Data Science Major, B.A.

The bachelor of arts (B.A.) in data science provides students with high-level development of competencies in mathematics, statistics, computational foundations, ethics, and communication. The curriculum aims to go beyond basic competencies, providing opportunities to integrate analytic techniques across a broad variety of coursework, and allow students to customize the application of data science knowledge according to discipline-specific domain specializations.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the data science program, students should be able to:

  • Understand data sources and constructs, including the conceptual and technical foundations of representing, organizing, retrieving, and using data and information
  • Understand and implement ethical practices in data collection, management, analysis, and reporting, including privacy, security, and governance of data
  • Build and understand algorithms for analyzing data and accurate numerical modeling for problems
  • Use appropriate data analytics and statistical techniques to discover new relationships, deliver insights into research problems or organizational processes, and support decision-making
  • Convey data analyses through written and oral communication skills as well as visualization techniques

Requirements

In addition to the program requirements, students must

  • earn a minimum final cumulative GPA of 2.000
  • complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
  • take at least half of their major core requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
  • earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the major core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for major or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

Core Requirements
Foundations of Data and Information (two courses):
DATA 110IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Data Science H3
Select one of the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Critical Data Literacy
Digital Humanities History and Methods
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Metadata, Mark-up, and Mapping: Understanding the Rhetoric of Digital Humanities
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Foundations of Information Science
Computational Sociology
Responsible Data Science (one course):
DATA 120IDEAs in Action General Education logo Ethics of AI and Societal Decision Making H3
Computational Thinking (two courses):
COMP 110IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Programming H3
or COMP 116 Introduction to Scientific Programming
DATA 140Introduction to Data Structures and Management 3
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations (four courses):
MATH 210IDEAs in Action General Education logo Mathematical Tools for Data Science3
or MATH 347 IDEAs in Action General Education logo Linear Algebra for Applications
MATH 231IDEAs in Action General Education logo Calculus of Functions of One Variable I H, F4
STOR 120IDEAs in Action General Education logo Foundations of Statistics and Data Science H, F4
STOR 320IDEAs in Action General Education logo Methods and Models of Data Science3-4
or STOR 455 Methods of Data Analysis
Communication (select one course from the following options):3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Public Speaking
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Argumentation and Debate
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Communication for Data Scientists
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Picture This: Principles of Visual Rhetoric
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Scientific and Technical Communication
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Composing for Clients: Technical Communication Practicum
Maps: Geographic Information from Babylon to Google
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Communicating Important Ideas
Information Visualization
Future Vision: Exploring the Visual World
Four additional courses from a concentration area (see below)12
Total Hours44-45
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

F

FY-Launch class sections may be available. A FY-Launch section fulfills the same requirements as a standard section of that course, but also fulfills the FY-SEMINAR/FY-LAUNCH First-Year Foundations requirement. Students can search for FY-Launch sections in ConnectCarolina using the FY-LAUNCH attribute.

Concentrations 

Data Journalism

This concentration equips students to understand how to employ data science to find and tell hidden stories that inform the public discourse, civic life and democracy. Students will learn how to acquire, clean, analyze and present data in multiple media simply and clearly for a general audience of citizens. The concentration combines foundational data science competencies with multimedia web development, data visualization and news reporting skills and ethics to prepare students to meet the increasingly complex and quantitative needs required by professional journalists.

MEJO 487Intermediate Interactive Media 13
MEJO 570IDEAs in Action General Education logo Data Driven Journalism3
Select one of the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Spatial Data Science
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Making Sense of Big Data: Textual Analysis with R
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Analyzing Public Opinion H
Sports Analytics 1
Select one of the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Community Journalism 1
Advanced Reporting 1
Media Hub H
Business News Wire H
Total Hours12
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

1

Course requires a prerequisite(s) not otherwise counting in the major. Please review prerequisite information carefully when planning your course selection.

Economic Analysis 

This concentration prepares students for careers in quantitatively focused occupations at the intersection of economics and data science. The courses offer a rigorous foundation for econometric and data-science methodologies commonly used in economic analysis, as well as requiring an understanding of the application of these methods in at least one field within economics. 

ECON 370Economic Applications of Data Science 13
ECON 400IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Data Science and Econometrics 1, H4
ECON 470IDEAs in Action General Education logo Econometrics 1, H3
Select one of the following options:3
Financial Markets and Economic Fluctuations 1, H
Financial Economics 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Industrial Organization 1
Health Economics: Problems and Policy 1
Labor Economics 1
Macroeconomic Analysis of the Labor Market 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Financial Economics 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Industrial Organization 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Health Econometrics 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Economics of Education 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo The Economics of Health Care Markets and Policy 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Econometrics 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Machine Learning and Econometrics 1
Applied Time Series Analysis and Forecasting 1
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Labor Economics 1
Total Hours13
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

1

Course requires a prerequisite(s) not otherwise counting in the major. Please review prerequisite information carefully when planning your course selection.

