Data Science for Global Affairs

Catalog description

In this class, students will learn the fundamentals of data science, and how to apply them in a global affairs context. The course will cover the theoretical background and context of data science and allow students to become familiar with the basics of the data lifecycle, including data collection and storage, descriptive analytics and predictive modeling, project implementation and results reporting. Students will learn the basics of Python, using Google Notebook, and will explore the machine learning Python packages, with a focus on scikit learn for machine learning and matplot lib for visualizations. Assignments will focus on global affairs use cases, such as geopolitical alliances, global risk, humanitarian and conflict modeling. The objective of the course is to provide students with a data science with Python foundation, which they will then be able to apply in various policy contexts. No prior experience in coding or Python is required.