The program is designed to provide fundamental conceptual knowledge and technical skills to students with a range of intellectual backgrounds and concentrations, while emphasizing a critical liberal learning perspective.
Please see the bulletin and the FAQ below to learn more about the requirements of the certificate.
Still have questions? Please email DSI-UG-Certificate@brown.edu.
Data Fluency Certificate in the University Bulletin
Data fluency implies a familiarity with data science and a basic competency working with data. Many disciplines now require an understanding of how data are collected, stored, analyzed, and visualized. The purpose of this certificate is to prepare undergraduate students for a world that is increasingly data-centric. A massive shift has occurred in our basic interactions with one another, our understanding of society and culture, and our modes of inquiry and investigation. The growth of methods for exploring and analyzing data combined with advances in hardware capability has created possibilities for data analysis on a scale previously unimagined. At the same time, the societal impact of decisions based on data poses many challenges in terms of accountability, bias, and transparency.
After completing the certificate, students will be able to:
The required experiential learning component provides students with the opportunity to apply their data-science skills in their concentration, engage in research that uses data science, teach data science as UTAs, or undertake an internship that has a data-science component. This may be completed for credit via an independent study course or not for credit (TA'ing, internship, etc.) Proposals for the experiential learning component are due by the end of the sixth semester.
Participate in a non-credit experience such as completing a summer internship, TA-ing for a data-related course2, or working with a local organization on a data-related project. A 10-12 page reflective paper is required for this option. If a student chooses to TA, TA'ing for any of the courses on the certificate's elective list fulfills this requirement.
Students may declare a certificate no earlier than the beginning of the fifth semester, and no later than the last day of classes of the antepenultimate (typically the sixth) semester.
Students who miss this deadline should consult their academic Dean for instructions on petitioning the Committee on Academic Standing.
No, if you are completing two or more concentrations (or a concurrent degree), you may not complete a certificate.
Students must be enrolled in or have completed at least two courses toward the certificate at the time they declare in ASK.
The excluded concentrations for the Data Fluency certificate are Applied Mathematics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics (including joint concentrations in these areas).
According to the certificate guidelines, a student’s concentration and certificate cannot have substantial overlap.
Students who miss the declaration deadline should consult their academic Dean for instructions on petitioning the Committee on Academic Standing.
No more than one requirement may count toward your concentration and the certificate.
Yes.
The current list of accepted electives are listed in the Bulletin and it includes courses from anthropology, applied math, biology, cognitive linguistics, computer science, data science, economics, education, environmental science, math, music, public health, and sociology. Students may also propose another course (with a significant data component) to their certificate advisor for approval.
Yes, students may complete DATA 1150 and the concurrent Data Science Fellows project to fulfill both the elective and experiential components of the certificate.
Students must submit a proposal for their experiential component experience by the end of the sixth semester.
When you are proposing an experiential component, you can do so in ASK. There will be space for you to write how you are planning to fulfill the requirement. If you need to submit a reflection paper at the end of your certificate, you can also upload that in ASK.
Brown's Center for Career Exploration is an excellent resource for finding an internship. The Swearer Center's Community-Engaged Data and Evaluation Collaborative (CEDEC) also may have opportunities and the DSI sends out relevant opportunities to the email list of certificate students.
Yes, students may complete DATA 1150 and the concurrent Data Science Fellows project to fulfill both the elective and experiential components of the certificate.
TA’ing for any course listed as an elective on the bulletin will satisfy the experiential component. If you choose to TA you will need to complete the reflective paper assignment.
Students who are interested in using their independent study / honors thesis in their concentration as their experiential learning component should send the details of their research to their certificate advisor for approval.
Please note that if you use your independent study or thesis for the experiential learning component, you cannot double-count any other requirements from your concentration to the certificate.
If you are receiving credit for the experiential component (i.e., an honors thesis or independent study), you do not have to write a paper.
If you are not receiving credit for the experiential component (i.e., TA’ing or an internship), then you do have to complete the reflection assignment. This assignment is a 10-12 page reflective paper where you get to talk about your experiences, think about the impact the courses had on that experience, and think about how you might use these skills and experiences after you leave Brown.
For May completers, the reflective essay is due in ASK by the end of the day on the last day of April. For December completers, the reflective essay is due in ASK by the end of the day on the last day of November.
Students in the following concentrations have completed the Data Fluency Certificate: