Course Descriptions

COM 225 - Interpersonal Communication

A theoretical, practical, and experiential study of the selective, systemic, and individual transactions that allow people to reflect and build personal knowledge of one another and create shared meaning. Readings, discussions, and exercises focus on connecting concepts and models to everyday interactions. Included are issues of diversity, personal identity, human perceptions, language use, mindful listening, conflict management, and nonverbal communication.

Satisfies a Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement
 

COM 230 - Organizational Communication

Study of how communication creates and sustains organizations and is coordinated and controlled to achieve collective outcomes. Such topics as leadership, globalization, workplace collaboration, diversity, and crisis communication will connect theoretical concepts and models to today’s changing world.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

COM 253 - True Stories

“Tell me a story,” is one of the most powerful invitations in human communication, and narrative forms - from podcasts such as “Serial” to everyday newspaper and web reporting - communicate information through compelling storylines and characters. Yet narratives also can mislead and misrepresent, depending on their point of view, factual veracity, research support, sourcing and ethics. This course will draw on analysis of a variety of narrative journalism forms as well as hands-on work and visits from top practitioners in considering the elements and standards of good journalism and the role and influence of narrative in media and culture.

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement

COM 273 - Reporting Politics and Criminal Justice

Students wanting to better understand our contentious political era have a unique opportunity to explore how politics intersects with criminal justice efforts. Students will learn the basics of solid, ethical journalism and on-the-ground reporting. That will include reporting on issues such as race, inequality, health care, hyper-partisanship and interviewing city, county, state and national-level officials to craft pieces for potential publication online, The Davidsonian and other local media outlets.

Satisfies Digital and Screen Media major requirement
Satisfies English major requirement
Satisfies Sociology major requirement
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement 

COM 275 - Mass Media & Society (= SOC 275)

This course will evaluate mass media and its role in contemporary society using sociological lenses of conflict theory. Specifically, we will use Fisher’s capitalist realism lens in learning about the boundaries placed on self and society within a capitalist system that produces alienation and mental illness. This course will evaluate how mainstream (“old”) and online (“new”) media perpetuate these boundaries and reinforce capitalist realism. In part of doing so, we will collectively develop new strategies for organizing online society to challenge rather than reinforce capitalist realism. Additionally, we will learn about the first set of digitally-instigated social revolutions that took place in the early 2010s across the Arab World, known as the “Arab Spring.” Beyond performing a case study of these revolutions, we will apply what we learned from these social movements to contemporary social movements that have also been promoted by the internet and digital medias. In particular, we will assess what lessons can be drawn from the Arab Spring to apply to 1) the 2019 protests in India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and 2) the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests against the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Finally, we will study canonical critiques of the political economy of mass media - the “propaganda model” popularized by Herman & Chomsky in “Manufacturing Consent” - and apply these ideas to contemporary society, online media and social movements. We will end the semester by gaining an understanding of how digitally-instigated social movements provide new hopes for overcoming capitalist realism. 

Major credit in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Minor in Communication Studies.
Satisfies Social Science requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

COM 280 - Intercultural Communication

This course explores issues related to the intercultural communication process. We will consider the important role of context (social, cultural, and historical) in intercultural interactions. We will examine the complex relationship between culture and communication from three conceptual perspectives: the social psychological perspective, the interpretive perspective, and the critical perspective. It is through these three conceptual perspectives that we will strive towards a comprehensive picture of intercultural communication. From applying these approaches to the study of intercultural communication, we will also come to appreciate the complexity and dialectical tensions involved in intercultural interactions. This learning process should enhance self-reflection, flexibility, and sensitivity in intercultural communication which students will likely find useful whether interested in studying or working abroad or simply wanting to become better informed intercultural communicators in our increasingly diverse nation and world.

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 290 - Persuasion and Propaganda

Explores the distinction-theoretically, historically, and in contemporary public discourse- between persuasion and propaganda.  Surveys and provides background in the various meanings and applications of the terms persuasion and propaganda in theory and practice.  Through both scholarly research and case studies, it helps students become more sophisticated and critical consumers of persuasion and propaganda in the “marketplace of ideas.” 

• Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
  Satisfies a Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

COM 311 - Media, Empathy and Justice

Students will be taught how to use journalistic skills and ethics to better harness the power empathy adds to storytelling on extremely sensitive subjects such as race, politics, gender, etc. The best defense against unethical news products is to understand how to produce real journalism that meets the highest journalistic standards.

To that end, students will analyze a variety of subjects from multiple disciplines through the lens of journalistic ethics. They will be responsible for helping shape and guide class discussion on designated books and articles. They will conduct a semester-long project researching and writing about a difficult story that concerns their family, or a broader vexing-societal issue.

Satisfies Digital and Screen Media major requirement.
Satisfies Communication Studies minor requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 315 - Media Effects (= SOC 315)

Satisfies a major requirement in Sociology.
Satisfies Communication Studies and Film and Media Studies interdisciplinary minor requirements.

 

COM 325 - Exploring Fake News

“Fake news” has long been with us. But in recent years, it has become a staple in our political discourse and shapes how many Americans view politics and their fellow human beings. It even led to a North Carolina man driving to Washington, D.C. to shoot up a pizza parlor because he had been convinced the restaurant was home to a supposed child sex ring led by Hillary Clinton - as well as a literal insurrection attempt on our Capitol building. Not every negative effect of fake news is that dramatic, but the less dramatic forms have had an even more profound effect on personal relationships of all sorts. In this course, students will be taught how to spot fake news, counter it, as well as inoculate themselves by learning how to produce real, ethical news.

Satisfies Sociology major requirement
Satisfies Communication Studies Interdisciplinary major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
 

COM 328 - Social Media’s Impact on Society

The oldest and most trusted form of human communication is word of mouth. The most developed and pervasive is mass media. Now comes social media, incorporating the qualities of both: word of mouth at the speed of light. Its existence is so new, its effects so stupefying, that few have paused from drinking it in long enough to contemplate how it works and where it is taking our world. Through this course, you will explore the underpinnings of social media, its widespread uses to date and the far-ranging effects those uses are having on culture, media, politics and business (often explained by visiting professionals in those fields). You will also complete a project that applies social media within your chosen field.

Satisfies a interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
 

COM 330 - Telling the stories of the ignored and forgotten

A recent Davidson College graduate largely avoided talking about a childhood friend for his first few years at Davidson because of shame. That childhood friend was given a 15-year-prison sentence around the time that student was being admitted to Davidson. But when he finally found the courage to tell the story through an independent project, it changed him, his friend, and those who didn’t know much about the criminal justice system. And it led to his friend’s release 12 years early. In this course, we will find the courage and develop the skills to tell the stories of the ignored and forgotten in your life, those you don’t know well, and those you should know.

Satisfies Communication Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
 

COM 344 - Stereotypes and Humor (=SOC 344)

This course centers humor communication and comedy studies with a focus on stereotypes in various public and mass communication realms, including entertainment media, stand-up comedy, interpersonal and small group settings. Theoretical frameworks on prejudice, discrimination, intersectionality, social and personal identities, and backstage/frontstage racism will anchor the course towards a critical understanding of how stereotypes, as mental shortcuts and oversimplified kernels of truth, function in their many communicative manifestations. The particular focus on the intersection of stereotypes and humor interrogates a context in which anything goes and even the most otherwise controversial, sensitive hot button topics are given a pass under the guise of humor. Many types of stereotypes take center stage in this course with special attention to those that undermine and marginalize underrepresented populations. We will consider the great potential stereotype humor holds to impact intergroup interaction dynamics in the real world.

Satisfies Communication Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Sociology major requirement.
Satisfies Sociology major requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes

This course may be offered as an indpendent study should a need exist for international students.

