This concentration will equip students to learn about the world through data analytics.

The core course related to this concentration is INFO 2950: Introduction to Data Science.

Some faculty members whose research is related to this concentration include: Solon BarocasCristobal CheyrePaul GinspargThorsten Joachims, René KizilcecJon KleinbergLillian LeeDavid Mimno; Helen Nissenbaum, Jeff Rzeszotarski, Aditya Vashistha, Matthew Wilkens, and David Williamson

Career Paths

  • Professional positions requiring data analytics and statistical analysis combined with communication in commercial, academic and public service settings. 
  • Ex: Data Journalist, who finds questions in the real world, collects and analyzes data to address that question, and then explains the implications of that analysis in accessible terms.
  • Related Job Titles: data scientist, statistician, data engineer, machine learning engineer

Data Science Courses

Please reference the Cornell Class Roster for details on the courses below.

Data Science (Fall 2021, 2022, and 2023 semesters only):  Take one course from A, B, and C; and an additional course from any of the four categories. Otherwise, take one course from each category (A, B, C, and D).

A. Data Analysis (choose one)

  • INFO 3300: Data-Driven Web Applications
  • INFO 3900: Causal Inference
  • INFO 3950: Data Analytics for Information Science
  • CS 4780: Machine Learning for Intelligent Systems
  • CS 4786: Machine Learning for Data Science
  • ORIE 3120: Practical Tools for Operations Research, Machine Learning and Data Science
  • ORIE 4740: Statistical Data Mining I
  • ORIE 4741: Learning with Big Messy Data
  • STSCI 4740: Data Mining and Machine Learning

B. Domain Expertise (choose one) 

  • INFO 2770: Excursions in Computational Sustainability
  • INFO 3350: Text Mining for History and Literature
  • INFO 3370: Studying Social Inequality Using Data Science
  • INFO 4100: Learning Analytics
  • INFO 4120: Ubiquitous Computing
  • INFO 4300: Language and Information
  • INFO 4350: Conversations and Information
  • INFO 4940: Special Topics - How LLMs Work, Their Potential, and Limitations
  • INFO 4940: Special Topics - Advanced NLP for Humanities Research
  • CS 4740: Natural Language Processing

C. Big Data Ethics, Policy and Society (choose one) 

  • INFO 3200: New Media and Society
  • INFO 3561: Computing Cultures
  • INFO 4145 (Previously offered as INFO 4940): Privacy and Security in the Data Economy
  • INFO 4200: Information Policy: Applied Research and Analysis
  • INFO 4240: Designing Technology for Social Impact
  • INFO 4250: Surveillance and Privacy
  • INFO 4260 (Previously INFO 4940): Computing on Earth: Planetary Dimensions and Consequence of Computing
  • INFO 4270: Ethics and Policy in Data Science
  • INFO 4390: Practical Principles for Designing Fair Algorithms
  • INFO 4561: Stars, Scores, and Rankings: Evaluation and Society
  • INFO 4940: Special Topics - U.S. Copyright Law
  • ​INFO 4940: Special Topics - Technology and Social Change Practicum
  • INFO 4940: Special Topics - Building Inclusive Computing Organizations
  • INFO 4940: Special Topics - Law, Policy, and Politics of Cybersecurity
  • INFO 4940: Special Topics - Law, Policy and Politics of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • COMM 4242: The Design & Governance of Field Experiments
  • ENGL 3778: Free Speech, Censorship, and the Age of Global Media
  • STS 3440: The Data Science & Society Lab

D. Data Communication (choose one) 

  • INFO 3312: Data Communication
  • INFO 4310: Interactive Information Visualization
  • COMM 3150: Organizational Communication: Theory and Practice
  • COMM 3189: Taking America's Pulse: Creating and Conducting a National Opinion Poll
  • COMM 4200: Public Opinion and Social Processes
  • COMM 4860: Risk Communication
  • GOVT 2169: Survey Data in the Information Age
  • SOC 3580: Big Data on the Social World