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The Data Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program located within the Division of University Studies and is steered by faculty from a wide range of departments and programs. These faculty, who draw on their expertise and their discipline's best practices for working with data, teach students to integrate subject matter knowledge with data to develop new insights about the world.

ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø's Data Studies minorÌýprepares students to navigate and shapeÌýa data-driven world, going beyond technical computation to explore the social andÌýethical consequencesÌýof data science. This interdisciplinary minor investigates the grounded and relational aspectsÌýof data science by considering how we gather, organize, and analyzeÌýboth qualitative and quantitative data to explain and predict global phenomena.

This minor focuses on powerful intellectual methods that can be applied across various contexts.ÌýBy completing the Data Studies minor, students develop critical thinking skills, enhance their ability to collect, investigate, and interpret data, while gaining proficiency in data-driven problem-solving. Graduates are well-prepared to:

• Integrate knowledge by combining field-specific expertise with data fluency to translate between diverse stakeholders and contribute to responsible knowledge creation.
• Navigate complex moral issues and ethical considerations, including those related to how fairness and bias can impact individuals and communities.
• Communicate results effectively through clear writing and impactful visualization.

The minor begins with an introductory statistics course to help students build a common quantitative literacy. Students then take courses that focus on ethical and moral responsibility or on clear and transparent communication, and critically engage with diverse forms of data — quantitative or qualitative, scholarly literature, case studies, or visual media — in the context of geographic, political, environmental, and cultural issues. These courses should be chosen in consultation with each student's adviser(s).

Through this experience, students learn to ask questions that have real-world meaning in a way that data scientists can answer. Students examine which questions get asked, how those questions are posed, and the ethical considerations inherent in data-driven work by learning to identify and address the costs and benefits for individuals, communities, and society as a whole.

Transfer Credit

Students may count one transfer course toward the Data Studies minor requirements.

Courses

The courses listed below are offered by the Data Studies program. As an interdisciplinary program, select courses from other departments/programs also count toward the DATA minor requirements. Use the minor link below to find other courses that count toward these requirements.Ìý

Courses

• DATA 201Ìý-ÌýEthical Issues in Data Practice
• DATA 400Ìý-ÌýData in Action