Computer Science through Programming (CS 151)
What stories are data itching to tell us? How do we discover those stories and share them with the world? Students in this course will learn how to solve interesting and relevant data science problems using the Python programming language. By the end of the course students will have analyzed problems such as determining how religious views have changed over time, where natural disasters hit and their impact, or how to find the fastest path to viewing all Baltimore monuments. Students will also gain insights into major areas of computer science, including software engineering, computer hardware, artificial intelligence, and ethical and societal issues in computing. No prior computer science knowledge is expected. Satisfies one math/science core requirement. First course in the CS major.
Faculty Biography
Dr. Megan Olsen is a Professor of Computer Science. She is passionate about using computer science to study the world around us, and teaching first year students how to use computer science to solve interesting problems. Her research interests are interdisciplinary and include studying problems such as cancer cell growth and the spread of gossip. She looks forward to continuing to advise first year students and help them adjust to college life in her fourth year teaching in Messina.
Encountering the Past (HS 100)
HS 100 explores why the study of the past is essential to understanding the present. Students will learn to think like historians and will come to understand how to apply historical skills to their writing, reading, and critical thinking. To do so, this section of HS 100 will focus on a single historical period: the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Emerging after Germany's defeat in the First World War, the Weimar Republic saw vast social, political, and economic changes before being dismantled and replaced by the Nazi dictatorship in 1933. Was Germany's first experiment with democracy doomed to fail? Did it bring about radical change of its own or simply unleash currents already underway? What were the legacies of total war for this society? How modern were the gender politics, ideas about sexuality, and cultural movements of the Weimar Republic? Exploring the Weimar Republic allows us to trace the changes and tensions of the 20th century that emerged out of the First World War and that still shape the world we live in today.
Faculty Biography
Dr. Willeke Sandler is a Maryland native and received her Ph.D. from Duke University. Her research focuses on Nazi Germany and German colonialism in Africa, and she is also interested in studying propaganda, images in history, and how people define who or what is part of their nation. She recently published a book called Empire in the Heimat: Colonialism and Public Culture in the Third Reich. At Loyola, she teaches courses on European history and public history.
Mentor Biography
Originally and proudly from Baltimore, Sarah Lewis moved to Japan after completing her undergraduate degree in visual art, working as a JET Programme English teacher in the port city of Kobe from 2009 to 2014. After returning to the US, she came to Loyola as a program assistant supporting the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Messina, Pre-Health Programs, and National Fellowships, and also held the role of assistant director of Messina before becoming associate director in 2022. In spring 2023, she also completed an M.S. in Loyola's data science program. Outside of work, Sarah's hobbies include oil painting, playing chamber music, traveling, and being the personal paparazza of her rescue pups, Opal and Luna.
Virtual Advisor
This course pairing is recommended for students who are considering a major in Computer Science or Data Science. HS 100 satisfies the History core requirement for all students.