Data Science in the Liberal Arts Workshop (June 2019)

Event: Data Science in the Liberal Arts
Date & Location: June 6-7, 2019 at Washington and Lee University
Workshop Goals:

• Agenda & Program (Background and Purpose)
• Establishing a Think Tank on Data Science in the Liberal Arts
• Taking hands on approaches to curating, developing, and sharing liberal arts pedagogies and teaching materials for data science that broadly engage and support our students across the disciplines.

Attendees: members and friends of the LACOL DS+ working group

Scroll down for workshop resources, slides, and video gallery

Keynote Talk:

Data Journalism as a Liberal Art
Prof. Amelia McNamara
Department of Computer & Information Sciences
University of St. Thomas

One of the main ways the general public encounters products of data analysis is through journalism. Data journalists strive to explain complex stories using visualization, statistics, and heavy use of contextualization. As we incorporate data science into the liberal arts, data journalism provides a case study as a field in which the sciences and the humanities are consciously linked. In this talk, I’ll discuss the history of data journalism, how I see it fitting into a liberal arts framework, and experiences from a class I taught on data journalism.

A. McNamara SLIDES

More Workshop Talks and Resources:

1. R. DeVeaux – Data Science for All? 

• BONUS TRACK: R. DeVeaux – Data Science Song ♫
• R. DeVeaux Slides

2. L. Heyer – Starting a Data Science Minor

• L. Heyer Slides

3. M. Rush & D. Kuettner – Gerrymandering / GIS Class

• M. Rush & D. Kuettner Slides

4. E. Evans – Summer Data Science by and for the Liberal Arts

• E. Evans Slides

5.  A. McNamara Keynote: Data Journalism as a Liberal Art

• A. McNamara Slides

 6. K. Eshleman & A. Nguyen – Liberal Arts in Silicon Valley

• Davidson College | Adjacent Slides 

About the Data Science+ Working Group: Sparked by conversations at the LACOL summer workshop at Carleton College in 2018, the Data Science + working group is an active forum for faculty and staff to explore the frontiers of data science education at liberal arts colleges – especially looking for ways that collaboration can help to advance shared goals. DS+ held a series of lively webinars in 2018, culminating in this summer workshop at W&L . DS+ also helped to incubate ideas for the LACOL “Introduction to Data Science” class being offered online in Summer 2019.

Related Resources:

• Data Science Curriculum Guidelines https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-statistics-060116-053930
• National Academies Data Science for Undergraduates, Options and Opportunities
• http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cstb/currentprojects/cstb_175246
• Data Science Leadership Summary Report https://datascience.columbia.edu/files/seasdepts/idse/Data_Science_Leadership_Summit_Summary_Report.pdf
• 2019 Computing Competencies for Undergraduate Data Science Curricula | ACM Data Science Task Force http://www.cs.williams.edu/~andrea/DSReportInitialFull.pdf
• THE QUANT CRUNCH: HOW THE DEMAND FOR DATA SCIENCE SKILLS IS DISRUPTING THE JOB MARKET http://www.bhef.com/sites/default/files/bhef_2017_quant_crunch.pdf
• DS worth it? https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-decide-if-a-data-science-degree-is-worth-it-and-choose-the-right-program/