Writing

What makes a world? And what makes a world beautiful, sustainable, inclusive, or just? At a time when humanity faces myriad global challenges, we can seek insight in writing that reimagines the world and helps us change it for the better. Reading the work of activists, philosophers, fiction writers, and political theorists, we will examine how past worlds shape those of the present and future. In particular, we will investigate the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in these different visions of the world, asking questions such as: Who enjoys freedom, and when? What is a “human right,” and should those rights be the basis of social organization? In what ways has the nation-state been a force for emancipation, and in what ways a vehicle of empire? What would it look like to live in a world that was fully feminist in its design, or that was built on reparations for past injustices, or that prioritizes the health of the planet above all? What are the conditions necessary for individuals and societies to undergo transformation, improve, and thrive?

The growing field of data humanism recognizes data as foundational to our economic, political, and social systems, while also seeking to recenter people in the process of its curation. In this course, we will explore the use of data through a humanistic lens, not only to better understand the critical role data plays in our lives, but also to discover how we can use data to become more humane. We will ask: if the word data comes from the Latin root for “the thing given,” by and to whom is it given? When exactly did data get “big”? What do we mean when we identify projects as “data-driven”? How can data intersect with social justice activism? And with art and storytelling? Students will engage these questions by drawing on the work of historians, cultural critics, journalists, social scientists, data analysts and designers, performing their own data tracking, and using their research to craft opinion pieces, reviews, reports, and other forms of public writing.