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  4. Data Science Minor

Minor Requirements

The requirements to complete the minor balance the specific learning outcomes with flexibility and choice, with courses distributed across the participating colleges and disciplines, to ensure students can pragmatically complete the minor along with concurrently meeting major and distribution/elective requirements.

To Complete the Minor

  • Six courses are required in total
  • One course from the core statistics category. These are restricted to those courses for which a calculus-based understanding of probability can provide understanding in concepts such as maximum likelihood estimation.
  • One course from the core computer programming category. This course might be either an introductory programming course or one of a select number of more advanced courses. 
  • Four courses from the courses listed under the following categories:
  1. Data Analysis
  2. Domain Expertise
  3. Big Data Ethics, Policy and Society
  4. Data Communication

For the four categories, at least one course should be from each of three different categories, while the fourth can come from any category.

Important Information about Major/Minor Overlaps:

  1. Students may count a maximum of two courses toward both the Data Science minor and their own major’s core requirements, though they may count other courses they take for the minor toward their major’s elective requirements, provided their department approves.

       a. CS MAJORS:

i. You may count a maximum of two courses toward both the Data Science Minor and your CS core courses, CS electives, and/or CS practicum requirements for the CS major.

ii. You may, however, count other courses you take for the Data Science Minor toward your CS technical electives, external specialization, major-approved and/or advisor-approved elective coursework, but only if those courses meet the requirements for that category of elective.

   2. Students who are majoring in a subject that requires an introductory programming course (such as CS 1110), must satisfy the “Core Computing” requirement with a more advanced programming course.

Given the overlap of INFO courses in the Data Science Minor and the Data Science Concentration in the Information Science Minor, students cannot declare both.

Data Science Minor Courses by Category 

Core Statistics | Core Computing | Data Analysis | Big Data Ethics, Policy & Society | Data Communication | Domain Expertise

Core Statistics

Please note that STSCI/ILRST 2100, AEM 2100, PUBPOL 2100/2101, and STSCI 2150 do not count towards this requirement, as the classes on the approved list have a semester of calculus as a prerequisite. Since some other introductory classes listed below may a forbidden overlap with these courses, if you have already taken STSCI/ILRST 2100, AEM 2100, PUBPOL 2100/2101, and STSCI 2150, you could also take one of the listed probability courses for this category.

ECE 3100: Introduction to Probability and Inference for Random Signals and Systems

ENGRD 2700: Basic Engineering Probability and Statistic

GOVT 4019: Introductory Probability and Applied Statistics

MATH 4710: Basic Probability

MATH 4720: Statistics

ORIE 3500: Engineering Probability and Statistics II

STSCI/BTRY 3080: Probability Models and Inference 

STSCI/ECON 3110: Probability Models and Inference for the Social Sciences

ECON 3130: Statistics and Probability

STSCI 2200/BTRY 3010: Biological Statistics I

Core Computing

AEM 2820: Intro to Database Management Systems

AEM 2830: VBA and Python for Business Analytics

AEM 2840: Python for Business Analytics

AEM 2850: R Programming for Business Analytics and Data Visualization

CS 1110: Introduction to Computing: A Design and Development Perspective

CS 1112: Introduction to Computing: An Engineering and Science Perspective

CS 3220: Computational Mathematics for Computer Science

CS 4320: Introduction to Database Systems

HADM 3710: Python Programming

HADM 3740: Fundamentals of Database Management and Data Analysis

ORIE 3120: Practical Tools for Operations Research, Machine Learning and Data Science

