Course Descriptions

CSC 324 - Theory of Computation

Mathematical models of computation, and the fundamental capabilities and limitations of computers.  Topics include regular languages, finite automata, context-free languages, grammars, Turing machines, the Chomsky hierarchy, the halting problem, algorithms, decidable and undecidable problems, algorithmic reductions, complexity theory, the classes P, NP, and PSPACE, and NP-complete problems.

Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
One of Mathematics 220, 230, or 255. (Offered Spring of odd-numbered years.)

CSC 351 - Operating Systems

Operating Systems are collections of software services that manage physical hardware resources, from small sensors to complex servers, and provide applications with a higher-level interface for common tasks. Typical responsibilities of operating systems include task and memory management; input and output abstractions and services (which includes file systems and networking); and authentication / authorization. For workstations and servers, operating systems also commonly include the means to define and enforce security policies, to perform virtualization, and to manage energy consumption, among others. In our course, students develop in practice the crucial parts of a modern operating system, and develop scientific writing and public presentation skills in an informal and rewarding class environment.

Satisfies a 300-level elective requirement in the Systems area of the Computer Science major.
Satisfies a 300-level elective requirement in the Computer Science minor.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
CSC 221 (Data Structures), CSC 250 (Computer Organization), and the ability to program in C.
Offered Fall of even-numbered years.

CSC 353 - Database Systems

Sciences and societies are increasingly reliant on storing, querying, and processing data. Major scientific endeavors and applications rely on our ability to manage - and interpret - large data sets. In addition, our ability to generate data increases quickly as computational devices become less expensive and more ubiquitous. In this upper-level Computer Science course, we study key algorithmic and structural strategies used in database management systems, including indexing techniques, concurrency control protocols, and parallelism.

Satisfies a requirement in the Computer Science major and minor.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
CSC 221 (Data Structures)

CSC 357 - Concurrent and Parallel Computing

Core concepts, problems, and techniques related to the construction and maintenance of highly-scalable concurrent and parallel systems, including how computer and network architecture influence performance. Both theoretical and practical perspectives are considered as tools to analyze modern systems.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Computer Science.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CSC 221

CSC 359 - Networks and Distributed Systems

Computer networks have revolutionized the way societies create and communicate information.  In particular, the Internet is a massive deployment of network algorithms and systems, with lasting social, scientific, and economical impact.  Network algorithms and systems are specified by protocols, which allow different organizations to interoperate.  Protocols are designed to handle network failures and non-cooperative agents, and to operate at large scale without critical performance issues.  Algorithms and systems associated with network protocols are elegant and significant applications of fundamental Computer Science ideas.  This course studies fundamental Internet protocols such as ARP, IP, ICM, and TCP; higher-level application protocols, such as DNS, HTTP, SMTP, and security-related protocols; as well as medium access control specifications for Ethernet and wireless networks.  All of these protocols are studied from a perspective that emphasizes their algorithmic and design-related aspects, with focus on the fundamental computer science principles underlying the associated algorithms and systems.

Fulfills the Systems area requirement of the Computer Science major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Computer Science minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
CSC 221 (Data Structures) and CSC 250 (Computer Organization)

CSC 361 - Computer Graphics

Overview of 2D and 3D computer graphics techniques: line drawing routines, antialiasing, 3D object representation, culling, z-buffers, a-buffers, illumination and shading models, ray tracing, color models, the graphics pipeline, levels of detail, and image processing. Emphasis on understanding and implementing computer graphics algorithms and creating computer generated images using OpenGL and C++.

Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 140 or MAT 150 and CSC 221

CSC 362 - Data Visualization

An introduction to the theory and application of graphical representations of data. Topics include: the human visual system, low-level vision processing, attentive vs. preattentive processes, color vision and color map design, interaction, space perception, and visualization design.

Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CSC 221. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.

Does not carry Mathematics major credit. 

CSC 370 - Machine Reasoning

A survey of core algorithms and techniques from the field of machine reasoning and decision-making. Topics include search, game playing, constraint satisfaction problems, planning, reinforcement learning, knowledge representation, and logic.  

Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
CSC 221 and one of CSC/MAT 220, MAT 230, or MAT 255; or permission of the instructor.

CSC 371 - Machine Learning

Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Proficiency in a high-level programming language and data structures, at the level expected in CSC 221, and MAT/CSC 220 (or permission of the instructor). 

Offered Spring of even-numbered years.

CSC 379 - Cryptology

The study of making and breaking secret codes, including classical ciphers and their cryptanalysis, modern symmetric ciphers, and public-key systems, and their application in cryptographic protocols for secrecy, key exchange, information assurance, and authentication. Analysis of the security of cryptosystems using tools from mathematics and computer science.

