Interests converge as data science program grows
It started with students approaching faculty members to create self-designed majors around the use of data.
“Our first undergraduate approached me back in 2017 asking about a self-designed major, where she wanted to focus on the intersection between data analytics and – to my surprise and consternation at the time – dance. Dance!” said Dan Runfola, an assistant professor of Applied Science at William & Mary. “Here was a student truly taking the 'communication' aspect of data science to heart – pushing boundaries, simply because she had no idea these boundaries existed in the first place.”
Data science is a scholarly area that builds upon the intersection of computer science, statistics, mathematics, information science and the application domains in which these datasets are used, Runfola explained.
While its foundation is within STEM, data science often grows by taking advantage of its footprint not only within the natural, computational, and physical sciences, but also humanities, social sciences, business, law – and even, in the case of Runfola’s student, the performing arts.
Student enrollments in William & Mary’s data science courses (including summer courses) continue to rise. Currently there are 79 students pursuing the B.S. degree.