COM 350 - Communication and Issues of Diversity (=SOC 350)

The U.S. population continues to become increasingly more diverse, and this increased diversity creates newer, greater challenges for organizations (including government, nonprofit, and corporate entities) as well as for individual communicators. How do our upbringing and biases shape the way we characterize, interact with, and talk about others? The focus of this course is to introduce students to issues of power, race, class, and gender, as related to communication theory and practice.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Communication Studies.
Satsifes a requirement in the Sociology major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 360 - Rhetorics of Space and Place

This course is an examination of the role of public space in contemporary civic life. In this course we will consider what it means to study spaces/places as communicative and rhetorical. In doing so, we will explore the following inquiries: How do places communicate in material, symbolic and discursive ways? What is the role of space in shaping, maintaining and transforming social interactions and political orders? How do places enact differential relationships of publicity, prescribe models for participation in public life and determine who counts as a legitimate member of “the” public? What happens when public space is reproduced electronically or virtually? The first section of the course will introduce students to a rhetorical approach to the study of space and place, while the second half of the course will focus on scholarship that applies rhetorical theory to the study of public space, exploring such topics and spaces as: museums, monuments and memorials, capitols, free speech zones, infrastructure, border spaces and travel, digital interactivity and data mining, the privatization and securitization of public space, new urbanist and pseudo/semi-public spaces as well as temporary public spaces.

Satisfies Communication Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rehtoric requirement.

COM 362 - Protest & Social Movements

While it is an inclination to assume protests and social movements emerge as instantaneous, unique responses to contemporary injustices, this class examines contemporary protests and social movements as continuations of longstanding rhetorical traditions held within a movement’s collective memory. Students will analyze contemporary and historical protests and social movement rhetorics, along with adversarial rhetorics, to identify common, foundational strategies. Students will also examine departures in protest rhetoric, and they will be asked to explain why the needs of a movement might demand an approach which diverges from previous strategies. By analyzing protests and social movements from the intersection of rhetoric and collective memory, students will have a better understanding of the long arch in struggles for justice and equity, and they will also have a strong understanding of the rhetorical legacies that support public persuasion within social movements.

Satisfies Communication Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality and Community requirement.

COM 365 - Rhetorics of Justice and Equality

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

COM 390 - Special Topics - Voices of Democracy: Great Speeches in U.S. History

 This special topics course in Communication Studies introduces students to some of the most famous (and infamous) speeches and debates in U.S. history.   In this election year, we will study some memorable campaign speeches and debates,  but we also will consider how voices outside of the political mainstream-voices of protest and dissent-have sparked historic debates over civil rights, gender and sexuality, free speech and privacy rights, and other important issues.  Beyond learning about great speeches in history, students will reflect on how, in a free society, speech functions as a mechanism for defining our identity, reconciling our political and cultural differences, and affecting political and social change.  There are no prerequisites and the course is open to students from all classes and majors.

Special topics course titles and descriptions may change.  May be repeated for credit.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.

COM 395 - Independent Study

COM 495 - Communication Theory and Research

The senior capstone course for the Communication Studies major. Communication theories and scholarly research provide the basis for the investigation of key research questions concerning processes of communication. The course culminates in a major creative project bringing together a variety of theoretical perspectives depending on majors’ interests within the various subfields of the Communication discipline. Senior majors may register for COM 495. (Fall)

CSC 108 - Explorations in Computer Science

Satisfies Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
This course is not open to students with prior credit for (or concurrently enrolled in) any computer science course (including PHYS 200 and BIO 209) or any one of MAT 220, MAT 230 or MAT 255. No previous experience with computing is needed or assumed.

CSC 109 - Data Science and Society

Data plays a central and important role in scholarship, in research, and in modern society. Nearly every web search, phone call, transaction, and countless other activities are tracked, analyzed, and used to predict future actions. Data science is a collection of analytical and computational methods to enable insight, understanding, and predictions to be drawn from data.  This course provides an introduction to the methods of data science, including visualization, manipulation, programming, and modeling. This class will give you the inspiration and confidence to apply the tools and methods of data science in numerous ways! Throughout the term, we will combine theory and application of data science tools and methods that are useful for studying problems in the social sciences, environmental science, psychology, medicine, ecology, chemistry, physics, and much more.  Course is offered online through LACOL and is limited to 10 Davidson students.  Students must indicate interest (include link when ready) to be considered.

