Catalogue

Data Analytics

dataanalytics.bard.edu

Faculty: Valerie Barr (director), Sven Anderson, Jordan Ayala, Beate Liepert, Allison Stanger

Overview: The Data Analytics (DA) concentration prepares students from a wide range of disciplines to use data to address problems in their chosen disciplines and in multidisciplinary settings. The concentration provides the understanding of and computational skills necessary to do data analysis, modeling and simulation, data visualization, and, more generally, grasp the concept of data-driven decision making and predictions about the future. Students learn various tools that can be used to make sense of data and how to identify the ways in which data are used to manipulate the message conveyed by data. The concentration also addresses issues of algorithmic bias, data ethics, and the power exercised by those who control data and make decisions about its use.

Requirements: Courses needed to moderate into DA:
● Computer Science 121, Introduction to Data Analytics and R Programming
● One of the following statistics-oriented courses:
    Computer Science 275, Statistics for Computing
    Biology 244, Biostatistics
    Economics 229, Introduction to Econometrics
    Environmental Studies 240, Statistics and Econometrics
    Physics 221 or 222. Mathematical Methods I or II
    Psychology 202, Design and Analysis in Psychology II
    Introduction to Statistics (future course)

Courses needed to complete the DA concentration:
● Computer Science 121, Introduction to Data Analytics and R Programming
● One of the courses listed above.
● At least two of the following (the last four courses to be offered in the next year)
    Environmental Studies 321, GIS for Environmental Justice
    Data Mining
    Data Visualization
    Modeling and Simulation
    Spatial Analysis
● At least one course outside of the Sciences, Mathematics, and Computing Division that involves significant data analysis, chosen with approval of the concentration director. Examples include:
    Common Course: Data and Democracy (to be offered in the next year)
    Environmental Studies 113: Introduction to Geography and Geosciences
    Global and International Studies 269 / Sociology 269, Global Inequality and Development
    Human Rights 278, A Human Right to Homes or Homelessness
    Sociology 138: Introduction to Urban Sociology
● A Senior Project in the major discipline that includes a significant data analysis component, likely involving the combination of multiple data sources and development of an analytical approach in order to address a question or problem rooted in the major field.