STSCI 3040: R Programming for Data Science 

STSCI 4060: Python Programming and its Applications in Statistics

STSCI 4520: Statistical Computing

Data Analysis

BEE 4310: Multivariate Statistics for Environmental Applications

AEM 3275: Introduction to Machine Learning in Business

AEM 4120: Computational Methods for Management and Economics

ASTRO 3334: Data Analysis and Research Techniques in Astronomy

ASTRO 3340: Symbolic and Numerical Computing

ASTRO 4523: Modeling, Mining and Machine Learning in Astronomy

CHEME 5660: Financial Data, Markets, and Mayhem for Scientists and Engineers

CS 3780 (previously 4780): Introduction to Machine Learning

CS 4787: Principles of Large Scale Machine Learning

CS 4850: Mathematical Foundations for the Information Age

ECE 4110: Random Signals in Communications and Signal Processing

ECE 4200: Fundamentals of Machine Learning

ECE 4250: Digital Signal and Image Processing

ECON 3120: Applied Econometrics

ENGRD 2720: Data Science for Engineers

HADM 4010: Data Driven Analytics

HADM 4750: Machine Learning for Business and Hospitality Applications

HD 2930: Data Science for Social Scientists 1

HD 2940: Data Science for Social Scientists 2

HD 4760: Quantitative Methods 2

INFO 2950: Introduction to Data Science

INFO 2951: Introduction to Data Science with R

INFO 3300: Data-Driven Web Applications

INFO 3370: Studying Social Inequality using Data Science

INFO 3950: Data Analytics for Information Science

MATH 2310: Linear Algebra for Data Science (MATH 2310 before FA24 semester will not be accepted)

ORIE 3741 (previously 4741): Learning with Big Messy Data

ORIE 4580: Simulation Modeling and Analysis

ORIE 4740: Statistical Data Mining I

ORIE 4820: Spreadsheet-Based Modeling and Data Analysis

PSYCH 4750: Quantitative Methods I

PSYCH 4760: Quantitative Methods II

PUBPOL 3100: Multiple Regression Analysis

STSCI 3200/BTRY: 3020 Biological Statistics II 

STSCI 4060: Python Programming and its Applications in Statistics

STSCI/BTRY 4100: Multivariate Analysis

STSCI/BTRY 4110: Categorical Data

STSCI 3740 (previously 4740): Data Mining and Machine Learning

STSCI 4780 Bayesian Data Analysis: Principles and Practice

Big Data Ethics, Policy & Society

ALS 1210: Data Democratization

COMM 4242: The Design & Governance of Field Experiments

DSOC 2120: Data, Tech and Global Development

DSOC 4060: Digital Capitalism

ENGL 3778: Free Speech, Censorship, and the Age of Global Media

ENGRG 3605: Ethics of Computing and Artificial Intelligence Technologies

GOVT 3999: How Do You Know That?

INFO 1200: Information Ethics, Law, and Policy

INFO 1260: Choices and Consequences in Computing

INFO 3200: New Media and Society

INFO 3370: Studying Social Inequality using Data Science

INFO 4240: Designing Technology for Social Impact

INFO 4250: Surveillance and Privacy

INFO 4270: Ethics and Policy in Data Science

INFO 4505: Computing and Global Development

INFO 4561: Stars, Scores, and Rankings: Evaluation and Society

PUBPOL 2070: Big Data for Big Policy Problems

PUBPOL 2130: Data and the State: How Governments See People and Places

PUBPOL 3520: Economic and Policy Implications of Artificial Intelligence

PUBPOL 4230: Gender and Health: Concepts, Data, Theories and Evidence

PUBPOL 4540: Collaborative Modeling Methods for Policy and Program Evaluation 

STS 3440: Data Science and Society Lab

STS 3561: Computing Cultures

Data Communication

COMM 3010: Writing and Producing the Narrative for Digital Media

​COMM 3150: Organizational Communication: Theory and Practice

COMM 3350: Presenting Informational Visually

COMM 3189: Taking America's Pulse: Creating and Conducting a National Opinion Poll