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

Prerequisites & Notes
A student may not receive credit for both CSC 109 and CSC 110.

CSC 110 - Data Science and Society

An introduction to methods of data science, including computer programming, data visualization, and statistical analysis. Students will collect, process, analyze, and present data in order to expose and help each other understand issues of social and economic justice. All work will be done in R, a freely available data analysis software package.

Satisfies a Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.
Satisfies an elective requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor (optional introductory course to the minor).
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

CSC 120 - Programming in Humanities (= DIG 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)

CSC 121 - Programming and Problem Solving

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

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to students with credit for CSC 120 (= DIG 120), CSC 200 (=PHY 200), or CSC 209 (= BIO 209).

CSC 171 - Applied Machine Learning

A survey of the field of machine learning, with an applied introduction to the fundamental algorithms in the field. Topics include techniques for regression, classification, ensemble methods, and dimensionality reduction.

Satisfies Data Science minor requirement.
Satisfies Math and Quantitative Thought requirement.

CSC 200 - Computational Physics (= PHY 200)

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Physics 120 or 130 at Davidson, or permission of the instructor.  (Spring)

CSC 209 - Bioinformatics Programming (= BIO 209)

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

Prerequisites & Notes
Does not carry Mathematics major credit. 
Not open to students with credit for CSC 120 (=DIG 120), CSC 121 or CSC 200 (= PHY 200).  

CSC 210 - Mathematical Modeling (=MAT 210)

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

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 140 or MAT 150, and one of CSC 120, CSC 121, CSC 200, or CSC 209.

CSC 220 - Discrete Structures (= MAT 220)

(Cross-listed as MAT 220) 

An introduction to proof techniques and discrete mathematics, with a focus on topics relevant to computer science, and an introduction to functional programming. Topics include logic, sets, functions, equivalence relations, algorithm analysis, methods of proof, essential combinatorics, recurrence relations, and discrete probability, as well as the essentials of functional programming. Additional topics may be selected from graph theory, number theory, or automata theory. This course prepares students for advanced work in both computer science and mathematics.

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.
Counts towards the Mathematics major and minor.
Counts towards the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 140, MAT 150, or MAT 160, and the ability to program in a high-level language such as Python, C++, or Java at the level expected in CSC 121 or an equivalent course.

CSC 221 - Data Structures

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.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Computer Science 121, 200, 209, or permission of instructor.

CSC 250 - Computer Organization

An introduction to how digital computers are built and the process by which computer programs expressed in a high-level language are translated into signals to be routed on a digital circuit board. Topics include data representation and manipulation, digital logic building blocks (logic gates, flip-flops), computer memory, assembly and machine code, hardware components and their organization, and the C programming language. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Requires the ability to program in a high-level language such as Python, C++, Java etc., at the level expected in CSC 121 or an equivalent course.

Does not carry Mathematics major credit.

CSC 312 - Software Design

Satisfies a requirement in the Computer Science major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CSC 221

CSC 315 - Numerical Analysis (= MAT 315)

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

Prerequisites & Notes
MAT 150 and MAT 235, and proficiency in some programming language. (Spring)

CSC 321 - Analysis of Algorithms

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

Prerequisites & Notes

CSC 221 and CSC/MAT 220, or permission of instructor. 

CSC 322 - Programming Languages

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 352 - Blockchains

Satisfies major and minor requirement for Computer Science

Prerequisites & Notes
Data Structures (CSC 221) and one of the following: Discrete Structures (CSC 220) or Sets and Proofs (MAT 230).

