Course Description
Data Arts, ART W23AC
Can we measure everything? What is the role of privacy? Can we count beauty? Is data always fair? This course explores participation as the foundation of online citizenship. Participation is based on data literacy and community awareness. Through online assignments, peer reviews and video chats, students form communities of explorers and innovators who challenge data culture through creative interventions including surveys, visualization, animation, video, interaction design, music and other forms of digital expression. Assignments are based on readings about media theory, abstraction, interactivity, design theory, archives, performance, identity, privacy, automation, aggregation, networking, diffusion, diffraction and subversion.
Key Information
Credit: 6 quarter units /
4 semester units credit
UC Berkeley, Art Practice
Course Credit:
Upon successful completion, all online courses offered through cross-enrollment provide UC unit credit. Some courses are approved for GE, major preparation and/or, major credit or can be used as a substitute for a course at your campus.If "unit credit" is listed by your campus, consult your department, academic adviser or Student Affairs division to inquire about the petition process for more than unit credit for the course.
UC Berkeley:
General Education: all majors, design minor, American Cultures credit for all majors
UC Davis:
Unit Credit
UC Irvine:
Unit Credit
UC Los Angeles:
Unit Credit
UC Merced:
Unit Credit (see your Academic Advisor)
UC Riverside:
General Education: Elective Units
UC San Diego:
General Education: Revelle Fine Arts; Warren - May be counted depending on major/PofC/AS; ERC possible Fine Arts or lower division Americas Regional Specialization; TMC 1 course toward lower division disciplinary breadth if noncontiguous to major
UC San Francisco:
Unit Credit
UC Santa Barbara:
Unit Credit
UC Santa Cruz:
General Education: PE-T
Course Fees
None
More About The Course
From tax returns and health records to social media and traffic updates, many aspects of our lives depend on information stored in networked databases. Data Cultures is a new online course that teaches ways to research, question, and innovate such databases to better understand how they can affect our human experiences both positively and negatively.
Explore the origins of data, the invention of databases, and many of the liberating and oppressive effects of data on our daily lives. Most importantly, you will learn to be a thoughtful participant in data cultures by questioning data-driven media and by expressing your values, hopes and concerns through innovation and collaboration. Topics covered include: history of data culture, critical analysis of existing data-driven media, basic database queries, surveillance studies, celebrity, networking, digital divides, digital redlining, basic data analysis, interface design, information visualization and rapid prototyping.
The core activity in this art course is to engage with data culture issues through creative reflection. Rather than writing, you will draw, film, animate, photograph and program web content to advance your ideas about data culture, and your peers will have ample chances to view, dialogue and of course rate your creative efforts.