Internship Project
Critical Coding and Media Studies

Agent-based Models of Commoning and/or Alternative Social-Ecological Systems

Institution
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Department of Musicology an Media Science
Subject Area
Socially responsible coding, Julia (programming language)
Availability
06 May – 26 July
20 May – 09 August
03 June – 23 August

Internship Modality:
On-site internship in Berlin
Project Supervisor(s)
Prof. Dr. Shintaro Miyazaki
Academic Level
Advanced undergraduate students (from second year) 
Master's students 
Ph.D. students 
Language
English; German + Japanese (not mandatory)
Further Information
Project Type
Academic Research
Project Content
Agent-based models are frequently utilized within orthodox economics, where they are closely linked to unquestioned assumptions such as the belief that life and civilized liberal society ultimately revolves around self-interested individuals engaging in constant conflicts, and that only a free market operating on the basis of prices can effectively coordinate the dynamics of supply and demand. 
Additionally, there is the unchallenged notion of perpetual economic growth and the necessity of the accumulation of capital without end. Our small project wants to speak and argue against these assumptions by appropriating one central tool of academic economic thinking and argumentation, namely game theory or agent-based modeling and more generally computer simulation. 
We want to code and program small, rather experimental, still operative models, which model and simulate in small micro worlds our alternative theories of commoning and/or responsible social-ecological systems. 
Tasks for Interns
Academic Level
Advanced undergraduate students (from second year) 
Master's students 
Ph.D. students 
Requirements
  • Interest in critical theories, in commons and commoning
  • Interest for close collaboration with lay programmers
Expected Preparation
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For more information on the Humboldt Internship Program or the project, please contact the program coordinator.