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 358 - Real-Time Systems

This introduction to real-time systems begins with grouping such systems under several fundamental classifications. We will develop a model to reason about real-time systems and cover a sampling of scheduling algorithms for uniprocessor systems. We will apply a set of tests to determine whether a given scheduling algorithm guarantees that timing requirements will be met.  We will also cover resource access protocols, multiprocessor scheduling, and recent research topics. This course builds on the reasoning skills developed in CSC 220 and the knowledge of basic computer architecture covered in CSC 250. 

Satisfies Computer Science major and minor requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisites: CSC 220 and CSC 250.

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 364 - Computational Geometry (=MAT 364)

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

Deep Learning
Instructor
C. Seminario, Wiedenbeck

This course focuses on theoretical foundations and practical applications of deep learning, the subfield of machine learning concerned with large neural networks trained on large data sets. Topics include training models by stochastic gradient descent, implementing various neural network architectures, and choosing network hyperparameters. Application areas include classification, regression, and reinforcement learning problems. Students will implement their own neural networks from scratch and get experience using state-of-the-art deep learning libraries.

Prerequisites:

* CSC 221

* MAT 140 or MAT 150 or MAT 160

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 - Intro to Information Security

This is an upper-level course that falls under the systems category. In this course, the students will learn about the basic concepts, principles, and fundamentals of Information Security and learn hands-on approaches to secure computers and networks.

The main topics would include:

• Networking Basics
• Security basics
• Software security
• Operating Systems security
• Data and Information security
• Cryptography applications and protocols
• Authentication approaches
• Network threats and vulnerabilities
• Web security
• Mobile security
• Ethical hacking and legal issues
• Privacy

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

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of instructor required.

• A student took a course on Computer Organization (CSC250), otherwise familiar with the basic concepts of Operating Systems. 
• Prior programming experience with Java or C (e.g., taken CSC221: Data Structures).
• Taken MAT 140, 150, or 160 and Discrete Mathematics courses. 

CSC 383 - Seminar: 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
Prerequisites & Notes
CSC 221 and CSC/MAT 220, or permission of instructor required

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 Studies

This course serves as an introduction to major concepts and issues in the study of dance, with a focus on exploring dance as a meaning making practice. Examining the cultural, historical, and artistic conditions of various forms, we will develop our ability to “read” a dance and articulate what it reveals about the social contexts in which it is performed. During the semester, through readings, lecture, discussion, videos, physical practice, and embodied reseatch, we will attend to the ways in which social identities are formed and transformed, reinforced and challenged through dance practices. We will specifically pay careful attention to how the issues of race, class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality affect the making, performing and understanding of dance.

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

DAN 140 - Movement Lab: Somatic Explorations, Creative Practices, and Experiential Anatomy

In this introductory course, we will explore how we move, what makes us move, and what we can do with our movement. Foregrounding what we can learn from sensation, we will investigate the physical expression of our anatomical systems. Working with principles from various somatic practices (including, but not limited to, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Body-Mind Centering, and Pilates), we will uncover our movement habits, patterns, and ways to work toward greater ease in all we do. Developing upon our own capabilities and movement interests, we will explore how the body can serve as a site for creativity and artistic discovery. Reading, discussion, and personal reflection will be threaded through the course. Only curiosity is necessary; no previous dance experience required.

Satisfies Dance Studies minor requirement.
Satisfies Public Health minor requirement.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
 

DAN 142 - Afro-Caribbean Dance Forms

How do Caribbean dance practices mobilize identity, history, politics and community values? In what ways does dance shape understandings of Caribbean peoples and nations? What forms of embodied practice produce, sustain and promote Caribbean ways of knowing? How can we engage dance as a site to study creative forms of resistance and migration?  This course introduces students to the study of Caribbean dance forms through regular dance practice as well as reading, writing, viewing, discussions, research, and guest artist visits. Throughout the semester, we will explore a diversity of Caribbean dance practices, primarily focusing on Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico, paying particular attention to race, gender and sexuality. No dance experience necessary, just willingness to approach course engagement from an embodied perspective.

