DSC 190: History of Data Science (Winter 2026, UCSD)

DSC 190: History of Data Science (is a History of Empire)

Instructor: Prof. Stuart Geiger ([email protected])

Time: MWF 4-4:50pm, W 5-5:50pm. In-class attendance and participation are mandatory every Wednesday. Every Friday will have a recorded/remote-friendly lecture. Some Mondays will require in-person attendance.

Course summary: In this class, we will take a humanities approach to the 6,000 year old history of people seeking to know and act in their worlds through the collection and analysis of recorded observations. From the first censuses, maps, and accounting records to the most recent wave of artificial intelligence, the history of data science is inextricable from the history of civilizations and empires. We will also trace the short history of “data science/scientist” in the 21st century as the latest instance of a long line of fields and professions that organized themselves around having a more universal or domain-independent expertise.

To take a historical account of data science is NOT about memorizing names and dates, marveling about how far we have come, romanticizing a simpler time, or practicing statistics as it was done in prior eras. Rather, we will reckon with the role that technical experts have always played in making the world knowable at scale, and in doing so, often re-make the world so it is more legible for those in power. Every generation faces a new, unprecedented, revolutionary change in the order of things, which is often deeply linked to new technologies. Historical thinking helps us abstractly reason about the social, political, economic, and cultural roles of quantification, data management, standardization, classification, prediction, automation, and surveillance.

While this is a humanities class with zero coding, math, or statistics assignments, it is specifically designed for data science majors who may or may not have much existing experience or familiarity with historical or humanities thinking. Assignments will generally require students to apply concepts that link cases from history to similarly-shaped issues in our current moment. This class will also require students to trace the short-term micro-history of data science as a field and profession, with a final project involving archival work tracing the short history how an institution of their choice has oriented to “data science”, “artificial intelligence”, or other terms over the past 20 years.

It is not possible to take this class remotely. In-class attendance and participation will be required for the Wed 4-4:50pm class and Wed 5-5:50pm discussion (we will all walk together from Peterson Hall to Center Hall). Wed class will not be recorded. Assignments will include in-class hand-written writing assignments and exams. Fridays will always be a recorded/remote-friendly attendance-optional lecture, while some Mondays will require in-person attendance. As a 4-unit class, students should expect to do 8 hours of work a week outside of class. Students should not take this class if they are not prepared to think and write in-class without generative AI. Students who take this class will expand their cognitive capacity for cutting through hype and thinking critically about the role of technology and technologists in society.