WGSS 150
Data for Justice Fall 2024
Division II Q Quantitative/Formal Reasoning D Difference, Power, and Equity
Cross-listed STS 150 / AMST 150 / SOC 150 / INTR 150

This course is a unique and inclusive introduction to data science where quantitative thinking, programming, and social justice intertwine. We will build our data science skills using R, a popular open-source data science tool. We will focus on essential stages of data analysis, including data acquisition, cleaning, wrangling, visualization, and exploration. But rather than divorcing these techniques from the social issues they can help illuminate, we ground them in a social justice context. Overall, we will apply data science skills to topics drawn from criminal justice, environmental justice, diversity and inclusion in arts and media, education equity, and much more, with the goal of growing our collective capacity to use data science as a tool for social good. During a time when humans are increasingly subjugated to data-driven algorithmic decisions, when there are social media accounts dedicated to highlighting misuses of data, and when artificial intelligence makes faking data a nearly trivial task, using data to ethically and carefully promote justice is more important than ever.