CSCI 6370 / CSCI 4370 / ITWS 6970 / ITWS 4960: Data and Society
Instructor: Professor Francine Berman, bermaf_at_rpi.edu
Spring Semester 2021, Mondays and Thursdays: 12:20 p.m. - 2:10 p.m.
Office Hours by appointment, contact bermaf@rpi.edu
COURSE ELIGIBILITY
The course is open to all students at all levels at RPI. Contact instructor for approval if needed.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Data and Society focuses on how data is changing how we work and live.
The course provides an overview of the data-driven world touching on big data, the Internet of Things, data privacy, digital rights, data and discrimination, and other topics.
Course meetings consist of lectures, discussion, student presentations and guest speakers.
Data and Society is a communication-intensive course.
Assignments will help build writing, presentation, and critical thinking and assessment skills, all of which are important for professional success. The course is on-line and the link is available only to students enrolled in the course.
January 25: Introduction to the Course
January 28: The Data-Driven World / Model Presentation / Personal Essay Assignment 1
February 1: Data and COVID-19
February 4: Data and Privacy - Why Does Privacy Matter?
February 8: Data and Privacy - Differential Privacy and the Census
February 11: Data and Privacy - Anonymity and the Netflix Prize
February 22: Legal Protections / Guest speaker:
Ben Wizner, ACLU
February 25: Data and Discrimination -- Bias
March 1: Data and Discrimination -- Facial Recognition and Accuracy
March 4: Data and Elections -- Targeting the Voter
March 8: Data and Elections -- Election Models and Outcomes
March 15: Data and Astronomy / Guest speaker:
Alyssa Goodman, Harvard University
March 18: Data Science
March 22: Digital Humanities / Guest speaker: Brett Bobley, National Endowment for the Humanities
March 25: Data Stewardship and Preservation, Archiving the Internet
March 29: The Internet of Things
April 1: Tech and Smart Farms / Guest speaker: Rich Wolski, UC Santa Barbara
April 5:
Self-Driving Cars
April 12: Data and Ethics
April 15: Cybersecurity / Guest Speaker:
Bruce Schneier, Harvard
April 19: Data and On-line Dating
April 22: Digital Rights in the EU and China
April 26: Tech in the News
May 3: Wrap up / Discussion