Data Information and Society- Integrative Pathway

Data have always played a role in how humans understand and navigate the world around us. In recent years growth in technology, computing power, and internet accessibility have rapidly increased the importance of data on a societal level. Today, data can be gathered and applied to address almost any domain of knowledge, from science to politics to sports to literature. In this pathway, students will develop basic skills both in data literacy and in interpreting and analyzing data themselves. Students will explore the way society uses and interacts with data in a variety of ways, including how data are used to form evidence-based arguments, the relationship between data, privacy, and morality, the role of data in social justice, and the rapidly expanding role of big data in both the public and private sectors. For example, while the use of data to inform decision-making, and create knowledge, has been largely positive, a number of recent instances of data-based decision-making (e.g., Cambridge Analytica) point to potential ethical pitfalls of data analysis. It has become clear that data analysis, like any tool, can be used in unethical ways that may ultimately undermine knowledge and widely shared values.

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Data, Information, and Society Courses