Interactive Visualization

Instructor: Professor Laura Kurtzberg, MFA

Office: Academic Two #318

Email: [email protected]

Lecture: Wednesdays & Fridays

Class Modality: In Person

📜 Course Description

This course explores the practice of creating data visualizations and maps for multimedia projects, also known as information design. You will need to adopt a multidisciplinary skill set to produce data graphics, including design methods, basic statistical analysis, and investigative journalism research. Throughout it all, you will uncover new information and publish stories that you care about.

🔓 Why Should You Take This Course?

Data visualizations are persuasive. A 2014 NYU study found that people are more likely to change their mind about a topic if they are presented with a chart (compared to textual information). As media makers, it is your responsibility to carefully use the power of visual graphics to reveal the truth and effectively communicate.

Even if you're not a journalist...

• Data visualization skills are in high demand. Many jobs, whether they are in marketing, social media, science or health, require the use of data graphics.
• Understanding data visualization will allow you to avoid being misled by charts. Increasing your chart literacy will help you see the truth, no matter how it is presented.

🎓 Learning Objectives & Course Skills

As a student of this course, by the end of the semester you will have learned to:

• Identify and make use of methods of encoding to represent data
• Differentiate between and use different chart types in your investigative data stories
• Pitch a local investigative data story
• Build techniques to "interview" a dataset, and to find a story within the data
• Create an interactive map using Datawrapper or Flourish
• Create an interactive data visualization using Datawrapper or Flourish
• Read and interpret a diverse array of data charts
• Detect misleading designs and mistakes in published data charts and maps