Workshops and Classes

From CommunityData

Public Workshops

Community Data Science Workshops — The Community Data Science Workshops (CDSW) are a series of workshops designed to introduce some of the basic tools of programming and analysis of data from online communities to absolute beginners. The CDSW have been held four times in Seattle in 2014 and 2015. So far, more than 80 people have volunteered their weekends to teach more than 350 people to program in Python, to build datasets from Web APIs, and to ask and answer questions using these data.

University of Washington Courses

  • [Spring 2021] HCDE 410: Human Data Interaction — A quarter-long survey course that builds data science literacy among undergraduate students across a spectrum of educational backgrounds and professional goals, anchored in the principles and methods of human centered design. Students will gain critical understanding of data-driven algorithmic systems and their implications through readings and written reflections, collaborative in-class activities and group discussions, and hands-on research and programming activities. Under development by Jonathan T. Morgan and Brock Craft.
  • [Winter 2021] COM520: Statistical Methods in Communication — A quarter-long quantitative methods course that builds a first-quarter introduction to quantitative methodology and that focuses on both the more mathematical elements of statistics as well as the nuts-and-bolts of statistical programming in the GNU R programming language. Taught by Benjamin Mako Hill.
  • [Fall 2017] DATA512: Human Centered Data Science — Fundamental principles of data science and its human implications. Data ethics; data privacy; differential privacy; algorithmic bias; legal frameworks and intellectual property; provenance and reproducibility; data curation and preservation; user experience design and usability testing for big data; ethics of crowdwork; data communication; and societal impacts of data science.
  • [Winter 2017] COM521: Statistics and Statistical Programming — A quarter-long quantitative methods course that builds a first-quarter introduction to quantitative methodology and that focuses on both the more mathematical elements of statistics as well as the nuts-and-bolts of statistical programming in the GNU R programming language. Taught by Benjamin Mako Hill.

Northwestern Courses & Workshops

  • Winter 2022] Online Communities & Crowds (COMM_ST 378 / MTS 525)– Online communities & crowds are fundamental to how people communicate, work, play, learn, socialize, and more. However, they also threaten our well-being and undermine critical social institutions as well as the integrity of public discourse. This (advanced undergraduate and graduate level) course seeks to understand online communities & crowds. It does so through an interdisciplinary inquiry into a set of practical challenges that confront online communities & crowds today. When and why do some efforts to overcome these challenges succeed? What insights and expectations can we draw from these experiences? Taught by Aaron Shaw
  • [Fall 2021] Introduction to Graduate Research (MTS 501, Fall, 2021) – The goal of this seminar is to introduce first-year students in the Northwestern University TSB and MTS Ph.D. programs to (1) current research in these fields, and (2) key challenges involved in pursuing an impactful, responsible, and fulfilling research career. Taught by Aaron Shaw
  • [Fall 2020] MTS 525 / COMM_ST 395: Statistics and Statistical Computing — This course provides a get-your-hands-dirty introduction to inferential statistics and statistical programming mostly for applications in the social sciences and social computing. My main objectives are for all participants to acquire the conceptual, technical, and practical skills to conduct your own statistical analyses and become more sophisticated consumers of quantitative research in communication, human computer interaction (HCI), and adjacent disciplines.
  • [Winter 2020] History and Theory of Information — We live in an information age, with computers of unprecedented power in our pockets. This course seeks to understand how information shapes our lives today, and how it has in the past. It does so via an interdisciplinary inquiry into four technological infrastructures of information and communication—print, wires, airwaves, and bits. Co-taught by Aaron Shaw and Daniel Immerwahr.
  • [Spring 2019] MTS525: Statistics and Statistical Programming — A quarter-long graduate-level quantitative methods course that focuses on both the foundations for inferential statistics as well as the nuts-and-bolts of statistical programming in the GNU R programming language. Taught by Aaron Shaw.
  • [Spring 2019] The Practice of Scholarship (MTS 503, Spring 2019) — The second of two required seminars in the Media, Technology & Society (MTS) and Technology and Social Behavior (TSB) programs, the goal for this course is simple: submit a piece of academic research for publication by the end of the quarter. The course and assignments are structured to help students cultivate (more of) the skills, wisdom, and experience necessary to publish independent, original, and high-quality scholarship in relevant venues for their work. The experience will probably feel like a combination of a writing bootcamp and an extended group therapy session.
  • Online Communities & Crowds (COMMST 378, Fall 2016) — This advanced undergraduate course presents an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of online communities and crowds, with a particular emphasis on how and why some of these systems are so wildly effective at mobilizing and organizing people in ways that seem to have been impossible a few decades ago.
  • Introduction to Graduate Research (MTS 501, Fall 2016) — The first of two required seminars in the Media, Technology & Society (MTS) and Technology and Social Behavior (TSB) programs, this course introduces first year Ph.D. students to research skills and gives guidance on how to be a productive and responsible scholar.
  • The Practice of Scholarship (MTS 503, Spring 2016) — The second of two required seminars in the Media, Technology & Society (MTS) and Technology and Social Behavior (TSB) programs, the goal for this course is simple: submit a piece of academic research for publication by the end of the quarter. The course and assignments are structured to help students cultivate (more of) the skills, wisdom, and experience necessary to publish independent, original, and high-quality scholarship in relevant venues for their work. The experience will probably feel like a combination of a writing bootcamp and an extended group therapy session.

Purdue University Courses

  • [Spring 2022] Communication and Social Networks (COM 411, Spring 2021) – This class focuses on understanding how the structure of relationships between people influence communication patterns and behavior. This perspective can help us to understand a broad set of phenomena, from online communities to friendships to businesses. The course will also introduce students to using network visualizations to gain and share insights about network phenomena. Taught by Jeremy Foote.
  • [Fall 2021] Communication and Social Networks (COM 411, Fall 2021) – This class focuses on understanding how the structure of relationships between people influence communication patterns and behavior. This perspective can help us to understand a broad set of phenomena, from online communities to friendships to businesses. The course will also introduce students to using network visualizations to gain and share insights about network phenomena. Taught by Jeremy Foote.
  • [Summer 2020] Intro to Programming and Data Science (COM 67400, Summer 2020) — An intense, four-week version of the graduate level course intended to provide an introduction to programming and computational analysis of text in Python. The course is designed for social scientists, especially those seeking to gather data from the Web. These courses borrow heavily from the Community Data Science Workshops and courses.