Pathway Details 2022-2025: Data Science & Social Systems B.A.

The pathway classes listed on this page are approved for students who declared between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2025.

As part of the program in Data Science & Social Systems, students select a pathway that explores a topic they are passionate about and where data science methods and approaches have something compelling to offer.  As part of their pathway, students must take 4 courses and at least 12 units. Students may develop their own pathway or select one of twelve predefined pathways that focus on major societal challenges and the social systems that we need to understand to make progress.

The pathways include upper-level courses that concentrate on specific aspects of societal challenges. Many of these courses are offered once every two to three years. To help students with their course planning, courses scheduled for the 2025-2026 academic year are marked with an asterisk and italicized.

*Course offerings for this academic year are subject to change at the discretion of the department in which they are taught. While we have made every effort to provide this information accurately at the time of publication, please use Navigator to confirm.

Law and Justice
  1. Constitutional Law (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. The White Supremacist Constitution: American Constitutional History (AMSTUD 155)
    2. *The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Press (ETHICSOC 151)
    3. *Creation of the Constitution (HISTORY 153)
    4. The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Press (POLISCI 125P)
  2. Race (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Philosophy of Law: Protest, Punishment, and Racial Justice (ETHICSOC 175W)
    2. *Law and Inequality (LAWGEN 112N)
    3. The Changing Face of America (POLISCI 226A)
    4. Race and Crime (PSYCH 150)
    5. Sociology of Law (SOC 136)
    6. The Urban Underclass (SOC 149)
    7. *Crime and Punishment in America (SOC 179A)
    8. *Ethnographies of Race, Crime, and Justice (SOC 246A)
  3. Law and Economics (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Law and Economics (ECON 154)
    2. Behavioral Law and Economics (LAW 7514)
    3. *Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (POLISCI 114D)
    4. *Economic Analysis of Law (PUBLPOL 302B)
  4. Law and Data and Technology (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Is Privacy Dead? Privacy, Surveillance, and Freedom in the Digital Age (ETHICSOC 128N)
    2. *Data: Privacy, Property and Security (INTLPOL 362/ LAW 4046)
    3. *Modern Surveillance Law (LAW 4015)
    4. Data Privacy & Ethics (MS&E 234)
    5. *Ethics, Public Policy & Technological Change (POLISCI 182)
    6. *AI Policy Development (POLISCI 294)
    7. *Ethics on the Edge (PUBLPOL 134/LAW 7020)
Media and Democracy
  1. Content Production (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Reporting, Writing, and Understanding the News (COMM 104W)
    2. *Advanced Digital Journalism Production (COMM 176)
    3. Specialized Writing and Reporting: Health and Science Journalism (COMM 177C)
    4. *Specialized Writing and Reporting: Narrative Journalism (COMM 177D)
    5. *Specialized Writing and Reporting: Sports Journalism (COMM 177SW)
    6. *Specialized Writing and Reporting: Foreign Correspondence (COMM 177Y)
    7. *Immersive (VR/AR) Journalism in the Public Sphere (COMM 280)
  2. Programming (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Trust and Safety (COMM 122/CS 152)
    2. *News Frontiers (COMM 177A) (previously Advanced Data Journalism)
    3. Programming in Journalism (COMM 177P)
    4. *Building News Applications (COMM 177T)
  3. Investigative Projects (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Big Local Journalism: a project-based class (COMM 177B)
    2. *Investigative Watchdog Reporting (COMM 177I)
  4. Communication Capstone (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Deliberative Democracy Practicum: Applying Deliberative Polling (COMM 138)
    2. *Exploring Computational Journalism (COMM 281)
    3. *Individual Work (COMM 199)
Urban Systems
  1. Cities (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Planning California: the Intersection of Climate, Land Use, Transportation & the Economy (CEE 136)
    2. *Politics & Policy in California (PUBLPOL 154)
    3. The Urban Economy (PUBLPOL 174)
    4. The Urban Underclass (SOC 149)
    5. *Introduction to Urban Studies (URBANST 110)
  2. Inequality (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. The Changing Face of America (POLISCI 226A)
    2. Race and Crime (PSYCH 150)
