Honors Collegium 161
Data as Processes of Reification: Promises and Perils
Enrollment: Open to College Honors/College Scholars students
Course Description: Seminar, three hours. Examination of social, political, and economic forces that shaped routine collection of data through exploration of historical development and contemporary applications of routine data collection. Critical analysis of impact of data collection on individuals and communities. Offers unique and timely exploration of data collection, combining historical analysis and sociological theory. By tracing history of data practices and critically examining their societal implications, development of understanding of complex relationship between data, power, and society. Interdisciplinary study adopts human-centered approach, exploring how data reflects and reinforces social structures. Development of skills to critically analyze data, identify biases, and evaluate social impact of data collection.
Rebecca Jean Emigh
I study long-term processes of social change. In particular, I am interested in how cultural, economic, and demographic factors intersect to create these processes of social change. This interest is reflected in two large research projects, one on transitions to capitalisms and one on forms of information gathering. In both projects, in different ways, I use historical perspectives and mixed methods to analyze the similarities and differences in these social phenomena in the past and present. I am especially interested in a “view from below,” that is, how ordinary people affect social relations, and thus, the course of history.
Q & A
What is your home department at UCLA?
Sociology Department
How long have you been teaching your HC seminar?
I taught HC110 for many years, but HC161 is brand new!
What is your favorite part about teaching this HC seminar?
I like the intellectual engagement with the students. They are so smart, and they want to learn.
What do you find to be the most compelling about the subject matter of this seminar?
Critical data studies is a relatively new research topic in come sense, but it’s also a very old subject! It will be fun to look historically at something that has crystallized into a research area recently.