Fall/Winter Timetable
POL2578H1S L0101
Undergraduate Course Code: POL478H1S L0101
Topics in Methods
Introduction to Game Theory
Themes
This course is an introduction to game theory: the mathematical analysis of strategic decision-making. Most of the course is organized around classes of “games” (representations of strategic environments) and “solution con¬cepts” (methods of deriving predictions). Although much of the material is inevita¬bly abstract, when possible we will appeal to applications from political science. We will not avoid technical detail, but the course focuses on “tools” rather than epistemology or critique. Along the way, we will also review some mathematical foundations, e.g. how to write proofs, how we get from preferences to utility functions, and elements of individual and social choice theory.
Texts
Watson, Joel. 2013. Strategy: An Introduction to Game Theory. Third Edition. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company (for sale at the Bookstore).
Format and Requirements
Five problem sets (15% each for 75% total) handed out in class by the instructor and due the following week in class.
A take-home test (25% of the course grade) handed out in session 11 and due in session 12.
Preparation
POL242Y1/POL322H1/equivalent
November 14, 2023
Congratulations to Madalyn Hay, a recipient of a 2023-2024 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship. Madalyn, one of our doctoral students, holds a BAH in Contemporary Studies and Classics from the...
August 24, 2023
Congratulations to alumna Meaghan Williams, a recipient of the 2022-23 Governor General’s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence, the highest academic honour available to graduate students in Canada. Awarded annually by the Office of the...
June 14, 2021
Great news from the Canadian Political Science Association, which held its annual awards ceremony (online) over the weekend of June 12 & 13: Professor Stefan Rencken’s book "Private Governance and Public...
April 22, 2021
Congratulations to two political science alumni now teaching at U of T who have both won Superior Teaching Awards! Igor Shoikhedbrod and Khalid Ahmed will be celebrated on May 5th at...
August 6, 2020
Q&A with 2020 Vanier Scholar Yojana Miraya Oscco Congratulations to PhD student Yojana Miraya Oscco who has won a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC). Launched in 2008, the program enables...
April 30, 2020
Congratulations to our graduate student Kevin Edmonds who has won New College's June Larkin Award for Pedagogical Development. A PhD candidate specializing in Caribbean political economy, histories of alternative/illicit development, foreign intervention and...