    3. America: Unequal (SOC 3)
    4. *Just Data: Reimagining Inequality Research (SOC 12N)
  3. Contemporary Urban Issues (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Urban Education (EDUC 112)
    2. Raza Youth in Urban Schools: Mis-educating Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x Communities (EDUC 131)
    3. *Superpower California: The Indispensible State (POLISCI 226)
    4. *The Changing American City (SOC 156A)
    5. *Housing, Education, & Place: Cities, Suburbs, and Schooling in the U.S. (SOC 307/EDUC 308)
    6. Gentrification (URBANST 141)
    7. Race and Ethnicity in Urban California (URBANST 169)
  4. Environmental Planning (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Physics of Cities (CEE 6)
    2. Shaping the Future of the Bay Area (CEE 124X)
    3. *Human Society and Environmental Change (EARTHSYS 112)
    4. *Sustainable Cities (EARTHSYS 160)
    5. *Environmental Economics: Models, Data, and Policy Design (ECON 177)(previously Empirical Environmental Economics)
Global Poverty and Development
  1. Political Economy (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (POLISCI 114D)
    2. *Political Development Economics (POLECON 683)
    3. *Political Economy of Latin America (POLISCI 243)
    4. Governance and Poverty (POLISCI 247G)
    5. *China's Political Economy (SOC 175)
  2. Development Economics (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Development Economics (ECON 118)
    2. *Economic Development, Microfinance, & Social Networks (ECON 125)
    3. Development Economics I (ECON 214)
    4. *Wealth of Nations (POLISCI 244C/ECON 134)
  3. Global Governance and International Institutions (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Introduction to International Relations (POLISCI 101)
    2. Governing the Global Economy (POLISCI 110G)
    3. *International Trade (ECON 166)
  4. Area of Particular Interest (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (CEE 265D)
    2. Data for Sustainable Development (EARTHSYS 162)
    3. *Feeding Nine Billion (EARTHSYS 185)
    4. Economics of Health Improvement in Developing Countries (ECON 127)
    5. *Engineering & Sustainable Development (ENERGY 177A-B)
    6. *Philanthropy for Sustainable Development (ETHICSOC 232T)
    7. Immigration and Multiculturalism (POLISCI 141A)
    8. *Comparative Democratic Development (POLISCI 147)
Language
  1. Core:
    1. *From Languages to Information (CS 124)
  2. Computational Language Processing (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning (CS 224N)
    2. Spoken Language Processing (CS 224S)
    3. Natural Language Understanding (CS 224U)
    4. Language Neuroscience Seminar (PSYCH 122)
    5. Natural Language Processing in the Social Sciences (SYMSYS 195T)
  3. Processing and Learning Language (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics (LINGUIST 130A)
    2. *Language and Society (LINGUIST 150)
    3. *Language, Gender & Sexuality (LINGUIST 156)
    4. *Introduction to Psycholinguistics (LINGUIST 145)
    5. Introduction to Personality and Affective Science (PSYCH 80)
    6. Cognitive Development (PSYCH 141)
    7. *Developmental Science of Social Cognition (PSYCH 175) (previously Cognition and Learning in Early Childhood)
    8. Psychometrics and automated experiment design (PSYCH 241)
  4. Language and Digital Media (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. The Rise of Digital Culture (COMM 120W)
    2. *Truth, Trust, and Tech (COMM 124)
    3. *Personality and Digital Media (COMM 145)
    4. The Politics of Algorithms (COMM 154)
    5. *Virtual People (COMM 166)
    6. *Media, Technology, and the Body (COMM 186W)
    7. Digital Civil Society (COMM 230B/ 230C)
    8. *Exploring Computational Journalism (COMM 281)
Brains and Behavior
  1. Introduction to Neuroscience (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (PSYCH 50)
    2. *Introduction to Clinical Psychology: A Neuroscience Perspective (PSYCH 90)
    3. *Cognitive Neuroscience (PSYCH 202)
  2. Advanced Neuroscience (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Data Science for Neuroscience (DATASCI 194N)
    2. *Measuring Learning in the Brain (EDUC 464)
    3. *Philosophy of Neuroscience (PHIL 167D)
    4. Brain Networks (PSYCH 162)
    5. Brain Decoding (PSYCH 164)
    6. Advanced Seminar on Memory (PSYCH 169)
    7. *Mind Reading with Movies and Neuroimaging (PSYCH 236)
    8. Theoretical Neuroscience (PSYCH 242)
    9. *Large-Scale Neural Network Modeling for Neuroscience (PSYCH 249)
    10. *Neuroscience of Visual Intelligence (PSYCH 263) (previously Cognitive Neuroscience: Vision)
    11. *Social and Ethical Issues in the Neurosciences (NBIO 101)
