Computational Social Science Courses

Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (Howard-Mathematica partner site), Graduate, Faculty, & Postdoctoral scholars
Graduate School, Howard University
Role: Founder, Organizer, Instructor of Record, Summer 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

The purpose of the Summer Institute held at Howard University with sponsorship by Mathematica (SICSS-Howard/Mathematica is to bring together graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and beginning faculty interested in computational social science. The Summer Institute is for both social scientists (broadly conceived) and data scientists (broadly conceived). There is no cost to participate in SICSS-Howard/Mathematica.

The instructional program will involve lectures, group problem sets, and participant-led research projects. There will also be outside speakers who conduct computational social science research in a variety of settings, such as academia, industry, and government. Topics covered include text as data, website scraping, digital field experiments, machine learning, and ethics.  SICSS-Howard/Mathematica is groundbreaking for a number of reasons: 1) we are the first and only Summer Institute held at a Historically Black College or University, 2) we have the benefit of a deeply invested partner, Mathematica, and finally 3) we have a topical focus on anti-Black racism and inequity.

For SICSS-Howard/Mathematica we have an added purpose, to seed and grow a depth of knowledge and appreciation for computational social science in underrepresented communities. SICSS-Howard/Mathematica is uniquely poised to highlight innovative methods to conduct social research on topics of pertinence to underrepresented communities using real-world data. Participants who share our drive to use computer science, data analytics, and evidence to improve public well-being within underrepresented communities will benefit from the opportunities and resources that are unique to SICSS-Howard/Mathematica given our presence at Howard University, the generous support and deep engagement of Mathematica, and our presence in the nation’s capital.