinary and highly “customizable”, SymSys means different things to different people, but I think Ivan Sag, current Director of the program, sums it up best: SymSys focuses on how people think (Cognitive Science, Neuroscience), and how machines can either help us think (Human-Computer Interaction), or help us understand how we think (AI, computational models). SymSys is unique to Stanford.

I first found out about SymSys through a group on Orkut, Google’s social networking service that no one in the States but everyone at home (Brazil) does; the description was interesting enough to get me to go to the weekly SymSys Forum (Thursday @ 4:15pm in 380-380C) when I started at Stanford. Though some of the talks were over my head, in general I was attracted to the breadth of topics and how interdisciplinarity informed all research in the program. I’ve been a part of the program ever since, through being an undergraduate student, an academic advising fellow, and now one of 8 Master’s students.

General Pros and Cons

In general, there are some strong “pro”s: The SymSys program is relatively small (~30 people per class year), and also very tight knit. From the collection of polaroid pictures right outside the program office, to the quarterly barbeques, you’ll get to know basically everyone in the program, and often get to meet alumni that have gone on to do terrific things (like Marissa Mayer @ Google, Scott Forstall @ Apple, Reid Hoffman @ LinkedIn, and many others). I’ve had countless hours-long conversations with SymSys students & alumni. SymSys has a more liberal arts focus than a “techie” major like Computer Science (which appealed to me coming from a smaller high school), and allows for a sort of breadth in thinking that’s valuable as an undergraduate.

Of course, there are some “con”s as well: it doesn’t have the name recognition of Computer Science or other more well-known degrees (though you can spin this to your advantage in job interviews if you have a well-thought-out reason for choosing SymSys), it’s not classified as a Science & Technology degree (important if you’re a foreign student on an F-1 hoping to get a STEM extension to your Optional Practical Training), and, if some care isn’t taken, can lead to a program with too much breadth and not enough technical skills.

SymSys & Computer Science

My main interest (and concentration for both undergrad and Master’s) is Human-Computer Interaction — so studying HCI through Computer Science would have made sense as well. At the time, Computer Science didn’t have specific “tracks” like they do now, and the CS core curriculum was much broader, with classes like Compilers and Operating Systems, both of which I appreciate but had little interest in learning much more than the basics. Instead, SymSys had upper-level courses in logic, cognitive science, and experimental design. These were a better fit for what I was interested in.

This section is called SymSys & Computer Science (rather than “vs.”) for a reason: regardless of which route you choose to pursue an HCI education at Stanford, the curricula for both programs are available online, and make a very good source for course recommendations to round out your SymSys or CS classes.

When it came time to choose a Master’s program, there was one additional factor I took into consideration: the SymSys MS program is very research-heavy, and requires a thesis that contributes significant knowledge within your chosen concentration. While it’s possible to do extra work and write a thesis as part of the CS MS program, it’s far less of a priority (and is not as baked into the structure) as the SymSys MS. There are monthly SymSys MS research meetings where students get feedback from the program professors and other students. Also, it’s a much smaller program.

My advisor (Scott Klemmer) encouraged me to supplement the Symbolic Systems curriculum with CS courses that rounded out my ability to think like a computer scientist and actually implement the concepts covered in the HCI courses. While I took classes like ArtStudio60 (one of the better classes I’ve ever taken), at Prof. Klemmer’s advice I also took courses in Object-Oriented Programming, Programming Languages, and Computer Graphics.

So, which one?

With the new CS curriculum, started this year, the picture has changed a little. The new HCI track looks as follows:

Requirements:

a) CS147, CS247 (HCI Foundations)

b) Any one of: CS148, CS248, CS376, CS377, CS378 (Advanced HCI)

c) Any one of: CS108, CS140, CS221, CS223B, CS229, CS249A (Buttressing CS)

d) Any one of: Psych55, Psych252, MS&E184, ME101, ME115 (Designing for People)

Track electives

– Courses in categories (b), (c), and (d) above, as well as: ArtStudi60, Comm269, CME340, CS447, CS448B, Ling180, EE118, MS&E216A, Psych205, Psych221

*requires approval of undergraduate advisor.

Which isn’t too vastly different from the HCI concentration in Symbolic Systems. It’s great that you can get a strong HCI education through either program now; I think the choice comes down to:

Undergraduates

If you’d like to approach HCI from a technical standpoint and gain strong fundamentals in CS disciplines that extend beyond what might be immediately applicable to HCI, the new CS program with an HCI track is a great choice. On the other hand, if you’re interested in HCI from a cognitive, psychology, or social psych standpoint, the SymSys program provides an excellent perspective on how our mind works and how it relates to designing user interfaces. It’s worth coming to some of the SymSys barbeques and other events to get to know the program a bit more.

Graduates

If you’re considering an eventual PhD (or just want to do more research before graduating), SymSys is great way of learning more about research and undertaking your own project, though as mentioned above, it’s important to combine the HCI courses that you’re required to take with some deeper technical expertise courses. If you’re interested in getting a deeper technical knowledge of CS and focusing on how to apply it in an HCI context, the CS MS is a great choice.

Feel free to shoot me an email, or comment below, if you have more questions about these programs or Stanford in general.

Update: thanks to Todd Davies, our Associate Director in SymSys, for helping to clarify some points above.