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies
Satisfies a minor requirement in Dance
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement
Satisfies the Cultural Diversity 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

What do you think of when you think of Haiti? As “The First Black Republic” established in 1804, Haiti’s powerful revolution shattered the colonial order and radically changed the course of global history at the turn of the 19^th century. Because of this and other factors, Haiti has been plagued by racist misrepresentation and has long suffered constant foreign intervention and exploitation. How do we reconcile the myths and realities? What does dance have to do with all this?

This course centers dance in the study of Haitian history, philosophy, politics and culture, illuminating the ways movement is central to these topics and questions. As a combined technique and theory course, students will regularly engage in the study and practice of Haitian dance technique, culture, and history through movement and study. Regular physical practice introduces students to the foundations of Haitian dance. Throughout the semester will be accompanied by a live musician and learn about Haitian drumming. To support embodied learning, regular readings, writing, and discussions familiarize students with Haitian dance culture and history, as well as key topics in Haitian studies (the Haitian Revolution, Vodou religion, migration, foreign intervention). Work culminates in final research-based creative projects as well as a dance practice final exam. No previous dance experience necessary, but you will be required to fully participate and commit to embodied practice.

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 246 - Ballet Technique I

Situating ballet as a historically-rooted, culturally-specific European performance form, this course imagines ballet technique as a contemporary practice. Exploring the primary ways that ballet organizes the body, students will work through various components of the vocabulary and training processes, foregrounding alignment and anatomical functionality, in order to work toward the expressive qualities defined by the form.  The primary focus will be on work in the dance studio, but course work will also include readings, video viewings, discussion, and written analysis.

Student of all levels of experience are welcome; no previous training is required.

Satisfies Dance minor requirement.
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts 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

How might engagement at the intersections of history, memory, performance and place support contending with the racist and exclusionary legacies that pervade Davidson’s campus? How do 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 creative work devise 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 Zoom classroom, embodied practices and creation, guest artist encounters, the Davidson College Special Collections and local sites of interest. The course is open to all students who desire varied forms of learning and engagement, no particular experience necessary.

Synchronous meetings (online) are very highly recommended for success in this course. We will begin meeting via Zoom, but might gather safely later in the semester depending on pandemic circumstances and class size. Students taking class remotely will be accommodated.

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 Visual and Performing Arts requirement
 

DAN 284 - Dancing Diaspora: Black Dance in America

Black Dance Matters. Drawing on scholarship about performance in the African diaspora, this course examines how Black aesthetics, cultural identities, and political movements have shaped-and been shaped by-performance culture in the United States. Exploring entertainment and concert dance performances from minstrelsy to the present day, this class will investigate how Black dance artists have staged their cultural experiences and intervened politically, and examine how those theatrical representations have been received and interpreted. Throughout our study, we will continually attend to the way in which the Black body in performance is “read,” analyzing a range of projected formulations, including stereotypical notions of the primitive and more empowering constructions of diasporic embodiment. Performance and the presentation of the body will be considered as potent sites for imagining and re-imagining Black identity. Taking a transnational and interdisciplinary approach, readings in Dance Studies and Africana Studies intermingle with performance viewings and movement practice. No prior experience with dance required.

Synchronous meetings once a week (online) are very highly recommended for success in this course.

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.

Synchronous meetings (online) are very highly recommended for success in this course.

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. 
 

DAN 290 - Dance History and Theory

New Course. Information coming soon.

DAN 292 - Queer(ing) Performance

When is performance performative? What might it do? Using contemporary performance as a site of inquiry and analysis, this course will examine what it means to perform queerness. Considering queer as an identity, an approach, and an aesthetic, the class will explore how performances might question the assumptions and ideologies of social and cultural normativity. Attending to the realities and possibilities of live arts, the course material will tackle issues of some of the issues of intersectionality, representation, (dis)identification, and desire that emerge in the study of embodiment. Bringing scholarship (primarily from Dance Studies, Performance Studies, Cultural Studies, and Theater) into conversation with recent creative/art practices, the class will invite students to analyze, interrogate, imagine, and make their own interventions into contemporary performance cultures.

