Courses & Teaching

Shaping the Next Generation of Innovators

Teaching data science, AI, and innovation methodologies at Boston University and beyond, with a focus on practical applications and real-world impact.

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Active Courses

Courses currently being taught or overseen.

DS-100: Data Speak Louder than Words

Boston University Teaching Fall 25 Authored

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Introductory data science course emphasizing real-world problem solving. Covers Python, Jupyter, exploratory data analysis, statistics, and visualization—modeled after Berkeley's Data 8.

DS-551: Data Engineering@Scale

Boston University Teaching Fall 25 Authored

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Advanced course in large-scale data management, processing, and analytics. Students build components of a hypothetical "Epidemic Engine" application, learning MapReduce systems (Hadoop, Spark), NoSQL and RDBMS management, data publishing with Flink and Kafka, and visualization tools. Emphasizes real-world scalable applications and enterprise-scale data ecosystems.

DS/CS‑219: Industry Preparation Fundamentals

Boston University Overseeing Fall 25 Authored

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Prepares students for internships and early tech careers through resume building, technical communication, GitHub-based project work, and practical onboarding skills. Includes agile practices, code review, and presentation training.

DS/CS‑488 / DS/CS‑688: UI/UX and Product Design Practicum

Boston University Overseeing Fall 25

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Advanced practicum in user interface and user experience design, emphasizing product thinking, stakeholder engagement, prototyping, and design critique. Students work in teams on real-world design challenges in collaboration with external partners.

DS/CS‑519: Spark! Software Engineering Practicum

Boston University Overseeing Fall 25 Authored

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Project-based practicum where students work in teams to deliver production-quality software for real-world clients. Emphasizes agile methods, GitHub workflows, code review, testing, and collaboration with nontechnical stakeholders.

DS/CS‑549: Spark! Machine Learning Practicum

Boston University Overseeing Fall 25 Authored

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Applied practicum where student teams build machine learning models for real-world clients. Emphasizes the full ML lifecycle—from problem scoping and dataset curation to model development, evaluation, and stakeholder presentation.

CS-391 S1: Spark! Software Engineering Immersion

Boston University Authored

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Introductory software engineering course emphasizing practical skills in full-stack and cloud-native development. Covers frontend (React.js), backend (FastAPI), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and collaborative engineering workflows using GitHub. Designed to accelerate technical readiness through hands-on assignments and team projects with real infrastructure.

XC‑473: Justice Media co-Lab

Boston University

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Interdisciplinary practicum course where students collaborate with journalists, advocates, and researchers to develop data-driven investigations, visualizations, and tools related to justice, equity, and accountability.

Proposed Courses

Courses designed and ready for future implementation.

CDS‑DS‑6XX: Algorithms and Evidence

Boston University Authored

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Graduate-level seminar examining how algorithmic decision-making intersects with epistemology, evidence, and justice. Topics include causal inference, interpretability, and the use of data in high-stakes social contexts.

CDS‑DS‑6XX: Digital Investigations for Journalists

Boston University Authored

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A hands-on course in computational investigative journalism, emphasizing structured inquiry, reproducibility, and data ethics. Students learn to gather, verify, and analyze data at scale using techniques like scraping, FOIA, notebook-based workflows, and code-based storytelling.

DS‑4XX: Harnessing Language Models for Data Science

Boston University Authored

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An advanced seminar exploring the use of large language models (LLMs) in data science workflows. Topics include prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), automation of analysis and reporting, and the ethical implications of AI-assisted data science.

Retired Courses

Courses that were previously offered and their impact.

XC‑410: Spark! Data Science for Good Practicum (DS4G)

Boston University Last offered Spring 24 Authored

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Practicum course focused on applying data science and software engineering skills to public interest and civic tech projects. Students worked in teams to address real-world problems from nonprofit, government, and academic partners.