    12. Machine Learning Methods for Neural Data Analysis (STATS 220)
  3. Introduction to Cognitive Science and Psychology (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Minds and Machines (PSYCH 35)
    2. *Introduction to Perception (PSYCH 30)
    3. *Introduction to Learning and Memory (PSYCH 45)
  4. Advanced Cognitive and Computational Approaches (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Data Science and the Science of Learning (DATASCI 194L)
    2. Philosophy of Cognitive Science (PHIL 82T)
    3. *Brain and Decision Making (PSYCH 134)
    4. *Judgment and Decision-Making (PSYCH 154)
    5. *Neural Network Models of Cognition (PSYCH 209)
    6. *Experimental Methods (PSYCH 251)
    7. Causal Cognition (PSYCH 291)
Technology and Society
  1. Governance and Politics (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Censorship and Propaganda (COMM 158)
    2. *The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Press (ETHICSOC 151)
    3. Current Topics in Technology Platform Policy (INTLPOL 261)
    4. The Politics of Internet Abuse (POLISCI 243C)
    5. *AI Policy Development (POLISCI 294)
  2. Data and Society (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Media, Culture, and Society (AMSTUD 1B)
    2. *Trust and Safety (COMM 122/CS 152)
    3. *Truth, Trust, and Tech (COMM 124)
    4. The Politics of Algorithms (COMM 154)
    5. Ethics, Public Policy and Technology Change (COMM 180)
    6. Data Privacy and Ethics (MS&E 234)
    7. Computational Social Choice (MS&E 336)
  3. Markets and Incentives (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Incentives in Computer Science (CS 269I)
    2. *Market Design (ECON 136)
    3. *Organizations: Theory and Management (MS&E 180)
    4. *The Future of Work: What Will it Mean to Build AI Enabled Organizations (MS&E 184)
    5. Market Design for Engineers (MS&E 230)
    6. *Managing Data Science Organizations for Innovation and Impact (MS&E 284)
    7. Global Organizations: The Matrix of Change (PUBLPOL 168)
  4. Building Better Technologies (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Building News Applications (COMM 177T)
    2. *Introduction to AI Safety (CS 120)
    3. *Human Centered AI (CS 139)
    4. *Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction Design (CS 147)
    5. *Introduction to Design (DESIGN 1)
    6. *Introduction to Human Values in Design (DESIGN 121)(previously ME 115A)
Economic Opportunity and Inequality
  1. Introduction & Overview (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Hunger and Food Insecurity (CHPR 237)
    2. *The Urban Underclass (CSRE 149A)
    3. Causes & Consequences of the Rise in Inequality (ECON 22N)
    4. Historical perspectives on inequality and opportunity in America (ECON 113)
    5. *Poverty and Prosperity (INTLPOL 220)
    6. America: Unequal (SOC 3)
    7. *Just Data: Reimagining Inequality Research (SOC 12N)
    8. Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy in the United States (SOC 135)
  2. Labor Markets, Human Capital and Inequality (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Urban Education (CSRE 112X)
    2. *Diversity and Equity Issues in Higher Education (CSRE 181)
    3. Education and Inequality: Big Data for Large-Scale Problems (EDUC 107)
    4. The Economics of Higher Education (EDUC 347)
    5. Culture, Learning and Poverty (EDUC 232)
    6. Labor Economics (ECON 145)
    7. The Economics of Labor Markets (ECON 147)
    8. Gender and Higher Education: National and International Perspectives (FEMGEN 173)
    9. The Sociology of Work and Employment (SOC 328)
    10. *The Quantitative Study of Educational and Social Inequity (SOC 373/EDUC 483)
  3. Race, Gender, Immigration and Inequality (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Histories of Racial Capitalism (AFRICAAM 257)
    2. The Feminist Critique: The History and Politics of Gender Equality (AMSTUD 63N)
    3. Lockdown America: Race and Incarceration in the Land of the Free (CSRE 22)
    4. Race and Immigration (CSRE 189)
    5. The Economics of Immigration in the US: Past and Present (ECON 15N)
    6. *Ethical STEM: Race, Justice, and Embodied Practice (ETHICSOC 151C)
    7. The Psychology of Racial Inequality (PSYCH 286)
    8. *The Immigrant Experience in Everyday Life (SOC 19N)
  4. Policy Options and Inequality Movements (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Activism and Intersectionality (AFRICAAM 141X)
    2. Racial-Ethnic Politics in the US (CSRE 121L)
    3. *Understanding the Welfare System (ECON 11N)
    4. The Politics of Inequality (POLISCI 147P)
    5. *The Changing American City (SOC 156A)