Satisfies Gender and Sexuality major requirement.
Satisfies Dance minor requirement.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

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.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
DAN 240 or permission of the instructor.

DAN 342 - Haitian Dance Technique II

This course is designed as the second step in the Haitian Dance Technique sequence, or for students with prior training in African diasporic dance forms. Building on prior engagement, DAN342 emphasizes further development of skills in movement execution and expression, as well as deeper study of Haitian culture, history, and politics. We focus on a different set of rhythms/dances in the dance practice, and trace themes of artistry and cultural creativity in reading, writing, viewing, and discussion. This course culminates in a final dance performance, as well as accompanying research projects that integrate an embodied/creative component.

Satisfies Dance minor requirement.
Satisfies an Africana Studies major requirement.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
DAN242 or instructor permission required.

DAN 360 - Advanced Dance Composition

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 392 - Queer(ing) Performance

When is performance performative? What might it do? Using contemporary performance as a site of inquiry and analysis, this course will examine what it means to perform queerness. Considering queer as an identity, an approach, and an aesthetic, the class will explore how performances might question the assumptions and ideologies of social and cultural normativity. Attending to the realities and possibilities of live arts, the course material will tackle issues of some of the issues of intersectionality, representation, (dis)identification, and desire that emerge in the study of embodiment. Bringing scholarship (primarily from Dance Studies, Performance Studies, Cultural Studies, and Theater) into conversation with recent creative/art practices, the class will invite students to analyze, interrogate, imagine, and make their own interventions into contemporary performance cultures.

Satisfies Dance minor requirement.
Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Visual, and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

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. 

 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

DIG 109 - Introduction to Digital Humanities: Social Justice Collections and Liberal Arts Curricula

Through a unique collaboration between ten peer colleges, this class uses college archives and collections as a multi-campus corpus to be investigated through innovative digital methodologies. In a multi-institutional collaborative effort, students will apply different digital humanities (DH) techniques, such as digital mapping, text analysis, and interactive digital exhibits, in order to formulate and address a research question about these collections. These questions will focus on activism, change, and social justice at the ten colleges. Students may examine forces of change that unfold slowly or may examine rapid “shocks to the system” like COVID-19, climate change, or political and economic upheaval. Topics might also include the nature of the social contract at our colleges, access and equity, health justice, racial justice, environmental justice, educational access and affordability, and more. 

The first half of the course will focus on the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the digital humanities, providing an introduction to some of the key methodologies of DH. The second half of the course revolves around a team-based project, in which students from different institutions work together to tackle their research question. Along the way, students will be guided by faculty, librarians, and archivists from several liberal arts colleges. By the end of the course, each team will release a public project that showcases their work. The class will combine synchronous and asynchronous instruction and is designed to accommodate students in multiple time zones. The course is offered online through LACOL and is limited to 10 Davidson students.

Satisfies one of the “Production, Methodology, Practice” requirements for the Digital and Screen Media major offered through CIS.
Satisfies requirement 1b: “One additional 100-, 200- or 300-level DIG course for the Digital Studies minor.
Satisfies Historical Thought requirement.

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.
 

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 the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

DIG 345 - Radical Software

This course introduces students to advanced interface design and programming concepts for creating dynamic internet applications for both practical and expressive ends. We will explore themes through readings, discussion, and film that address the public, chaotic, and political space that is the internet. Students will be challenged to not only conceptualize, but execute culturally-relevant web-based applications using professional tools in order to comment on, critique, or celebrate online culture to challenge our understanding of the web and its possibilities. The technologies and skills this course introduces allows for alternating themes of game design, data visualization, and mobile application development.

Satisfies Digital and Screen Media Interdisciplinary Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisifes Visual and Performing Arts requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: DIG 245

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 and the Digital and Screen Media interdisciplinary major.