Day One: Introductions

SDS 189: Data and Social Justice

Lindsay Poirier
Statistical & Data Sciences, Smith College

Fall 2023

You are being granted one wish: for access to any dataset that a private company or the government maintains. Which dataset would you choose and why?

Who is the professor? Why is an anthropologist teaching data science?

• Please call me Lindsay (preferred), Professor Poirier, or Dr. Poirier
• Previously Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at UC Davis
• Lab Manager at BetaNYC
• M.S./Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• B.S. in Information Technology and Web Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Dancing, crafting, cooking, re-watching the same TV series over and over again.
• I have a very spunky dog Madison.

How is this class strctured?

Exercise: Imaginary Scenario

You just completed your first semester at Smith College and are home for a break. You run into an old peer from high school who proceeds to tell you that they don’t believe women’s colleges should exist because it excludes the male viewpoint and discriminates against men who wish to attend the school.

• With your neighbor, discuss what data you could present to respond to this individual.
• What presumptions are made in the individual’s statement?
• Why would the data you present offer a compelling response?

Syllabus Review

• Policies
• Grading Contract
• Course Website
• Perusall
• Slack

Reading Tuesday

• Be sure to leave three substantive comments.