Confronts the challenges of having too many things to read and limited attention spans to persuade someone that a written interpretation is valid. Explores different methods of reading (i.e. close, surface, text mining, thematic) at different scales, from 1 book to millions of data points from Bowdoin's library collections. Activities evaluate both the process and rationale for different reading and writing methods. Assumes no knowledge of programming.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

This first-year writing seminar explores how digital games represent the past. We begin by focusing on the emergence of digital culture in recent decades, seeking to understand the role electronic simulations play in our lives. We move on to exploring the representation of history in commercial video games, from Sid Meier’s Civilization series, to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Why are video games such a popular way of depicting past events? What constraints does the digital game format impose on these representations? How are these constraints conditioned by the nature of these games as commercial products sold in a global marketplace? Finally, how should we approach some games’ representation of difficult histories—those that may involve war, colonialism, and racism? Along the way, we will learn how to access campus information sources, use intellectual property responsibly, and write essays for the college level. This course includes a weekly required evening lab for dedicated gaming time and film screenings. (Same as: HIST 1025)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Examines the impact of digital artifacts, networked interaction, and computational analysis on the ways in which we establish new knowledge, engage in creative and social practices, and understand the self. Studies how the combination of large-scale digital data and computational modeling methods shape our agency as decision-makers. Emphasis on how the Liberal Arts shape and are shaped by these processes. Coursework includes quantitative analysis, machine learning, text and network analysis, critical readings in the field, and short, exploratory projects. Assumes no knowledge of programming or any software that will be used.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

Students will use "big data" to understand and address some of the most important social and economic problems of our time. The course will give students an introduction to cutting edge research and policy applications in economics in a non-technical manner that does not require prior coursework in economics or statistics, making it suitable both for students exploring economics for the first time, and for more advanced students who are interested in the class’s topics. Social and economic problems that we will cover include equality of opportunity, education, racial disparities, criminal justice, labor market participation, entrepreneurship, health care and public health, the opioid crisis, climate change, and environmental justice. In the context of these topics, the course will also provide an introduction to basic methods in data science, including regression, causal inference, and machine learning. Students will use software packages R, Stata, Arc GIS, and Excel. (Same as: ECON 1099)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Computational tools, including programming, are increasingly important across the liberal arts. Such tools, however, cannot be effectively created or used without a fundamental understanding of computation. This course provides a foundation for the use of these tools in conjunction with the critical framework of DCS. A major goal of the course is to teach introductory programming, but with a focus on how programming can be used to complement and even to implement methodologies including text analysis, network analysis, GIS and visualization. Students will use these methods in the service of critically engaging with data. E.g., where computer science focuses mainly on problem solving, this course is fundamentally about exploration and often problem discovery. No prior programming knowledge is required. This course is not open to students who have taken CSCI 1101, CSCI 1103, or CSCI 2101.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022.

Digital technologies make our lives easier in many ways—e.g., we can communicate with others around the world, we can order devices to play music, we can get instant directions to go basically anywhere! But is there any ethical cost to enjoying the benefits that come from these types of technologies? This course investigates a variety of ethical issues arising from and connected with digital technology. Topics covered might include privacy and big data, algorithmic bias, surveillance capitalism, social media and mental manipulation, fake news, internet shaming, and the moral status of superintelligence. (Same as: PHIL 1336)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Asks what a digital representation of a city could and should be, particularly in a moment when travel is limited, using Florence, Italy as a case study. Examines digital image, text, and spatial data about the city, juxtaposing it against non-digital primary sources, secondary critical readings, reflections on experiences of urban and other spaces, and data that we will create in class. Emphasizes shifting definitions across time, language, and digital artifacts of what and who is Florentine in these representations. Coursework happens in three phases: going “under the hood” of the popular digital artifacts that provide an experience of Florence in order to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of representation; expanding our definition of Digital Florence to find local perspectives on what the essential features of the city could be; and proposing a digital intervention that better reflects the values we have identified throughout the semester. Assumes no programming knowledge. Taught in English. (Same as: ITAL 2100, URBS 2100)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

Explores how digital media construct societies and cultures, and in turn how social institutions, interactions, and identities get reflected in/through digital media. Draws from multiple socio-cultural contexts to take a global and transnational approach to understand sociological themes such as self, social interaction, and community; social control and surveillance; constructions of gender, sexuality, race, social class, and religion; generations; transnational migration; emotional/affective labor; and social movements and change. Challenges binary dystopian and utopian representations of digital media to cultivate a more nuanced understanding. (Same as: SOC 2272)

Prerequisites: SOC 1101.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Examines emerging digital techniques in environmental management and analysis within government, academic, and media sectors. Provides an overview of social science methods including analysis of qualitative data, text analysis, spatial analysis, survey design and analysis, and social network analysis. Topics include collaborative resource management, leveraging the power of social networks, spatial analysis, social-ecological system management, the role of volunteered information and citizen science, and expanding capacities for adaptation and resilience. Labs as part of class time provide students exposure to standard software programs used in social science research, including NVivo, ArcGIS, and Gephi and introduce the basics of R as a programming language for text analysis, and spatial analysis. (Same as: ENVS 2331)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2020.

