Social Dynamics of Data and Information Approved Courses

This concentration allows students to study how data, information, and information technology (IT) both shape and are shaped by social action and social change. Students can study anything from human language and writing to computers, social media, “big data,” machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The social shaping of data, information, and IT — by history, law, economics, culture, politics, and government — is one aspect of SDDI. The flip side of social shaping is the way that data, information, and IT transform society, culture, politics, inequality, design, justice, and sustainability.

 

Students in this concentration will learn to analyze data and information as the products of social choices both constrained and created by the costs, limits, and opportunities inherent in technology. For example, students might study racial bias in face recognition systems and criminal sentencing algorithms; computer modeling’s key role in understanding and acting on climate change; or the political transformations wrought by social media. Or they might learn about how “big data” emerged as a side effect of Internet search engines and social media in the 2000s, or how digital computing evolved to serve such needs as the 1890 US Census, atomic weapons development, code-breaking, and weather forecasting.

 

Students will learn to synthesize multiple approaches using STS analytical frameworks and sensibilities, which they cultivate through Major Core and Concentration Core courses.

 

How do I use this course list? Use the Courses menu to the left to select either Core Courses or Concentration Areas. Then use the 'Requirements' filter to identify which courses have been designated Socio-Cultural, Concentration Core (within Socio-Cultural), Technical, WIM and Global. 

A condensed PDF version of our course list is also available to help students plan their curriculum. Please note courses on this list are updated once per year. Please refer directly to ExploreCourses and the STS website for the most accurate and up-to-date information.