#DATA WITHOUT BORDERS: ##DATA SCIENCE IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY

##INSTRUCTOR: JAKE PORWAY We are living in the dawn of the big data era, a time in which the vast digitization of our world has created incalculable amounts of information that is now being used to drive our every decision, from what movie we decide to watch this weekend to how we navigate the globe next year. Though data can be immensely transformative, much of the efforts in data science are still focused on first-world gains, such as optimizing ad networks or recommending restaurants. As designers, developers, and scientists, it is not only incumbent upon us to understand how to analyze, understand, and tell stories with data, but also to think about its use in meaningful and socially conscious ways.

This class will train students in the basic tools and trade of data science through exploration of a socially conscious data project. Students will learn to scrape, merge, and clean data with Python, perform statistical analysis and use machine learning algorithms with the R programming language, and visualize and explore data with D3. In addition to training you as data scientists, we will discuss the important social issues around data provenance, privacy, and the responsibility that comes with making claims from data.