Stanford’s Symbolic Systems program bridges the gap between humanity and technology

Symbolic Systems exposes students to interdisciplinary ways of thinking, creativity and knowledge. The examination of the human-computer relationship, the mind and language is a life-changing path of study for many.

Josh Haner is a New York Times photographer who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for his riveting feature photography of the Boston Marathon healing process. He is also a 2002 alumnus of the Symbolic Systems program.

"Symbolic Systems gave me the confidence to look at problems with an eye toward solving them – and to never be satisfied if I thought something could be done better," said Haner.

When the New York Times faced a technical challenge in getting photos from big events onto the newspaper's website as quickly as possible, Haner applied his "sym sys" thinking to solve the problem. He built what's called a "remote streaming backpack" that allowed photos to be published to the Times' homepage within a minute of being taken.

That is the kind of thought process encouraged in Stanford's Symbolic Systems academic program, a one-of-a-kind higher education jewel that focuses on how computers, the mind and language integrate.

Interdisciplinary to the hilt, Symbolic Systems exposes students to different ways of thinking. Especially at an undergraduate level, there's enormous benefit to seeing how varying disciplines, thinkers and doers approach confounding problems.

What is Symbolic Systems?

The Symbolic Systems program is the study of "the science of the mind." Blending computer science, psychology, linguistics and philosophy, it examines the relationship between humans and computers; for example, how to endow computers with human-like behavior and understanding, and how to design technology that works well with users.