Fulfills an elective requirement in the Applications area of the Computer Science major.
Counts as an elective in the Computer Science minor.
Counts as an elective in the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts as an elective in the Social Science track of the Applied Mathemetics interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Math 150 (Linear Algebra), and an introductory proof course (one of CSC 220 Discrete Structures, MAT 230 Sets and Proofs, or MAT 255 Number Theory).

CSC 381 - Seminar: Rotating Topics

Fall 2019

Linear Algebra in Data Mining
Instructor
Chartier

Data is a huge and growing part of our world. A major tool to manipulate and study this data is linear algebra. This course will introduce concepts of matrix algebra with an emphasis on application, particularly in the fields of computer graphics and data mining. We will learn such things as making an image transparent and compressing an image. In data mining, we will use linear algebra in such areas as cryptography, least squares approximation, compressed sensing, web search and sports ranking.

Prerequisites: CSC 121 and MAT 150
Counts as an elective toward the CSC and MAT majors and minors. 

Spring 2020

Recommender Systems
Instructor
Seminario

The ubiquitous “.. people who viewed this item also viewed these items .. ” recommendations found in online shopping applications are driven by underlying Recommender Systems. Started in the 1990’s, these systems have evolved from relatively simple news recommenders to today’s sophisticated recommender systems used by Amazon and Pandora. This course begins with an overview of the motivation for recommenders and the fundamental recommender methodologies: collaborative filtering, content-based, and hybrid. Then, we will do a deeper dive into the popular collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms: user-based, item-based, and matrix factorization. We will use Python programming and research datasets containing movie ratings to explore how these CF algorithms produce recommendations. Finally, we will learn how to evaluate recommender results with established research metrics and protocols as well as propose and evaluate custom modifications to recommender algorithms.

Satisfies Applications elective in the Computer Science major and minor.
Counts an an elective in the Data Science inerdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisites:
CSC 221, MAT 150, and the ability to program in a high-level language such as Python, Java, or C++ at the level expected in CSC 221.

CSC 382 - Systems Seminar

Special topics seminar in Systems.

Counts as an elective in the Systems category of the Computer Science major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of instructor required.

CSC 383 - Algorithmic Game Theory

Game theory studies interactions among multiple agents and uses mathematical modeling of incentives to predict how rational decision-makers will behave. This course focuses on computational aspects of game theory, including model construction, equilibrium computation, and mechanism design. Techniques used include algorithm design, complexity analysis, and data structures.

Satisfies Mathematics major and minor requirement
Satisfies Computer Science major and minor requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
CSC 221 and CSC/MAT 220, or permission of instructor required

CSC 384 - Seminar

Study of topics of interest in Computer Science.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of instructor required.  Eligible for minor credit in computer science or major credit in mathematics by departmental approval.

CSC 390 - Independent Study

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Not eligible for major credit in Computer Science.

CSC 391 - Independent Study - Applications

CSC 392 - Independent Study - Systems

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science as a Systems elective.

CSC 393 - Independent Study - Theory

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science as a Theory elective.

CSC 394 - Independent Study - Other

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science.

CSC 481 - Seminar

Eligible for minor credit in computer science or major credit in mathematics by departmental approval.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. 

CSC 491 - Independent Study - Applications

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science as an Applications elective.

CSC 492 - Independent Study - Systems

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science as a Systems elective.

CSC 493 - Independent Study - Theory

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science as a Theory elective.

CSC 494 - Independent Study - Other

Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the independent study and who determines the basis for the evaluation of students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to qualified students with the permission of the department chair. Eligible for major credit in Computer Science.

DAN 101 - Introduction to Dance

An introduction to the discipline of dance studies, this primarily lecture/discussion course investigates dance as a cultural form and as an artistic, meaning-making system.  Through lectures, discussions, readings, video screenings, attendance at performances, critical writing, and occasional movement sessions, students will build a well-rounded, foundational understanding of major concepts and issues engaged in the study of various dance forms.  No previous dance experience is necessary. 

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.

DAN 240 - Modern Dance Technique I

Emerging at the turn of the twentieth century, modern dance encourages the development of physical capacities for creative expression. Focusing on proper alignment, body mechanics, and anatomical efficiency, this course introduces the basic principles and technical components involved in performing techniques of Modern Dance.  Though the primary work is in the studio, course work will also include readings, video viewing, discussion, and written analysis. 

No previous dance experience is necessary.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement. 

DAN 242 - Haitian Dance Technique I: Movement, History, Culture

Satisfies the Cultural Production art requirement in the Africana Studies major
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts Ways of Knowing requirement.
Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.

