I'm surprised no one has any reviews on Professor Noble yet — she's actually a legend.

Not only is she well-established in her field, seminar formats & smaller class sizes mean you really get to "walk among giants," so to speak. INFO 118 is capped to about 30 people, and that means the class has a lot of group discussion, deep dives, and opportunities for Prof. Noble to speak about her work and that of her colleagues. Despite the remote format, I think the structure of her Zooms worked well to re-create that seminar feel, and Professor Noble is actually one of the nicest and most responsive professors I've met.

INFO 118 is a Data Ethics course, but it also focuses on Tech Ethics, tech's role as an ICT, and also features concepts from sociology and critical theory. There's a lot of reading, mostly papers, podcasts, and the occasional film, but it's manageable, and the grading is very fair. Winter 2021 was actually the first time the course met — and I think the mix of upperclassmen from many disciplines and grad students created an interesting mix of lived experiences that really made this class unique.

If you are a stats/CS/math of comp/etc. major, PLEASE take this course if you're considering a DS or CS career. I took it coming from a stats background, and it was definitely far from "home," but was such a good exposure to the personal and societal ramifications of some career choices I had considered. Criticizing Big Tech certainly isn't new, and is gaining steam — but this was eye-opening in a totally different way.