    6. Welfare State (SOC 254)
Democracy and Governance
  1. Political Institutions (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Introduction to American Politics and Policy: In Defense of Democracy (POLISCI 102)
    2. *American Political Institutions in Uncertain Times (POLISCI 120C)
    3. What’s Wrong with American Government? An Institutional Approach (POLISCI 120Z)
    4. Law and Politics of Bureaucracy (POLISCI 228C)
  2. Political Economy (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (POLISCI 114D)
    2. *Political Economy of Latin America (POLISCI 243)
    3. *Wealth of Nations (POLISCI 244C/ECON 134)
    4. Governance and Poverty (POLISCI 247G)
    5. Economic Analysis of Political Institutions (POLISCI 351B)
    6. Political Economy I (POLISCI 460A)
    7. *China's Political Economy (SOC 175)
  3. Political Behavior (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Deliberative Democracy Practicum: Applying Deliberative Polling (COMM 138)
    2. *Economics of Voting (ECON 42)
    3. *Campaigns, Voting, Media and Elections (POLISCI 120B)
    4. Racial-Ethnic Politics in the US (POLISCI 121L)
    5. *The Psychology of Communication About Politics in America (POLISCI 124L)
    6. Political Culture (POLISCI 244U)
  4. Democratization and Political Change (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (POLISCI 114D)
    2. *Populism and the Erosion of Democracy (POLISCI 140P)
    3. *Comparative Democratic Development (POLISCI 147)
    4. *Political Mobilization and Democratic Breakthroughs (POLISCI 242G)
    5. *Authoritarian Politics (POLISCI 244A)
    6. Political Development Economics (POLISCI 446)
Climate and the Environment
  1. Introduction and Overview (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Introduction to Earth Systems (EARTHSYS 10)
    2. Biology and Global Change (EARTHSYS 111)
    3. *Human Society and Environmental Change (EARTHSYS 112)
    4. *Science for Sustainable Solutions (EARTHSYS 115)
    5. *Environmental Economics: Models, Data, and Policy Design (ECON 177)(previously Empirical Environmental Economics)
    6. *Energy and the Environment (ENERGY 101)
    7. Climate and Society (SUSTAIN 2)
  2. Complete 3 courses that cover 3 of the following 5 categories:
    1. Energy:
      1. Data Science for Environmental Business (ECON 185)
      2. *Energy and the Environment (ENERGY 101)
      3. *Fundamentals of Renewable Power (ENERGY 102)
      4. Understand Energy (EARTHSYS 103)
      5. Sustainable Energy for 9 Billion (ENERGY 104)
      6. *Engineering and Sustainable Development: Toolkit (ENERGY 177A)
    2. Climate:
      1. Science for Conservation Policy: Meeting California’s Pledge to Protect 30% by 2030 (EARTHSYS 101C)
      2. *Science for Sustainable Solutions (EARTHSYS 115)
      3. Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Dynamics: The Atmospheric Circulation (EARTHSYS 146A)
      4. *Scientific Basis of Climate Change (ESS 102)
      5. *Climate Models and Data (ESS 171)
    3. Water:
      1. Quantitative methods for marine ecology and conservation (BIO 143)
      2. The Water Course (EARTHSYS 104)
      3. Remote Sensing of the Oceans (EARTHSYS 141)
      4. *Physical Hydrogeology (ESS 220)
      5. Environmental Change and Marine Biodiversity (OCEANS 125H)
    4. Food:
      1. World Food Economy (EARTHSYS 106)
      2. *Science of Soils (EARTHSYS 155)
      3. *Feeding Nine Billion (EARTHSYS 185)
      4. *Urban Agroecology (URBANST 181)
    5. Policy:
      1. Environmental Justice: Reflection (EARTHSYS 134)
      2. *Environmental Economics: Models, Data, and Policy Design (ECON 177)(previously Empirical Environmental Economics)
      3. *Engineering Economics (ENERGY 110)
      4. Safety and Environmental Aspects of Energy Production (ENERGY 118)
      5. *Engineering and Sustainable Development: Implementation (ENERGY 177B)
      6. *Energy, Clean Innovation and Sustainability (PUBLPOL 153)
      7. Concepts and Analytic Skills for the Social Sector (URBANST 132)
      8. *Sustainable Cities (URBANST 164)
      9. *Race, Nature and the City (URBANST 168)
Health Policy
  1. U.S. Healthcare System (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Future of America's Healthcare Policies (ECON 28N)
    2. Economics of Health and Medical Care (HRP 256)
    3. The American Healthcare System and Health Policy (HUMBIO 120B)
    4. Health Economics & Policy: exploring health disparities, child health & health care spending (HUMBIO 123E)
    5. *Health Care Policy & Reform (PUBLPOL 156)
  2. Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Economics of Health Equity (ECON 169)
    2. *Social Epidemiology (EPI 263)
