This document provides an overview of a course on complex systems models in the social sciences. It discusses: - The structure of the course, which will include lectures, labs, theoretical building blocks, empirical investigations, and applied case studies. - The background and goals of the instructor, which include providing an introduction to computational and agent-based modeling approaches, a foundation in implementation, and contrasting various modeling approaches. - An introduction to key concepts in complex systems, including bottom-up modeling, heterogeneous agents, self-organization, non-linearity and emergence. - Taxonomies of modeling approaches that will be covered, including data analysis, formal models, and complex adaptive systems modeling.