PCAS got its start with the LSA Computing Education Task force (website) which was charged with answering the questions:
PCAS got its start with the LSA Computing Education Task force which was charged with answering the questions:
What do LSA students need to know about computing?
What do LSA faculty want their students to know about computing?
What are the existing courses and programs in LSA that address computing education?
The task force worked for a year reviewing hundreds of courses, interviewing dozens of faculty and students, and surveying over 100 faculty.
The final report (available here) describes the unique needs of LSA students in computing education, organized around three themes:
Computing for Discovery: Scientists use computing to advance discovery, by providing mechanisms for working with unimaginably large amounts of data, creating models that make theory concrete, and using simulations to test models.
Computing for Expression: From social media to Pixar, computing has changed how human beings express themselves. Computational forms of expression are an object of study for humanities scholars, and are a medium to develop and to invent.
Computing for Justice (critical computing): Computers have immense cultural, social, and political influence. We have to ask who is supported by computing, who is oppressed by it, and how these outcomes impact the human experience. We can create alternative models of, and infrastructures for, computing technologies that further welfare, justice, and equity.
PCAS was created in response to this report. Our goal is to support students in learning about computing in all three themes.
What’s the difference between PCAS, Computer Science, and Information?
What’s the difference between PCAS, Computer Science, and Information?
PCAS offers courses that aim to help students develop the computing (especially programming) skills they need to succeed across LSA. We help students as they become computational scientists, artists who use computational media, and scholars who analyze computational systems and their effects — and help to re-design them using a liberal arts lens. The introductory PCAS courses require no mathematical background beyond algebra and no prior computer programming experience.
PCAS plans to offer degrees that prepare students to integrate computation into their problem-solving, creative practices, and analytical toolkit. PCAS graduates will be comfortable with programming, will be expert at communicating goals with both designers and developers, and will rise to the challenge of creating technology that furthers social goals.
The College of Engineering’s Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Division offers undergraduate degrees in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and collaborates on the Data Science degree. CSE focuses on students developing the ability to understand and develop computing devices, software, and infrastructure.
The School of Information offers a BS in Information that is taken in the latter two years of undergraduate. The Information degree has two tracks: Information Analysis and User Experience (UX) Design. The focus of Information Analysis is on developing the ability to design and use information and data. The focus of UX Design is on understanding user needs, designing for them, and implementing the user interface (the “front end” of an application.)
PCAS statement in support of a diverse and just community
The Program in Computing for the Arts and Sciences embraces the University of Michigan’s commitment to an environment that values and respects people of all races, colors, national origins, ages, sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, abilities, religions, heights, weights, and veteran or marital statuses. We value diversity for its impact on our campus but also to influence communities beyond our campus.
We are committed to offering courses that explicitly address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in computing. We recognize that the technology sector of the economy in the United States lacks diversity. Decisions around technology have frequently exacerbated inequities rather than redress them. Our courses explicitly frame technological decisions in historical contexts that expose issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