DAN 250 - Dance Repertory: Composing, Crafting, & Collaboration

In this course, students will experience and develop choreography as an unfolding practice, an act of creative research, and a collaborative endeavor. Working closely with the instructor and with others in the class, students will work though the choreographic process to develop an original composition from a predetermined site of instigation, selected by the instructor. Throughout the semester, students will work together to research choreographic themes, craft and revise performance material, refine performance strategies and approaches, and publicly present their work. The making and performance process will address issues related to composition and collaboration, including: questioning aesthetic values and assumptions about the dancemaking process; prioritizing experiences; cultivating presence in rehearsal and performance; and challenging traditional ideas about authorship and meaning-making. Throughout the semester, physical practice will be supported by dramaturgical research and reflective writings.

Fulfills an elective requirement or serves an alternative to the composition requirement (DAN 260) in the Dance Studies minor.
Satisfies a Visual & Performing Arts requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
DAN 240, or permission of the instructor

DAN 252 - Special Topics:History, Memory, Performance, Place

What racist and exclusionary legacies on campus must we still contend with? How might both the practice and theory of performance help us understand the unfinished business of history- “the endings that are not over,” as sociologist Avery Gordon puts it? What are some ways to get at memories not captured by traditional documentary methods? How can we pursue an ethnography of a place, through performance? And in what ways can performance create new memories for our collective reckoning with the past and present, ultimately building toward other futures?

“History, Memory, Performance, Place” is a community-oriented practice-based course premised on these questions, aligned with the Justice, Equality, Community initiative. Students will explore submerged histories in Davidson’s archives as well as local historical sites, and ultimately devise creative projects to share their research findings with different publics. Throughout the semester, we will conduct archival and site-specific research, engage in performance ethnography, think critically about the production of history, consider Black Studies and Performance Studies perspectives on the archive, and develop skills in expressing ourselves through movement and creative modes. Course time will be divided between reading and discussions in the classroom, embodied practices and creation in the studio, guest artist visits, the Davidson College Special Collections and local sites of interest. We meet for longer class sessions to accommodate these varied forms of learning and engagement. 

Satisfies Africana Studies major requirement.
Satisfies Anthropology major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Dance Studies minor requirement.
Satisfies History major and minor requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. 

DAN 260 - Dance Composition I

An introduction to the fundamental skills of dancemaking, this course explores the development and crafting of movement for performance. Examining a range of compositional methods and performance approaches, students will develop the basic tools for dance choreography. Coursework will include studio practice, readings, performance viewings, and written assignments.

Students entering 2012 and after: satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Students entering before 2012: satisfies Fine Arts requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
DAN 240 or permission of the instructor.

DAN 282 - Dance, Gender, & Sexuality

Through a transhistorical study of a various styles and forms, this lecture/discussion class examines a variety of issues around gender and sexuality illuminated in the staging, performance, and practice of dance. Understanding dance as a focused site for conceptualizing how bodies make meaning, this course explores the social and historical configuration of dancing bodies and dance’s capacity to form and transform social identities. Course work includes readings, performance viewings, presentations, and written assignments.

Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.
 

DAN 284 - Dancing Diaspora: The African American Theatrical Dance Tradition

Drawing on scholarship about the African Diaspora, this lecture/discussion course examines how United States dance performance has shaped and been shaped by ideas about Africanist aesthetics and cultural identities.  Exploring entertainment and concert performances from late minstrelsy to the present day, the class will investigate both how black dance artists have staged their cultural experiences, and how those theatrical representations have been received and interpreted. Course work includes readings, performance viewings, presentations, and written assignments.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Dance.
Counts as an elective in the Cultural Production & Expression category of the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region = North America).
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.

DAN 288 - Choreographing Politics: Policy, Practice, and Protest

In this course, we will consider the ways in which dance and performance scholarship examines the politics of performance. Looking at particular dance forms and choreographic compositions as case studies, we will scrutinize how dance has been exercised to wield state power and forward narratives of nationhood. In so doing, we will consider how institutional powers have regulated dance to control citizenry and to dominate marginalized peoples. To being to question what is threatening about dance’s organizing of bodies, we will examine dances that have been censored, legislated, and outlawed, as well as looking at how acts of protests and demonstration manifest choreographic strategies and ideas. Throughout our study, we will continually return to questions around the performance of identity, attending to the ways in which the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and ethnicity factor into these danced practices of authority and protest. Considering the body and its organization in performance as potent sites for analysis, this course will take an interdisciplinary approach to our study, intermingling critical readings in Dance Studies, Performance Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and political theory, alongside performance viewings and physical exploration.

Fulfills a theory requirement in the Dance minor.
Fulfills a requirement in the Literature & Culture track of the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. 
Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

DAN 290 - Dance History and Theory

New Course. Information coming soon.

DAN 295 - Honors Thesis

Independent honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member.