COMM 4200: Public Opinion and Social Processes

COMM 4360: Communication Networks and Social Capital

COMM 4860: Risk communication

INFO 3312: Data Communication

INFO 3950: Data Analytics for Information Science

INFO 4310: Interactive Information Visualization

SOC 3580: Big Data on the Social World

Domain Expertise

AEM 2770: Excursions in Computational Sustainability

AEM 3100: Business Statistics

AEM 4060: Risk Simulation and Monte Carlo Methods

AEM 4110: Introduction to Econometrics

AEM 4225: Systems and Analytics in Accounting

AEM 4435: Data Driven Marketing

AEM 4620: Advanced Financial Modeling and Analysis

AEM 4660: Market Dynamics, Computer Simulation and Modeling

ASTRO 3310: Planetary Image Processing

BIOCB 4381: Biomedical Data Mining and Modeling

BIOCB 4830: Quantitative Genomics and Genetics

BIOCB 4840: Computational Genetics and Genomics

BIOEE 3550: Data Analysis and Visualization in Ecology and Environmental Science

BIOEE 3611: Field Ecology

BIOEE 3620: Dynamic Models in Biology

BIOEE 4940: Topic: Intro to Quantitative Analysis in Ecology

BIOMG 4810: Population Genetics

BIOMG 4870: Human Genomics

BIONB 3300: Computational Neuroscience

BIONB 4220: Modeling Behavioral Evolution

BIONB 4380: Topics in Computational Methods for Neurobiology & Behavior

BTRY 4820: Statstical Genomics

CHEM 4810: Computational Methods in Chemistry

COGST 3140: Computational Psychology

CRP 4080: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

CS/INFO 4300: Language and Information

CS 4740: Natural Language Processing

DSOC 3140: Spatial Thinking, GIS, and Related Methods

EAS 3450: Ocean Satellite Remote Sensing

ECON 3120: Applied Econometrics

ECON 3140: Econometrics

ECON 4110: Cross Section and Panel Methods

ECON 4660: Behavioral Economics

ENTOM 3030: Applied Statistics: Biological Experiments in Practice

GOVT 3282: Data Science Applications in Political and Social Research

HADM 4050: Revenue Management

HADM 4770: Advanced Business Modeling

INFO 3140: Computational Psychology

INFO 3350: Text Mining History and Literature

INFO 4100: Learning Analytics

INFO 4555: Business Intelligence Systems

ILRHR 4664: Human Resource Analytics

ILROB 4710: Social Science Research Methods

NS 4300: Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition

NTRES 3100: Applied Population Ecology

NTRES 3500: Computational Skills for Efficient Data Processing and Analysis

NTRES 4100: Advanced Conservation Biology: Concepts and Techniques

NTRES 4120: Wildlife Population Analysis: Techniques and Models

ORIE 2380: Urban Analytics

ORIE 4120: Inventory, Operations, and Supply Chain Management: Models and Optimization

ORIE 4126: Principles of Supply Chain Management

ORIE 4132: Service systems and online markets

ORIE 4154: Revenue Optimization and Marketplace Design

ORIE 4630: Operations Research Tools for Financial Engineering

ORIE 4656: Extreme Values in Finance

ORIE 4742: Information Theory, Probabilistic Modeling, & Deep Learning with Scientific & Financial Applications

PLSCI 4290: Remote Sensing and Modeling for Ecosystems

PLSCS 4110: Applied Remote Sensing and GIS for Resource Inventory and Analysis

PLSCS 4200: Geographic Information Systems

PLSCS 4650: Global Navigation Satellite Systems

PUBPOL 3120: Research Design, Practice, and Policy

PUBPOL 3130/ECON 3670: Behavioral Economics and Public Policy

PUBPOL 3280: Fundamentals of Population Health

PUBPOL 3400: The Economics of Consumer Policy

PUBPOL 3550: Economics of Education

PUBPOL 3600: Economics of Crime

PUBPOL 3670: Economics and Environmental Policy

PUBPOL 3780: Sick Around the World? Comparing Health Care Systems Around the World

PUBPOL 3850: Applied Demography in Business and Government

PUBPOL 4080: Demographic Techniques

PUBPOL 4101: Causal Reasoning and Policy Evaluation 1

PUBPOL 4110: Pollution, Climate Change, and Health

STS 4040: Digital Due Process Clinic

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