Courses of Study 2020-2021 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
Courses of Study 2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Information Science


In the .

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Faculty


W. Arms, S. Azenkot, S. Barocas,  L. Blume, C. Cardie, C. Cheyre, T. Choudhury, D. Cosley, C. Csikszentmihalyi, C. Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, N. Dell, D. Easley, S. Fussell, G. Gay, P. Ginsparg, C. Gomes,  F. Guimbretiere, K. Harms, H. Hirsh, S. Jackson, T. Joachims, W. Ju, M. Jung, R. Kizelec, J. Kleinberg, L. Lee, G. Leshed, K. Levy, M. Macy, D. Mimno, M. Naaman, R. Nandakumar, H. Nissenbaum, T. Parikh, M. Pollack, J. Rzeszotarski, P. Sengers, E. Tardos, A. Vashistha, M. Wilkens, D. Williamson, C. Zhang

Information Science, Systems, and Technology:


Offered jointly by the Department of Information Science and the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering.

Contact: Information Science at 110 H Gates Hall, (607) 255-9837, or visit the website.

Contact: Operations Research and Information Engineering at 202 Rhodes Hall, (607) 255-5088, or visit the website.

Digital information technologies have become pervasive in science, engineering, manufacturing, business, finance, culture, law, and government, dramatically changing the way people work and live. The proliferation and significance of these new technologies demands a new focus in engineering education—one that remains rigorous and technically oriented but is simultaneously devoted to integrating engineering design, theory, and practice within the social and organizational contexts in which these complex digital information systems are employed.

The information science, systems, and technology (ISST) major studies the design and management of complex information systems. Just as structural engineers and nanofabricators use physics at radically different scales, so also there is a scale difference between the focus of the ISST major and the more traditional, look-under-the-hood majors in computer science and operations research and industrial engineering. Rather than focusing on the computing and communication technologies that underlie digital information systems, the ISST major emphasizes information systems engineering in broad application contexts, where issues at the confluence of information science, technology, and management are the primary concerns.

The ISST major has two options. The management science option educates students in methods for quantitative decision making and their application to information technology as well as the broader role that information technology plays in making these methods effective. Students in the information science option will obtain advanced training in methods for the creation, representation, organization, access, and analysis of information in digital form.

Note: Students may not double major in both CS and ISST or ORIE and ISST.

Engineering distribution courses:


Majors are required to take as an engineering distribution course. is required for the major and is recommended as the second engineering distribution course.

Major program:


Concentrations

Students specialize in a particular area of interest in Information Science, Systems, and Technology by selecting one primary concentration (Data Science, Interactive Technologies, or Networks, Crowds and Markets), and one secondary concentration from the seven concentration options that will provide in-depth study in that area. Courses under each concentration come from within and outside the department. If you’re not sure which concentration to pursue, read the information below on each one to determine which best suits your interests and career goals.

For a complete listing of course options for each concentration: visit www.infosci.cornell.edu/ undergraduate/info-sci-majors/bs-information-science-systems-and-technology/ degree-requirements-0.

Behavioral Science – This concentration provides students with an in-depth understanding of the behavioral and social aspects of interacting with and through information technology.

Data Science – This concentration will equip students to learn about the world through data analytics.

Digital Culture and Production – This concentration explores computing as a cultural phenomenon. It equips students to analyze technology’s role in society and culture, to understand it historically, and to produce media artifacts.

Information Ethics, Law, and Policy – This concentration provides training and insight into the ethical, legal, and policy dimensions of contemporary information technology.

Interactive Technologies – This concentration provides students with the analytical and technical skills they need to design and build functional technical systems.

Networks, Crowds, and Markets – This concentration helps students to understand formal models, data and policy issues surrounding networked systems.

UX (User Experience) – This concentration is designed to help students gain a better understanding of user experience design through studies in design and user perception.

Major Approved Electives

In addition to the courses in their chosen concentration, students are required to choose two major approved electives per the elective guidelines that will contribute to their studies in either breadth or depth.  may be used to fulfill one major-approved elective.

Economic, Organizational, and Social Context:

Requirements for the information science option:


  1. Three courses from Information Systems (Area II).
  2. One course from Mathematical Modeling in IT (Area III).
  3. Three electives, all from either Human-Centered Systems (Area V) or Social Systems (Area VI).
  4. Two electives from any of the six areas totaling at least 6 credits ( may be used to fulfill one of these electives).

Requirements for the management science option:


  1. Four courses from Mathematical Models in Management Science (Area I).
  2. Three electives, one from Information Systems (Area II) and two from the union of Mathematical Modeling in IT (Area III) and Information Technology Management Solutions (Area IV).
  3. Two electives from any of the six areas totaling at least 6 credits ( may be used to fulfill one of these electives).
Note:

* and  may be used toward the core requirements or Area II, but not both.

† , ,  or  may count toward Area II or Area V, but not both.

 can be used for Area III or Area II, but not both.

Area V. Human-Centered Systems:


Area VI. Social Systems:


Information Science, Systems, and Technology Honors Program:


The B.S. degree with honors is granted to engineering students who satisfy the requirements given on the “ ” page as well as the following requirements.

  1. Cumulative GPA ≥ 3.5
  2. 3 credit hours of ISST graded course work at or above the 5000-level (graded courses only; no 1 or 2 credit seminars or 2 credit project courses)
  3. 6 credit hours of  with an ISST faculty member, spread over at least two semesters, with at least A– each semester 

    or

    3 credit hours of  with an ISST faculty member and 3 credit hours of , both with grades of at least A–.

The ISST research is expected to result in a programming project or a written report (or both).

The 9 credits required for honors are in addition to the minimum requirements for the major.