DAN 340 - Modern Dance Technique II

Designed for students with prior dance training, this movement practice course builds upon student awareness of the principles and techniques of modern dance. Emphasizing further development of the skills of movement execution and expressively, course work will include studio practice, readings, video screenings, and written work.

Students entering 2012 or after: satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Students entering before 2012 or after: satisfies the Fine Arts requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
DAN 240 or permission of the instructor.

DAN 360 - Dance Composition II

Building upon the choreographic ideas introduced of Dance Composition I, this course explores compositional practices and processes in more depth. Through the coursework, students will research performance making methods, engage various approaches to performance making, and develop methods for crafting their own performance work. In order to begin to define their own dancemaking aesthetics, each student will be asked to create their own set of research questions, which will drive their movement and compositional explorations throughout the semester.

Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies a minor requirement in Dance Studies.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: DAN 240 or permission of the instructor

DAN 395 - Honors Thesis

Independent honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member.

DIG 101 - Introduction to Digital Studies

This interdisciplinary course offers a critical approach to contemporary digital culture and digital methodology. Topics will include the history of digital media, the rise of network society, and the influence of digital technology upon narrative, arts, and science. The course will require extensive work with computers, but no prior knowledge is necessary. 

Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.  

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

DIG 120 - Programming in the Humanities (= CSC 120)

Computational methods have significantly broadened and deepened the possibilities of inquiry in the Humanities. Programming skills have allowed textual scholars, in particular, to take advantage of enormous digitized corpora of historical documents, newspapers, novels, books, and social network data like Twitter feeds to pose new questions to the written word. We can now trace the changing semantics of words and phrases across millions of documents and hundreds of years, visualize centuries-old plot structures in new ways through sentiment analysis and character networks, and solve long-standing riddles of authorship attribution-among many other exciting feats. This course offers an introduction to computer science through applications in the Humanities. Students will learn to program in the Wolfram Language, aka Mathematica. The Wolfram Language is especially well suited for humanists: its rich documentation and natural language processing capabilities ensure a gentle introduction for first-time programmers, its symbolic computation structure allows us to work with texts written in any language and any alphabet, while its Notebook environment provides an interactive medium for publishing and sharing our results with peers. Mathematica also provides a great springboard for further work in computer science, physical computing, and Digital Studies more broadly.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Computer Science.
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to students with credit for CSC 121, CSC 200 (= PHY 200), or CSC 209 (= BIO 209).

(Spring)

DIG 210 - Data Culture

“Data” is often considered to be the domain of scientists and statisticians. But with the proliferation of databases across nearly all aspects of modern life, data has become an everyday concern. Bank accounts, FaceTime records, Snapchat posts, Xbox leaderboards, CatCard purchases, your DNA-at the heart of all them is data. To live today is to breathe and exhale data, wherever you go, online and off. And at the same time data has become a function of daily life, it has also become the subject of-and vehicle for-literary and artistic critiques.

This course explores the role of data and databases in contemporary culture, with an eye toward understanding how data shapes the way we perceive-and misperceive-the world. After historicizing the origins of modern databases in 19th century industrialization and census efforts, we will survey our present-day data landscape, considering data mining, data visualization, and database art. We will encounter nearly evangelical enthusiasm for “Big Data” but also rigorous criticisms of what we might call naïve empiricism. The ethical considerations of data collection and analysis will be at the forefront of our conversation, as will be issues surrounding privacy and surveillance.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies Liberal Studies requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

DIG 211 - Surveillance Culture

This course examines the history of technologies used in surveillance and the implications for human culture and individual expectations of privacy. We will explore themes in quantitative and qualitative tracking methods beginning with Bentham’s Panopticon and the invention of photography, and tracing developments and uses of counting machines, cryptology, and computing, paying particular attention to how these methods preempt contemporary networked and so-called “Big Data” methods such as deep packet searching, social media data science, or the NSA’s Prism program. We will analyze these methods and their intended outcomes and assess their impact in their search to gain knowledge on or control individuals or populations, thwart enemies, or understand demographics in the pursuit of capital. This course will be of interest to students studying media and communications culture, information science, among others.

Satisfies a requirement in the Digital Studies minor.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

DIG 215 - Death in the Digital Age

This class explores the intersection of death and technology. What happens to our digital personas when we die? How does technology change grieving? What kind of ghosts inhabit our machines? What’s the 21st century equivalent of a gothic haunted house? We will consider these questions and many more as we wrestle with the meaning of death in the digital age. Among the primary sources we will study will be historical archives, media representations of disaster, contemporary horror novels and films, and television series such as Dead Set and Black Mirror.