Quantitative Language Science

This concentration explores how data-science methods including statistical, mathematical, and computational methods are applied to study theoretical language science/linguistics, and natural language processing. This courses will familiarize students with linguistic concepts in the context of data-science methodology and help prepare them for jobs or for further study in computational linguistics and AI.

LING 401IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Computational Linguistics 13
LING 460IDEAs in Action General Education logo Making Sense of Big Data: Textual Analysis with R3
LING 540IDEAs in Action General Education logo Mathematical Linguistics 13
Select one of the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Busting Language Myths
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Linguistic Phonetics
Total Hours12
1

Course requires a prerequisite(s) not otherwise counting in the major. Please review prerequisite information carefully when planning your course selection.

Urban Data Analytics

This concentration equips students with the skills necessary to apply data science tools for the public good, specifically to improve the quality of life of people in human settlements.

Select one of the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Cities of the Past, Present, and Future: Introduction to Planning
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Solving Urban Problems
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Planning the City: Possibilities, Participants, and Change
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Tools for Urbanists
Urban Spatial Structure 1
PLAN 562Seminar on The Ethics and Politics of New Urban Analytics3
Select one of the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Urban Data Analytics
Urban Data Analytics
Select one of the following options:3
Applied Issues in Geographic Information Systems
Energy Modeling for Environment and Public Health
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Urban Transportation Planning
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Public Transportation
Development Planning Techniques
Planning Methods 1
Transportation Planning Models 1
Development Impact Assessment 1
Total Hours12
1

Courses at the 700-level require permission of the instructor for undergraduate students to enroll. 

Sociology 

The sociology concentration enables students to understand how data, the analysis of data, and social scientific methodological approaches can be used to study people in society, including interpersonal dynamics, inequality, social structures, and cultural systems.

SOCI 251IDEAs in Action General Education logo Research Methods3
Select three of the following options:9
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Public Policy Toward Business
The Economics of Labor Relations
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Population Problems
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Population Health in the United States
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Data Analysis
Societies and Genomics
Fieldwork in Entrepreneurship
IDEAs in Action General Education logo The Labor Force
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Religion and Society
Total Hours12

Data and Society 

This concentration equips students to understand the social, cultural, historical, and political dimensions and impacts of data-driven technologies. Students will learn critical capacities to engage with and evaluate contemporary technologies, understand their histories, and map their social impacts.

Select four of the following options:12
IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Networked Societies (first-year students only)
IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Surveillance and Society (fist-year students only)
Introduction to Communication Technology, Culture, and Society
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Algorithms and Society
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Social Media and Society
IDEAs in Action General Education logo The History of New Media Technology in Everyday Life
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Technology, Ethics, & Culture H
From Gutenberg to Google: A History of Media
Technology and American Culture
History of the Computer
Total Hours12
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

Geographic Information Science

This concentration equips students to understand fundamentals of GIScience concepts and build expert knowledge in the use of geospatial technologies such as GIS, remote sensing, spatial analysis and modeling, database development and management, programming, Web GIS, and geovisualization.

GEOG 215IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Spatial Data Science3
GEOG 370IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Geographic Information3
Select two of the following options:6
Quantitative Methods in Geography
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modeling of Environmental Systems
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Geovisualizing Change
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Remote Sensing of the Environment
Introduction to GIS
GIS in Public Health
Geographic Information Systems for Impact Evaluation and Health Studies
Cartography of the Global South
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Geospatial Data Analysis with Google Earth Engine
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Remote Sensing
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Applied Issues in Geographic Information Systems
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Geographic Information Science Programming
Total Hours12

Department of Statistics and Operations Research

Visit Program Website

318 Hanes Hall, CB# 3260

(919) 843-6024

Director of Undergraduate Studies (Data Science Major)

Jeff McLean

dsCAS@unc.edu

Chair

Jan Hannig

jan.hannig@unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Nicolas Fraiman

fraiman@email.unc.edu

Director of Graduate Studies

Richard Smith

rls@email.unc.edu

Director of M.S. Program

Mariana Olvera-Cravioto

molvera@email.unc.edu

Administrative Support Associate

__

stor@unc.edu