Geographical information systems (GIS) organize and store spatial information for geographical presentation and analysis. They allow rapid development of high-quality maps and enable powerful and sophisticated investigation of spatial patterns and interrelationships. Introduces concepts of cartography, database management, remote sensing, and spatial analysis. Examines GIS and remote sensing applications for natural resource management, environmental health, and monitoring and preparing for the impacts of climate change from the Arctic to local-level systems. Emphasizes both natural and social science applications through a variety of applied exercises and problems culminating in a semester project that addresses a specific environmental application. Students have the option of completing a community-based project. (Same as: ENVS 2004, URBS 2004)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021.

Explores approaches by communities and regions to build resilience in the face of changing environmental and social conditions. Examines the ways communities establish policies and collaborate with state, federal, private and nonprofit sectors towards strengthening local economies, safeguarding environmental values, protecting public health, addressing issues of economic and social justice, and implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies. Provides students with firsthand understanding of how digital and computational technologies including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are playing an increasingly important role in understanding and informing effective approaches for expanding resilience at a community level to inform policy decision. Students gain proficiency with GIS as part of the course. (Same as: ENVS 2301, URBS 2301)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2020.

Examines the social and economic aspects of today's connected world from a multitude of perspectives; namely, network science, computer science, sociology, and economics. The fundamental questions to be addressed are: What are the properties of real-world networks? What are the effects of networks on our behavioral choices like quitting smoking or eating healthy? How do cascades in networks lead to outcomes like videos going viral? How does Google search the Internet and make money doing so? Debates issues around centrality in networks. Uses game theory to study strategic interactions in networks and markets. (Same as: CSCI 2350)

Prerequisites: DCS 1500 or CSCI 1101 or CSCI 1103 (same as DCS 1300).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2020.

As the pace of technological change continues to accelerate, it raises questions about the impacts, positive and negative, on society. Will technology make our lives more comfortable and pleasant or will it destroy human society and lead us to a catastrophic ending? The answers largely depend on our ability to consider new technology advancements in light of desires to live good lives within just institutions. Students engage with topics of current relevance such as artificial intelligence, gene editing, virtual reality, robotics, and the internet of things. Discusses the underlying technological aspects of each and the possible implications for society. Students apply philosophical and ethical concepts and frameworks to consider how technology can become a positive force for the common good and debate possible ways to evaluate and avoid undesirable effects of current and future technologies. No prior programming experience required.

Prerequisites: DCS 1100.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

Mobile Devices are increasingly present in our lives. More and more "smart," they transform how we communicate, access information, experience our physical spaces, create and maintain friendships, monitor our health, and have fun. In this course, we will critically consider the consequences of these technological artifacts for how we define our personal identities, our interpersonal relationships, and the organization of our societies. In order to deepen our discussions, within the experiential context of DCS, we will learn how the software of mobile devices is structured, how they communicate with each other, with local sensors and other wearable devices. We will also study the physical and social architectures that connect our mobile experiences, including how they are likely to change in the coming years and their possible implications. This course does not require any prior knowledge in computer science or mobile communications.

Prerequisites: DCS 1100.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2020.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the world. It is being widely deployed by governments, police forces, and businesses. AI algorithms are touted as being without bias, and claims are made that AI regularly outperforms humans on a wide variety of tasks. The truth is far more complex. In this class, we will examine the systems being deployed in the world, the algorithms behind them, and their impact on the world. In particular, we will focus on the relationship between the data used by AI systems and their performance. Special attention will be paid to machine learning systems and students will engage in project-based machine learning activities.

Prerequisites: DCS 1100.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming nearly every aspect of society and our personal lives. This course invites students to explore fictional and non-fictional worlds transformed by AI and consider them in light of ethics, politics, and their impact on individuals. Students will use an array of literary and cinematic narratives to enrich their understanding of AI as it relates to those who develop it, those who use it, and those who seek to create policies governing its applications in society. AI-based artifacts will be examined from both conceptual and functional perspectives. The course will culminate with a look at how human agency can shape AI in order to move it closer to serving the common good.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023.

Explores how digital techniques can enhance our understanding of text. Investigates how to make sense of the burgeoning number of textual sources in a timely manner and what new questions can be raised and answered by computer-based text analysis. Students learn to apply tools for analyzing large texts to problems drawn from areas throughout the liberal arts, such as psychology, philosophy, and literature. In addition, students address questions ranging from authorship of Supreme Court opinions, to using thirty years of newspapers to reexamine historical questions, to interpreting Raphael's masterpiece “School of Athens” through an analysis of Aristotle's and Plato's works. While doing so they also study the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. No previous computer programming experience is required.

Prerequisites: DCS 1020 or DCS 1100.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021.

In this intermediate seminar we will use Geographic Information Systems to explore historical problems in 19th-century US history. We will introduce and practice basic statistical techniques, and use the class GIS database to investigate problems, construct our own historical datasets, and make our own maps. Class projects will challenge students to develop critical thinking skills in historical and computational methods, and practice effective data presentation. We will work with a wide array of history data, including information on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, agriculture, slavery, and voting behavior in the period in question. Throughout, we will probe the possibilities and limitations of GIS as a digital technology and methodological approach to historical analysis. This course is part of the following field(s) of study: United States. (Same as: HIST 2625)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

This anthropology course investigates overlaps in social understanding of media and technology. Investigates contemporary shifts in media landscapes where new media have come to dominate popular ideas about what qualifies as technology. Examines implications of mediation as an ever-present feature of daily life. Critically interrogates how technology and media have been differently classified depending on intended users. Additionally, the course explores how low-tech technologies, artful craft, and inclusive design could lead to more accessible, beneficial technology. Incorporates discovery of maker spaces, multimedia, and readings in anthropology, science studies, media studies, gender studies, and race and ethnicity studies. (Same as: ANTH 2251)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Explores how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning innovations are transforming the field of economics. Begins with developing a conceptual understanding of key AI concepts and new methodological advancements in machine learning. Investigates how AI may affect employment and labor productivity across different sectors of the economy including health, education, and finance. Students learn about sector-specific tools and applications that leverage AI and examine the government’s role in regulating AI and designing policies to mitigate potential adverse effects. (Same as: ECON 2225)

Prerequisites: ECON 1101 or Placement in ECON 2000 Level.

The promise of the internet was that it was a world without "prejudice or privilege". Instead it has exacerbated the elements of privilege already prominent in society. This course examines issues of privilege in digital environments both through the lens of algorithms and through interactions with others, with a particular emphasis on social media. The course begins with an examination of supportive environments, the consequences when the supportive components fail, and the roots of those failures. We will then use that perspective to look at digital environments, examining different forms of privilege, including race, gender, age, and class among others to show how the digital environment often makes issues around privilege worse rather than better. Meanwhile, many groups are simply unable to take advantage of the digital world at all. Work for the course will consist of a series of short papers and a culminating project that takes on one form of privilege in more detail.

Prerequisites: DCS 1100 or DCS 1200.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

Introduces students to the fundamental statistical concepts and computational tools for analyzing data and making data-driven decisions. Topics include data acquisition, wrangling, exploratory analysis, visualization, statistical modeling, and communicating results. Emphasis is placed on helping students become critical consumers of statistical studies. Through hands-on projects, students will learn how to formulate questions, collect and process relevant data, build models, evaluate assumptions and limitations, and interpret findings. Ethics surrounding data privacy, bias, and transparency are also examined.

Prerequisites: DCS 1100 or DCS 1500.

This course asks how different computational text analysis can be in two cultural environments: the digital humanities as practiced in the US and informatica umanistica in Italy. Our case study for texts to study will be Italian epic poetry of the Renaissance, the equivalent of today’s Marvel comic universe in terms of range of characters, complexity of plotlines, action sequences, humor, popularity, and fan-fiction spinoffs. We will draw on the multiple language backgrounds of all students in the course and the combined skills of advanced students in DCS and Italian. We will practice collaborative, iterative research development around the geographies, networks, and textual features of our texts. Activities will include discussion, hands-on use of digital tools, assigned readings, and a culminating project. (Same as: ITAL 3012)

Prerequisites: DCS 2335 or DCS 2350 (same as CSCI 2350) or DCS 2470 or DCS 2500 or ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

Provides students with advanced experience in geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing in environmental studies, with a focus on environmental study applications. Students will develop and pursue a semester project in spatial analysis in an area of their choosing, with an option to pursue a community-based project. Topics include research design, field collection, data creation and processing, analysis, and visualization. The course examines the ways that GIS and remote sensing are increasingly used at different scales from the local (e.g., parcel level) to global (e.g., international level) and examines the equity dimensions of spatial analysis. This course is intended for students with prior experience working with geographic information systems and/or conducting spatial analysis. (Same as: ENVS 3914)

Prerequisites: ENVS 2004 (same as DCS 2335 and URBS 2004) or ENVS 2301 (same as DCS 2340 and URBS 2301) or ENVS 2331 (same as DCS 2331) or EOS 2375 or DCS 2550 or DCS 3301.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Course uses geographic information systems (GIS) and R statistical software to analyze issues of inequality in the United States. Investigates the roles of maps and mapping technology in creating and reinforcing racial and economic inequality. Readings will contextualize these methods in the fields of economics, environmental studies, and sociology. Topics include environmental justice, segregation and housing policy, educational inequalities, crime and policing. Students will learn data management and statistical techniques using R, and mapping and spatial analysis using GIS. Students will produce independent projects at the end of the semester.

Prerequisites: Two of: DCS 1100 and either DCS 2335 or DCS 2350 (same as CSCI 2350) or DCS 2470 or DCS 2500.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023.

Project-based advanced networks course. Investigates how the historic perspective of contagion has inspired its expansive contemporary view, ranging from interventions in epidemics to diffusion in social networks to network effects on behavioral aspects like smoking, obesity, and happiness. Studies various network models and their properties. Programming projects involve implementation of network models and applying these models to large-scale, real-world networks with millions of agents, with a particular focus on critically assessing the models and algorithms using computational thinking. Projects also involve creating computer simulations to study models of residential segregation by race. Takes a critical view of the implications of various predictive algorithms, including techniques for disease prediction.

Prerequisites: DCS 1500 or CSCI 1101 or CSCI 1103 (same as DCS 1300).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

Advances in computer science, psychology, and neuroscience have shown that humans process information in ways that are very different from those used by computers. Explores the architecture and mechanisms that the human brain uses to process information. In many cases, these mechanisms are contrasted with their counterparts in traditional computer design. A central focus is to discern when the human cognitive architecture works well, when it performs poorly, and why. Conceptually oriented, drawing ideas from computer science, psychology, and neuroscience. No programming experience necessary. (Same as: CSCI 3400)

Prerequisites: CSCI 2101 or BIOL 2135 or PSYC 2040 or PSYC 2740.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2022.

Seminar. We live in an image-saturated world: social media platforms, the news, smart phones, remote learning, video games, streaming services, emoticons. We communicate, learn, and express ourselves in a highly mediated world of visual tools and images. Yet all too often we treat images as transparent vehicles of communication, immediately comprehended and obvious to all. This class brings the art historical tools of close looking and visual analysis to the materials of the digital world, from its roots in the nineteenth-century technologies of reproduction to its current screen-based forms, with an emphasis on media and materiality. Topics will vary, but may include early mass media, including wood engraving and photography; family albums and scrapbooks; the news media; the visual architecture of the internet; social media platforms; video games, advertising; digital art; and NFTs. (Same as: ARTH 3400)

Prerequisites: ARTH 1000 - 2969 or ARTH 3000 or higher or DCS 1000 - 2969 or DCS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023.

This course investigates philosophical issues arising from advanced forms of technology—in particular artificial intelligence and biological enhancement. We will discuss topics like the ethical implementation of AI, machine consciousness, moral obligations toward advanced machines, the nature of reality in virtual environments, living with entities that have super-human abilities, and the moral significance of the possibility of human extinction. We will read both theoretical papers in ethics, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics and papers that specifically discuss these issues in relation to the topics above. (Same as: PHIL 3420)

Prerequisites: PHIL 1000 - 2969 or PHIL 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Seminar. Analyzes the role of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in the modern economy, from the perspective of economic theory and empirical research. Topics include cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, "big data," social and economic networks, open-source software, intellectual property, and piracy of digital media. Assesses the extent to which such emerging technologies and processes disrupt markets, hierarchies and the state, including the organization of firms and industries, money and finance, technological innovation, productivity and growth, the law, and government policy. DCS/CS juniors or seniors may enroll with instructor permission. (Same as: ECON 3550)

Prerequisites: ECON 2555.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Provides a culminating experience allowing students to connect DCS to their other chosen discipline. Guided development and implementation of data creation, methodology evaluation, contextualization of topic and results in scholarly conversations, and translation of results and implications across digital media. Students can combine the course units into a single, unifying research project or propose alternative assignments that demonstrate DCS analytical skills and connections across core DCS topics. Assigned readings will address themes in interdisciplinary research, weekly activities will focus on developing best practices, and all work will have opportunities for peer review throughout the semester.

Prerequisites: Two of: DCS 1100 and DCS 2450.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022.