The rise of connected devices, sophisticated sensor networks, automated decision-making, and digitization of traditional records are all examples of how the world is increasingly influenced by data.
Understanding how to use data to learn about the world, and how the use of data has impacts on people’s lives, is a valuable part of a modern education. The data science minor at Pomona College is the interdisciplinary field that focuses on data and the knowledge we gain from data.
Data science is the creation, application, and critique of tools and processes that enable one to extract and communicate meaningful insights about data drawn from across many disciplines. The main tools of data science come from computational, mathematical, and statistical traditions, but it is more than simply a set of skills.
Data science projects use a combination of skills in statistics, programming, and domain-specific knowledge to extract insights and knowledge from large volumes of data in order to make informed decisions by analyzing and interpreting complex data sets. Data science problems can truly come from any field but are commonly encountered in healthcare (predictive analytics for patient outcomes), technology (fraud detection in online transactions), advertising (sentiment analysis), public sector (traffic management and urban planning), education (adaptive education platforms), energy (optimization of renewable energy sources), and sports (performance analysis).
What You’ll Study
- Programming
- Statistics
- Data Science
- Ethics
- Linear Algebra