The University of Washington’s Data Science Minor brings data science to a wide range of undergraduates within and beyond the STEM fields. 186 students are currently enrolled in the new minor, representing 54 areas of study at the university. UW undergrads interested in gaining literacy in data science methods and understanding their implications for society should look into adding a Data Science Minor to their studies. Ben Marwick, Senior Data Science Fellow and Director of the Data Science minor, described how the program will balance data skills and studies: “The goal is to combine the technical skills that relate to the new developments of generating and analyzing large amounts of data, then give students the context and the critical thinking skills to do something meaningful with that.”
Last Fall quarter, the University of Washington launched the Data Science minor program to bring data science to a wide range of undergraduates within and beyond the STEM fields. Bonnie Du is a senior who is currently majoring in Mathematics in addition to minoring in Data Science. “Data science is an area where you can find connections from virtually every field in this world,” she said. Bonnie plans to take several more data science courses before she graduates, including a UW Sociology course that explores the social implications of the digital revolution, such as ethical issues associated with algorithmic design and privacy.
Louisa Gaylord 