    3. Beyond Health Care: the effects of social policies on health (HUMBIO 122)
    4. Health Economics & Policy: exploring health disparities, child health & health care spending (HUMBIO 123E)
    5. *Advancing Health Equity: Exploring Social Determinants of Health and Multi-sector Solutions (PEDS 150) (previously Social and Environmental Determinants of Health)
  3. Global Health (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Economics of Health Improvement in Developing Countries (ECON 127)
    2. *Introduction to Global Health (HUMBIO 29)
    3. *Global Change and Emerging Infectious Disease (HUMBIO 114)
    4. *Health Care Systems Around the World (HUMBIO 123G)
    5. *Global Child Health (HUMBIO 124C)
    6. *Global Health: Scaling Health Technology in Low Resource Settings (MED 232)
  4. Health and Technology (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Data Science for Computational Molecular Biology (DATASCI 194B)
    2. Law and Economics of Biomedical Innovation (ECON 48)
    3. *Outcomes Analysis (HRP 252)
    4. Introduction to Health Policy Modeling (MS&E 92)
    5. *Health Policy Modeling (MS&E 292)
Education
  1. Foundations (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Introduction to Teaching and Learning (EDUC 101)
    2. Education & Inequality: Big Data for Large-Scale Problems (EDUC 107)
    3. *Education & Society (EDUC 120C)
    4. *History of Education in the United States (EDUC 201)
    5. *Introduction to Philosophy of Education (ETHICSOC 204)
    6. *Introduction to Learning Sciences: Understanding Learning and Learning Environments (EDUC 333A)
    7. Learning in Formal and Informal Environments (EDUC 366)
    8. Cognitive Development in Childhood and Adolescence (EDUC 368)
    9. *Introduction to Education Data Science: Data Processing (SOC 302A)
  2. Policy and Context (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. Economics of Education (ECON 146)
    2. *Research and Policy on Postsecondary Access (EDUC 117)
    3. *Education Policy in the United States (EDUC 271)
    4. Resource Allocation in Higher Education (EDUC 222)
    5. *Economics of Education in the Global Economy (EDUC 306A)
    6. *Global Education Policy & Organization (EDUC 306B)
    7. *Global Social Change, Sustainable Development, and Education (EDUC 306D) (previously Societal and Educational Change: Comparative Perspectives)
    8. The Economics of Higher Education (EDUC 347)
    9. *History of Higher Education in the U.S. (HISTORY 158C)
    10. *Education and Society (SOC 130)
  3. Race, Ethnicity, Diversity and Inequality (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Urban Education (CSRE 112X)
    2. *Diversity and Equity Issues in Higher Education (CSRE 181)
    3. *Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Diversity in Classrooms: Sociocultural Theory and Practices (EDUC 103B)
    4. Education and Inequality: Big Data for Large-Scale Problems (EDUC 107)
    5. *Re(positioning) Disability: Historical, Cultural and Social Lenses (EDUC 144)
    6. Child Development in Contexts of Risk and Adversity (EDUC 360)
    7. Gender and Higher Education: National and International Perspectives (FEMGEN 173)
    8. *The Quantitative Study of Educational and Social Inequity (SOC 373/EDUC 483)
  4. Educational Research Methods (Complete 1 of the following):
    1. *Empowering Educators via Language Technology (CS 293/EDUC 473)
    2. Data Science and the Science of Learning (DATASCI 194L)
    3. *Technology for Learners (EDUC 281)
    4. Foundational Course in Testing (EDUC 142)
    5. *Introduction to Psychometrics (EDUC 252)
    6. *Simulation in Education Research (EDUC 452)
    7. *Computer Vision for Education and Social Science Research (EDUC 463)
    8. *Measuring Learning in the Brain (EDUC 464)
    9. *The Quantitative Study of Educational and Social Inequity (SOC 373/EDUC 483)
Develop Your Own

The option to define an individualized pathway is available for students who have an interest that is more specific (not more general) than those offered in the predefined pathways.

The individualized pathway would need to be cohesive with a narrow focus that centers on a social problem. It is not simply a collection of classes that interest the student. 

Students who would like to pursue this option must create an Individualized Pathway Proposal and have it approved by (a) a faculty advisor and (b) the program. Ideally, students should get their pathway approved before they start taking the classes to ensure that the classes will fulfill pathway requirements.

Learn more about designing an individualized pathway. 

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