Virtual Reality Workflows

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Co-taught by Visiting Distinguished Professor danah boyd, this course integrates literature from STS, sociology, and critical data studies to examine the work of data and algorithms in organizational contexts, with a particular eye to the ecosystem of U.S. federal statistics. Students will learn why data and algorithms are never neutral and, thus, how to detect when data and algorithms are being politicized, manipulated, and weaponized. Moving beyond the ideals of ethics, students will need to grapple with how ethical commitments get enacted through data practices and technical systems, as well as the policies that govern them. Students can expect to come away from this class with a deeper appreciation for the complexity of technocratic dreams of evidence-based policymaking.