Course Description by Jonathan Thirkield Working with data and databases requires not only gaining fluency in coding languages, but developing the ability to understand the particular structures and logics of the information space in which data exists. Through the introduction of the database language/application postgreSQL and the programming language Python, we will explore the varieties data types, structures and architectures along with the modes of thinking and kinds of knowledge that flow from working with data. Programmatically, this course will follow the path of data from storage (database building & architecture), to processing (query & transformation), to dissemination (presentation & application building). Conceptually, we will examine and discuss the process of developing data for machine and human readability: from developing taxonomies for understanding and structuring data sets, to ways in which data can be employed and disseminated as a means of storytelling. As we go, we will consider the the kinds of knowledge we are producing as well as the social, ethical, and practical challenges of searching for meaning via advantages and limitations of digital language.