What makes some internet videos more popular than others? Where do gender inequities pop up in the music industry? What are the demographics of police stops in the United States? Did you know that you can explore and analyze real-world questions like these using code? In this semester-long course, you will develop the skills to use the Python programming language to mine public datasets for interesting patterns and to statistically analyze and visualize those patterns using beautiful, code-generated graphs. You will then build upon these skills by learning how to create your own machine learning models that you can use to make predictions in fields of your choice, and even enter some of your models into competitions. You will come away with skills to critically analyze and evaluate trends in science, society, and culture with the goal of using code to dig deep into questions that you are interested in exploring. No previous coding experience is required, but students will be expected to take initiative in the process of researching and developing project topics, learning any extra skills required for the projects that they select, and tinkering with their codes to accomplish their goals. Enrollment in the first-semester course, 3D Models and Animations, will be useful but is not necessary for this second-semester course.

Offered Spring 2027