Degree and certificate programs combine digital training with disciplinary learning to provide specialized skills for emerging fields of study.

• Computational Linguistics M.A. Program
• MA in Liberal Studies (MALS)  Digital Humanities Track
• MA in Liberal Studies (MALS) Data Visualization Track
• MA in Digital Humanities, MS in Data Analysis and Visualization Programs
• Interactive Technology and Pedagogy Doctoral Certificate Program
• Computer Science Ph.D. Program
• Computational Courses Offered at The Graduate Center – Spring 2016

Master of Arts (M.A.) with a concentration in Computational Linguistics 

The M.A. in Computational Linguistics prepares linguistics students for challenging careers in industrial and research settings. In fact, there are many companies and research centers in the greater New York area that are focused on Internet search engine technologies, human speech recognition and synthesis, extracting and mining information available online, designing software that can analyze/process human writing, or developing educational applications.  The program is designed for students with only basic familiarity with computers or programming, and the curriculum is designed to provide students with a core set of programming skills, solid foundation in major sub-­‐fields of linguistics, and an understanding of modern developments in the field of computational linguistics.

The digital humanities is an emerging field of scholarly endeavor that has come into prominence in recent years. Defined broadly as the application of digital technologies to humanities scholarship and teaching, the digital humanities involves a range of approaches that include algorithmic literary criticism, new models of “distant reading,” the use of network theory to examine historical events, the digital encoding and analysis of archival manuscripts, the incorporation of geospatial data into scholarly projects, the uses of social media and networked platforms to enhance classroom instruction, among others. The field, as a whole, explores the ways in which traditional scholarly activities are being reshaped by the new methodologies made possible through data-driven inquiry.

The two core courses in the DH track introduce students to broad trends in DH scholarship and give them practical experience in using DH methods and tools. This mix of theoretically informed analysis with hands-on practice reflects the popular sentiment that DH is, at least in part, about building. After taking the two core courses in the track and the introductory MALS course, students will be able to pursue deeper knowledge in a particular humanities discipline. In their thesis projects, students will take advantage of this mix of specialized discipline-specific knowledge and research methodologies to create projects that will be of value to the larger digital humanities community.

The MALS track in digital humanities builds upon already-existing digital humanities projects at the Graduate Center, including the CUNY Digital Humanities Initiative, the CUNY Academic Commons, the Interactive Technology and Pedagogy Certificate Program, the New Media Lab, and the American Social History Project. By allowing MALS students to explore both digital humanities methodologies and to apply those methodologies to a humanities field of their choosing, the track enables graduates to apply for a broad range of jobs upon graduation.

Find out more about the Digital Humanities Track in the MALS Program

The MALS Track in Data Visualization is the first program nationally and internationally to focus on the critical study of data visualization, placing its subject matter in the context of humanities and cultural theory (in addition to teaching the students necessary practical skills). In the last fifteen years, software-driven visualization has emerged as one of the key areas of digital culture. More recently, it has also been recognized as the essential part of digital humanities’ set of methodologies. As more disciplines and areas of society start using large and complex data sets, and as data-driven analysis and knowledge creation grow in importance, we can expect that the importance of visualization will also continue to grow side-by-side.Learning about the field of digital humanities will expose students to important examples and practices of humanistic visualizations. It will also help them to approach the practice of visualization critically. They will learn to think reflectively about the decisions that go into the stages of data exploration and visualization: constructing a dataset, selecting which variables to visualize, selecting visualization techniques, making design decisions regarding colors, graphic styles, composition, etc. For example, which projection method should they chose when designing a map? What are the histories of various visualization methods? Or more, generally, what does it mean to translate a novel, theatre play, or a video game into “data” which is then visualized? What new aspects of humanistic experience can be gained though such a translation, and what is lost? How to combine “distant readings” (exploring patterns in large cultural data sets) and “close reading” (detailed analysis and interpretation of the details of artistic texts)?

Students in the track will take two core courses: one is “Introduction to Digital Humanities,” which explores this innovative methodological and conceptual approach to scholarly inquiry and teaching, and the second is a course on “Data Visualization Methods,” which will introduce students to foundational techniques in data visualization. After taking these two core courses, students will take classes through the GC curriculum, gaining contextual knowledge that will help ensure that the visualizations they create are grounded in disciplinary practices and discourses. Understanding the history of art, literature, theatre, film, and other subjects will allow students to consider data visualization as another visual communication medium, with its own language and conventions. At the same time, exposure to modern art and/or history of film will help them understand how visualization artists are challenging these conventions, experimenting with new techniques and approaches.

Find out more about the Data Visualization Track in the MALS Program

As part of its GC Digital Initiatives and in connection with the ongoing CUNY 2020 grant awarded to the Graduate Center in 2014, the CUNY Graduate Center is currently developing a pair of connected graduate programs: an MA in Digital Humanities and an MS in Data Analysis and Visualization. It is hoped that the new degree programs will coordinate multiple initiatives to offer a curriculum that leverages leading-edge technology at various stages of research, public engagement, and pedagogy.

The Interactive Technology and Pedagogy Certificate program is designed to provide intellectual opportunities and technical training that enable Graduate Center doctoral students to think creatively and critically about the uses of instructional technology to improve teaching and learning. It aims to better prepare doctoral students for life and work in the contemporary university and advances students’ skills as creators and users of technology-based educational resources. The interdisciplinary faculty and curriculum provides theoretical, historical, philosophical, literary, and sociological perspectives on technology and pedagogy and their intersection in the classroom.

This site provides infomation about the curriculum and mission of the certificate program, the program’s faculty, as well as examples of syllabi and student work. The certificate program is coordinated by Dr. Stephen Brier.

The Ph.D. Program in Computer Science at The City University of New York’s Graduate Center is designed to prepare selected students for leadership in industrial and research careers – and for teaching in academia.

The City University of New York (CUNY) Ph.D. Program in Computer Science is conducted as a consortium of the senior colleges within the CUNY system, as well as the Graduate Center. The Graduate Center is the only institution chartered to grant the Ph.D.. Located in mid-town Manhattan, the Graduate Center functions as the hub, both academically and administratively, of the Program. The other principal participant CUNY colleges, as of January 2011, are Brooklyn College, City College, The College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Lehman College, and Queens College.

Ph.D. courses are given at the Graduate Center – as well as seminars, special-topics classes and lectures and colloquia. Lab-oriented courses tend to be offered at the senior colleges. It is not uncommon – after the first year of study – for Ph.D. students to divide their time between the Graduate Center and one or more of the CUNY senior colleges (usually at their advisor’s home campus).

In Spring 2016, 27 computationally inflected courses will be offered across The Graduate Center’s doctoral, master’s, and certificate programs. Topics covered in these courses range from data visualization to natural language processing to statistical analysis and provide hands-on opportunities for GC students to develop their digital research skills.

The 27 computational courses offered at the GC in Spring 2016 are listed in alphabetical order by program along with a brief description. Interested students should contact individual programs if they have questions regarding course content/prerequisites or if permission is required.