Satisfies a requirement in the Film and Media Studies Interdisciplinary Minor.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

DIG 220 - Electronic Literature

Love letters written by a computer. A poem two hundred trillion stanzas long. A message encoded in a microbe’s DNA. The mysterious disappearance of a teenager, told through YouTube and IMs. An ocean buoy tweeting mash-ups of Moby Dick. Welcome to the weird world of electronic literature-digitally born poetic, narrative, and aesthetic works read on computers, tablets, and phones. Experimental, evocative, and sometimes simply puzzling, electronic literature challenges our assumptions about reading, writing, authorship, and meaning. Yet e-lit, as it is often called, has also profoundly influenced mainstream culture. Literature, film, comics, apps, and video games have all learned lessons from electronic literature. This course will trace the rise of electronic literature and explore both historic and contemporary works of e-lit. We’ll begin with electronic literature’s roots in avant-garde art and Cold War technology, and follow e-lit through the birth of the personal computer into the era of the Web and smartphone. At every step along the way the expressive power of new media-the way digital media enables and shapes different modes of creative and cultural expression-will be of particular interest to us.

Satisfies a requirement in the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement for the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement.

DIG 225 - Transmedia and Vast Narrative

Transmedia and Vast Narrative

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

DIG 240 - Art and Electronic Media

This course explores the relationships between art and electronic media in the 20th and 21st centuries. Focusing on the shift from industrial to information-driven economies, the curriculum outlines digital art’s historical trajectory, from important precursors like photography and early analog examples like video art. Special attention is given to film, gaming, 3D printing, architecture and interdisciplinary art practices.

Satisfies a requirement in the  Digital Studies minor.
Satisfies an elective requirement in the Film and Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Visual & Performing Arts requirement.

DIG 245 - Critical Web Design

In this course, students will learn to conceptualize, design, and program responsive websites as both an applied and creative practice. Through a combination of technical topics in interface design and development such as usability, coding in HTML, CSS, Javascript and jQuery, as well as readings and discussions around net-based artworks and historical and cultural concerns surrounding the internet as a communication platform, students will execute interactive projects that are both culturally-relevant and technically sophisticated.

Satisfies a requirement of the Digital Studies minor.

DIG 250 - Game Development

In this course, students will learn to conceptualize, design, and program mobile and console games that are playful, yet serious. Through a combination of technical and game-oriented topics including design, usability, physics, and coding in C#, as well as readings and discussions around the history, culture, and issues in game studies, students will execute interactive works that reflect a high degree of thoughtfulness towards the construction and impact on their intended audience.

Satisfies a requirement in the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Programming experience is highly recomended.

DIG 270 - Digital Maps, Space, and Place

A course in the theories and practices of digital mapping as applied to the humanities and social sciences. The course brings together readings in the digital spatial humanities as well as hands-on mapping and spatial analysis through programming in the Wolfram Language (Mathematica). Students will learn how to choose geographical projections; work with points, lines and polygons; find, extract and analyze spatial data from humanistic materials; and tell stories (and lies) with maps. They will also read, think and write about real and imagined geographies, the meaning of place and memory, as well as the creation of space. The course will conclude with independent student projects on topics of their choosing. No background experience required.

Satisfies a requirement in the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

DIG 333 - Physical Computing

This course will explore the use of sensors, motors, and other electronics to create web interfaces that interact with the physical world. We will hack, modify, and create systems which detect analog data and transmit it across the internet to our custom web applications or mobile devices and then back again. This course is designed for artists, designers, and programmers who wish to create culturally-relevant and technically-sophisticated electronics projects that are both utilitarian and artistic at once.

DIG 340 - Gender and Technology

This class explores the relationship between gender and technology in the digital age. We will consider the countless ways modern technology shapes our attitudes toward and experiences of sex, power, play, and work, and even the way digital technology shapes our bodies. Other topics will include the representation of gender in digital media, feminism and protest in digital spaces, queer gaming, and gender performance through social media.

Satisfies a requirement in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies Liberal Studies requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

DIG 350 - History & Future of the Book

This class is concerned with the long history, the varied present, and the uncertain future of the book in the digital age. Over the course of the semester we will address three questions: What is the history of the book as a physical and cultural object? How have current disruptions in reading and writing technology changed the way we use and imagine books? And what does the future of the book look like? Along the way we will consider reading and writing innovations such as electronic paper, e-readers, and touchscreen interfaces. We will also design hybrid books ourselves, augmenting conventional printed books with electronic circuits and I/O sensors.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2017-2018.)

DIG 401 - Hacking, Remixing and Design

This seminar will explore hacking and remixing as creative and critical practices.  In the process we will expand the conceptual domains of both terms.  We will explore hacking and remixing across a range of forms, including code, software, social media, and digital writing.  The social, ethical, and rhetorical dimensions of hacking and remixing will also be considered as students design their own hacks and remixes.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

DIG 404 - Humanities Startup

Humanities Startup blends humanities research with startup culture in a collaborative theory and practice-based course. The class operates at the intersection of creative computing, digital culture, and humanities methodologies. Over the duration of the semester students will conceive, research, ideate, develop, and publicize a project that responds to a multidisciplinary research subject. While the class as a whole produces a single project, students will work on teams on specific aspects of that project. The collaborative project will be both technologically proficient and socially and historically conscious. The project might be serious or playful, and may take the shape of prototypes, software, hardware, public engagement, or any combination of these. No prerequisites are required; the course will play to students’ existing strengths while simultaneously pushing them to cultivate new areas of knowledge.

Satisfies a requirement of the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor.

ECO 101 - Introductory Economics

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

ECO 105 - Statistics and Basic Econometrics

Application of probability and statistics to economic analysis. Topics include: probability rules, discrete and continuous random variables, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, correlation, and regression. Spreadsheet software is utilized. An economics research paper is a major component of the course.

One laboratory session per week.

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. 
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Beginning Spring 2018)  Economics 105 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 122 - Introduction to Health Care Economics

This course provides students without an economics background a broad overview of the health economics field.  A foundation of microeconomics principles is developed, and this foundation is then used to analyze leading health care issues.

Satisfies a minor credit in Economics.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

ECO 180 - Indian Economic Development

This course introduces the student to some of the economic development issues of modern India as part of the Davidson College Semester in India Program.  Students will learn basic economic principles and how to apply those principles to the India they experience.

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

ECO 195 - Independent Study

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor.

ECO 202 - Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 203 - Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Theories of aggregate demand and supply; determination of real national income, employment, and the price level; and use of fiscal and monetary policies to achieve macroeconomic objectives.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 205 - Econometrics

Applications of linear regression analysis to economic analysis. Topics include model specification, parameter estimation, inference, and problems relating to data issues, statistical concerns, and model diagnostics. Statistical software is utilized. An economics research paper is a major component of the course.

Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and either Economics 105 or permission of the instructor. 
One laboratory session per week.

ECO 211 - Introduction to Accounting

Comprehensive study of the theory and problems of valuation of assets, application of funds, corporation accounts and statements; interpretation and analysis of financial statements.

Prerequisites & Notes
Only two courses numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics major.
Only one course numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics minor.

ECO 212 - Intermediate Accounting

(Spring)

ECO 213 - Cost Accounting

Study of allocation and utilization of resources. Emphasis on cost behavior, cost allocation, product costing, budgeting, decision-making and control activities related to job-order, process and activity-based costing (ABC) systems.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 211. 
Only two courses numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics major.
Only one course numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics minor.

(Fall)

ECO 214 - Finance

This course provides a foundation in the principles and tools of finance, which include financial analysis, the time value of money, capital budgeting and capital structure. It emphasizes an intuitive, logically rigorous understanding of the theory and practice of finance, illustrating concepts that are applicable to public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Ethical and societal issues related to these principles are examined.  

Only two courses numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics major.
Only one course numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 211

ECO 219 - Game Theory and Strategic Behavior

Study of strategic situations in theory and practice. Course begins with the concept of Nash equilibrium and covers refinements of it, addressing ideas such as mixed strategies, preemption, wars of attrition, commitment, repeated games, and signaling.

Satisfies a Mathematical & Quantitative Thought requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 220 - Economic Analysis of Health and Access to Care

Economic perspective on differences in health outcomes and health care utilization across the categories of income, wealth, education, gender and race.  Includes study of theories of time allocation, health production, health insurance and discrimination, and assessment of related empirical research and policies. 

Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 or both Economics 122 and permission of the instructor. 
Recommended, but not required: Economics 105.

ECO 221 - Economic History of the United States

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 224 - Labor Economics

Labor markets, unionization, unemployment, and public policy primarily in the setting of the United States.  Particular focus will be on inequality and discrimination in the labor market.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 225 - Public Sector Economics

Analysis of the role the public sector plays in a mixed economy.  Topics include public goods, externalities, tax policy, expenditure policy, budget deficits, and the national debt.  Includes proposals for tax welfare, and health care reforms. 
A student may not receive credit for both Economics 225 and Economics 325.  

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 226 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Focuses on the application of economic tools to the evaluation of environmental amenities, the analysis of pollution control policies, the uses of renewable and nonrenewable resources, and the protection of biodiversity.  Examines the strengths and weaknesses of the economic approach to those issues.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 
Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science Track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 required; Calculus I or equivalent recommended.

ECO 227 - Economics of Gender Family

This course examines the changing role of gender in the labor market and the household. Topics to be studied include: the rise in females’ formal labor force participation during the second half of the twentieth century; gender differences in employment, occupation, and earnings; theoretical and empirical approaches to studying discrimination; and the interactions between market opportunities, government policies, and family formation (including fertility, marriage, divorce, and cohabitation).

Satisfies Gender and Sexuality major and minor requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 228 - Financial Economics

ECO 229 - Urban Economics

Role of economics in the development of modern cities. Topics include: the monocentric-city model, urban land values, crime, transportation, education, and taxation.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 231S - History of Economic Thought

Evolution of economic thought in a social-historical context, from the Mercantilists up to Keynes, with particular attention to the Classical, Marxian, Austrian, Neoclassical, Institutional, and Keynesian schools.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 232 - Economics of Migration

Types of migration, economic basis for migration, aggregate and distributional consequences on migrant sending and receiving countries, fiscal and other effects of migration, ‘brain-drain’ and ‘brain-gain’, remittances, migration policy.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement for International Studies.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 234 - Latin American Economic Development

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 235 - Economics of South Asian Environmental Issues

The goal of this course is for students to learn about the economics of environmental issues in South Asia (defined here as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). The economic tools will include externalities and consideration of common and open access goods. The issues discussed will be topical, and the students will get to choose a topic for their research project.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Social Scientific Thought Requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 237 - Macroeconomics of Development

Why are some countries rich and others so poor? What are the commonalities across today’s low-income countries, and how are they dissimilar? Which policies can best move billions of people from abject poverty to development and prosperity? This course is about the huge differences in incomes and standards of living that separates the wealthy nations from the poor. We will explore the nature and meaning of development and its macroeconomic manifestations within the context of a major set of economic problems faced by developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Topics include economic growth and structural transformation; poverty and inequality; agricultural transformation and rural development; human capital; migration and urbanization; foreign aid; violence and armed conflict; and role of monetary policy and fiscal policy to foster macroeconomic stability and economic development.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the 30-series Economics major requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 280 - Economic Analysis of India’s Development

Students will engage in learning about the economic issues associated with the development of modern India as part of the Davidson College Semester in India Program.  Students will review introductory economics, read an economic analysis of India, and apply the lessons learned from their readings to the India they experience. 

Satisfies a requirement in the Economics major and minor.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought Ways of Knowing requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 (Introductory Economics).

ECO 286 - Economics of Education (=EDU 286)

(Cross-listed with EDU 286)
This course will examine questions about the American educational system from an economic and behavioral-economic perspective.  Is school funding better spent on merit pay for teachers or reducing class size?  Do charter schools help more students get to college?  Who benefits from free tuition policies in higher education?  We will learn about returns to educational investment, effects of educational inputs, teacher labor markets, school choice, and higher education finance and policy.  There will be an emphasis throughout on empirical tests of individual behavior and their implications for education policy.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the 20-series Economics major course requirement.
Satifies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 288 - International Political Economy (=POL 360)

This course covers the core ideas behind international monetary and trade theories with particular emphasis on emerging markets.  Why does the dollar go “up” or “down,” and with what implications?  How do financial crises begin and spread?  Who gains from international trade, and how does it affect economic welfare worldwide.  In addition to answering these questions, the course will cover topical issues in emerging economies: foreign aid, income inequality, environmental protection, and the relationship between democracy, national security, and open markets.  In addition to using texts and selected readings, we will rely on several case studies and country-specific analysis to further our understanding of these issues.  This class is not open to students who have taken POL 360.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the 30-series requirement in the Economics major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 295 - Individual Research

Designed for the student who desires to pursue some special interest in economics. A research proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty member who supervises the student and determines the means of evaluation as well as the Department Chair.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 316 - Computational Economics

Computational methods for building and solving models in the context of economics topics. Methods discussed include agent-based simulations to analyze complex adaptive systems, value function iteration to solve dynamic structural models, and miscellaneous estimation and optimizing techniques.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement for applied mathematics.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 320 - Psychology and Economics

Incorporation of psychological insights into economic models, with emphasis on empirical evidence. Also known as behavioral economics. Analysis of how individuals depart from a standard economic model in three ways: 1) nonstandard preferences, such as procrastination, 2) nonstandard beliefs, such as overconfidence about one’s ability, and 3) nonstandard decision making, such as framing effects and the roles of social pressure and peer influences. Some class meetings will be held jointly with a corporate partner or startup, and a class project will apply behavioral economics principles to a real-world issue within the context of a design-thinking process.    

Satisfies the Social-Science requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202.

ECO 321 - Research Seminar in Public Choice Economics

Public Choice Economics is the application of economic methods to problems usually within the sphere of political science.  This research seminar is as much a vehicle for developing a student’s research skills as it is a valuable field of inquiry.  The students will actively engage with their peers in learning about Public Choice Economics, in developing a viable research proposal, and in conducting their own empirical research projects.  It is appropriate for either advanced economics-focused students with an interest political science or advanced political science-focused students with an interest in economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics focus: Economics 105 (Statistics), either Economics 202 (Intermediate Microeconomics) or Economics 203 (Intermediate Macroeconomics), and a Political Science course above 201.

Political Science focus: Political Science 201 (Methods and Statistics in Political Science), a Political Science course above 300, and Economics 101 (Introductory Economics).

ECO 323 - Industrial Organization

We often hear that perfect competition is the ideal market structure for an industry, but what if it isn’t?  When are there benefits to consumers from allowing two large companies to merge?  Are Microsoft and Google providing valuable technological innovations for society, or strategically capturing market share and profit for themselves?  

We study some frameworks for answering these and other questions, starting with a review of how market structure, firm behavior, and outcomes for consumers are related.  We examine the effects of various business strategies such as price discrimination, product differentiation, collusion, mergers, advertising, R&D and investment.  Finally, we discuss landmark antitrust court cases and apply theoretical frameworks to understand why different industries may be treated differently.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 required.

ECO 324 - Labor Economics

Labor markets, unionization, unemployment, and public policy primarily in the setting of the United States. (A student may not receive credit for both ECO 224 and ECO 324.)

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 325 - Public Sector Economics

Analysis of the role the public sector plays in a mixed economy.  Topics include public goods, externalities, tax policy, expenditure policy, budget deficits, and the national debt.  Includes proposals for tax welfare, and health care reforms. 
A student may not receive credit for both Economics 225 and Economics 325.  

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202.

ECO 328 - Money and the Financial System

Term structure of interest rates, structure of financial markets, regulatory framework, asset demand theories, Federal Reserve system and operation of monetary policy.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203.

ECO 329 - Sports Economics

Sports economics covers the major economic issues confronted in professional and major college sports. The course examines four topics in depth: (1) the structure of professional sports industry, (2) public finance issues surrounding stadium construction and team ownership in professional sports, (3) labor market issues in professional sports, and (4) the economics of amateur athletics (with a focus on the NCAA).

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202.

ECO 336 - Economic Growth

What sustains economic growth in the long run?  This question was the focus of Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece “The Wealth of Nations”.  Nobel laureate Robert Lucas famously said that “Once one starts to think about [questions of economic growth], it is hard to think about anything else.”  The purpose of this course is to explain and explore the modern theories of economic growth.  We will use  theoretical and empirical models and publicly available data to study the role of key components of economics growth such as: capital accumulation, including all new investments in land, physical equipment, and human resources through improvements in health, education, and job skills; population growth; technological progress; openness to trade and capital flow; institutions, culture, and geography; and environmental sustainability.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the 30-series requirement in the Economics major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203

ECO 337 - International Trade

Economic basis for international trade, determinants and consequences of trade flows, barriers to trade, and trade policy.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202.

ECO 338 - International Finance

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203.

ECO 339 - Economics of Multinational Firms

Multinational firms with operations spanning national boundaries are some of the most powerful companies in the world. Why do some firms go global? What prevents others from internationalizing their operations? How do multinationals innovate? Do they benefit the countries where they operate? Answers to these questions will provide key insights about the world we live in, and we will use economics to examine these and other issues to learn how firms respond to the pressures of globalization and how the global presence of these firms affects the well-being of citizens in rich and poor countries.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203

ECO 380 - Seminar in Economics (ECO 380-384)

Reading, research, papers, and discussion on selected topics in economics. Particular topic or area of the seminar and course number will be announced in advance of registration.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 or 203 or 205 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 385 - Economic Forecasting

This course will build on students’ understanding of statistics and basic econometrics to develop further the empirical model building skills they have acquired previously. The course will provide an overview of classical and modern approaches to forecasting in business, economics, and finance. Topics include regression analysis, exponential smoothing and filtering, ARIMA models, modeling and forecasting trend and seasonality, evaluating and combining forecasts. Students will also write forecast reports and deliver oral presentations of their forecasts to classmates as well as learn how to critique constructively others’ reports and presentations.

Satisfies Applied Mathematics minor requirement.

ECO 395 - Individual Research

Designed for the major who desires to pursue some special interest in economics. A research proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty member who supervises the student and determines the means of evaluation as well as the Department Chair.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 or 203 or 205 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 494 - Honors Thesis Research

Independent research designed to formulate a written proposal for an honors thesis. The proposal will include a review of recent literature, development of a theoretical framework and research hypotheses, and a discussion of your empirical estimation approach and available data.  An oral defense of the written proposal is required.  Graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Successful completion of Economics 202, 203, and 205 are prerequisites for registering for the course. Under exceptional circumstance, following a student request, the course instructor for Eco. 494 may waive one of these requirements.