Conversation at UC Berkeley workshop shares perspectives on AI and humanity
A recent discussion at the National Workshop on Data Science Education illustrated the value of open conversation about the impact of AI on humanity.
Safiya Noble, an internet studies scholar, social scientist and UCLA professor, joined Jennifer Chayes, dean of the UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), during a June 24 afternoon session on the Berkeley campus. Their wide-ranging conversation considered the importance of critical thinking and interdisciplinary education, and the need for open systems to expand access to, and participation in, the development and use of AI technologies.
UC Berkeley alumni share insights on data science career paths at National Workshop
In a week filled with panels on pedagogy, curriculum design and emerging technologies in the classroom, the 2025 National Workshop on Data Science Education paused to ask a critical question: What comes next for the students we teach?
A panel of UC Berkeley alumni offered their perspectives, reflecting on how their undergraduate experience shaped their careers, what they wish they'd known earlier and how educators can better prepare students for a changing workforce.
Data Science Undergraduate Studies and Puente partner to inspire underrepresented students in STEM
This summer, we partnered with the Puente MaS program to introduce CA community college students underrepresented in STEM to the field of data science. Through student narratives, a career professional's advice, and information from our Data Science Undergraduate Studies team, the students discovered pathways into a major many had never heard of.
UC Berkeley convenes, connects California data science education pioneers
Dozens of California public educators walked into a sunlight streaked, first floor-room at the edge of UC Berkeley in late June. Hugging each other and snagging coffee or water, they navigated blue and gold star-shaped balloons to settle at tables facing a projector screen.
These scholars are part of a state effort to make California the nation’s leader in excellent, equitable and accessible undergraduate data science education. For the next two days, the assembled attendees would share how they’re building programming, community or pathways to do just that...
About our educational partnerships
UC Berkeley's Data Science Undergraduate Studies is dedicated to making high-quality data science education accessible beyond Berkeley. Through partnerships with other institutions, we strive to broaden access and impact.
Our approach to data science education:
- Empowers student discovery. Through our approachable foundations course and by developing curricula add-ons for other disciplines, we seed opportunities for students to discover this burgeoning field.
- Bridges disciplines. We view data science as an interdisciplinary field with applications spanning from the sciences to the humanities and we promote connections across these diverse areas.
- Integrates human contexts and ethics. Our curricula incorporates human contexts and ethical considerations, equipping students to make responsible and impactful decisions in their careers.
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Media
A New Frontier: Computational Health and AI Innovation
In this episode, we sit down with Adam Yala, Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley and UCSF and co-founder of Voio, to explore how AI is reshaping the future of healthcare. Adam walks through his path from research to building real-world systems, and why computational health is emerging as its own distinct field rather than just an application of AI. We dive into what it actually takes to build in this space, from understanding clinical complexity to navigating challenges like data access and compute. Adam also shares how his experience across academia and startups has shifted his perspective on speed, innovation, and creating meaningful impact.
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Rethinking Calculus: Building Math for Data Science at CSU East Bay
In this week’s episode, we speak with Mikahl Banwarth-Kuhn (MBK), Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Cal State East Bay, about reimagining the traditional calculus pathways for today’s data science students. MBK helped develop a new course sequence, Math for Data Science, designed to remove barriers that often prevent students from reaching calculus. She discusses the motivation behind the course and whether traditional pen-and-paper calculus sequences still serve data science students today. MBK advocates for a more intuitive, application-driven approach to help students more deeply understand concepts like derivatives, optimization, and differential equations. environments.
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Building Data Science Pathways at a Community College
Today, we speak with Rachel Saidi, Professor in the Math, Statistics, and Data Science Department and Data Science Program Director at Montgomery College, a two-year college outside Washington, DC. Rachel shares her path from teaching math to statistics to data science, and what it’s like to scale a data science program in the community college setting, with the goal of catering to students of all ages and experiences. She tackles holistic data science education, combining curriculum, experiential learning, speaker series, and more, while also acknowledging difficulties with constraints like faculty capacity and transfer articulation with four-year universities. Finally, she reflects on how professional organizations can help educators find community and stay on top of best practices, and offers advice to educators and learners on how to tackle data science teaching and learning today.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts