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Data Science

Dr. Sajid Hussain, Discipline Coordinator

The Fisk University Data Science program is the first dedicated undergraduate data science program at a Historically Black College or University as well as in the state of Tennessee. The Data Science program is one of the newest and fastest growing programs at Fisk University.

The data science program prepares students for inter-disciplinary careers related to computing and big data. Students are trained for both professional careers and graduate studies. A minor in data science may be taken in combination with any other major.

Data Science is an interdisciplinary field of scientific methods, processes, and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data. Virtually every area of our society is generating considerable data: social networking, business platforms, health care and personalized/precision medicine, digital humanities for literature and historical ‘excavation’, defense and security, manufacturing and supply chain, climate change forecasting, as examples. However, without data management, curation, analysis and visualization – these data do not inform new insights.

The Department offers both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degree as well as a Data Science minor. The Data Science program strives to bring Innovation to Passion through partner discipline requirements where students can choose a partner discipline including but not limited to Art, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Political Science or Business. This allows students to use the innovation of data science to explore their passion. The program is also designed to allow students to easily add a joint major within the 4-year degree program. These partnerships allow students to complete degrees in areas like Computational Biology and Computational Social Science.

The Bachelor of Arts degree has the fundamental mathematics and computer science content and allows for 18-20 hours of partner discipline courses. The Bachelor of Science degree has more advanced mathematics and computer science content and allows for 10-12 hours of partner discipline courses.

An integral component of the program is the experiential learning component. The Sophomore, Junior, and Senior seminar courses offer students an opportunity to select projects and follow the data science pipeline with appropriate tools at each level of matriculation through the program. The Data Science Club offers students from any discipline the opportunity to be part of the Data Science family. Members of the Data Science club determine the focus of the club and problems, tools and technologies that the students address and learn. The Data Science Innovation Hub offers students the paid opportunities to contribute to ongoing research projects by Faculty members and students at Fisk University and Beyond. Lastly, our industry partnerships allow industry partners to hold seminars and work sessions with students where they discuss real world problems encountered in industry as well as offering internships. The Fisk University Data Science program offers an innovative approach to Data Science preparing students for a diverse workforce.

Program Goal

The goals of the program in data science are designed to produce graduates who can:

  • successfully qualify for positions in data science, computer science, information technology, lab technicians, and research scientists; entry into graduate schools in data science, computer and information sciences and technologies; entry into the workforce as data scientists, software engineers, and data analysts.

  • enter other professions that require a background in computer science or computer technology;

  • teach computer-related subject matter to individuals at the post-secondary level; and

  • become productive citizens who contribute to the welfare and development of their communities through their career activities.

Students who complete the major in data science will:

  • Have knowledge of the conceptual framework of the major branches of computer science.

  • Be able to apply the computer science theoretical principles to problems using the appropriate data structures and algorithms.

  • Be able to work effectively in Windows, Unix/Linux, MacOs operating systems. Be able to program effectively with high-level programming languages.

  • Be able to apply the necessary technical skills that are fundamental to experimental data science.

  • Have a fundamental understanding of the relationship of computer science and mathematics to another partner discipline.

  • Be aware of the role of data and computational thinking in society.