Writing with Data

The rise of data-driven communication has placed increasing emphasis on data literacy—namely, the ability to produce and analyze a wide range of data visualizations, from illustrations and technical diagrams to complex graphs and tables. Many academic disciplines and professions rely on data as the basis for acquiring, building, and disseminating knowledge in their fields. Institutions and corporations, in turn, now collect data about individuals for everything from supporting students’ learning to developing ever more targeted marketing campaigns. Others use open-access data for advocacy work, using data-based graphics to advance social and political causes. This course is designed to help you think critically and ethically about data and gain practical data literacy skills. Students learn how to use online data visualization tools to make data more understandable and develop rhetorical skills to make data more meaningful, by identifying and presenting the story they tell.