Critical Data Studies: Designing Humanistic Interventions in Undergraduate STEM Education

Magdalena Donea
Communication
UC San Diego

Katheryne Metcalf
Communication
UC San Diego

Over the past two decades, our data has come to control ever-increasing swathes of our lives. From the pervasive tracking of online behavior to the proliferation of racist and sexist algorithms, data is used to shape and constrain the contours of our everyday practices. In response to these processes, humanistic scholarship within Critical Data Studies (CDS) has taken up questions of how data functions as a form of social power, investigating how data-driven systems perpetuate modes of harm and inequity. This project brings together graduate students with expertise in CDS from across the University of California, and seeks to develop instructional resources that translate CDS approaches and scholarship for STEM students—those who will build the next generation of data infrastructure. Over the course of a yearlong reading group culminating in a four-day workshop, we intend to develop lesson plans, classroom activities, and pedagogical tools that can serve as the basis for developing teaching partnerships with STEM programs on our home campuses, translating CDS research into meaningful interventions and contributing to the professional development of graduate scholar-educators in the UC system. In doing so, we hope to build a foundation for educational and research collaborations centered on data justice across the UC.