CMS.631
Data Storytelling Studio
Explores visualization methodologies to conceive and represent systems and data, e.g., financial, media, economic, political, etc. Covers basic methods for research, cleaning, and analysis of datasets. Introduces creative methods of data presentation and storytelling. Considers the emotional, aesthetic, ethical, and practical effects of different presentation methods as well as how to develop metrics for assessing impact. Work centers on readings, visualization exercises, and a final project. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
Spring 2017 · Data Storytelling Studio: Climate Change
Topics
- Introduction
- Course overview & asking questions
- Course overview & asking questions (contd.)
- Getting and cleaning data
- Analyzing data
- Telling a data-driven story
- Overview
- Studio (in-class work time)
- Presentations and discussion
- Optional: evening round-table with Emerson College and Northeastern University students
- Studio (in class work time)
- Group forming
- Mentor feedback, studio (in class work time)
- Final project presentations and discussion
Readings
- Veltman, N. “Scraping the web.” School of Data, November 2013.
- DeBarros, A. “Excel: Extract text with FIND and MID.” on data, code & product [blog], October 9, 2012.
- Edward R. Tufte. “Graphical Excellence.” Chapter 1 in The Visual Display of Quantitative Information . 2nd edition. Graphics Press, 2001. ISBN: 9781930824133. pp 13-52
- McCloud, S. “Vocabulary of Comics.” Chapter 2 in Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art . William Morrow Paperbacks, 1994. ISBN: 9780060976255
- Blair, J. A. “The Rhetoric of Visual Arguments.” Chapter 2 in Defining Visual Rhetorics . Lawrence Erlbaum, 2014. ISBN: 9780805844023. pp. 41-61.
- boyd, d. “What World Are We Building?" Data and Society: Points , January 2016.
Prerequisites & course information
Subject meets with CMS.831 Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2017
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.