University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice offers a new certificate on data ethics that is available to University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School students.
The certificate, Applied Data Ethics, Law and the Social Good, is focused on the practice of civic data (data held by government agencies and nonprofit organizations) meant to improve the lives of individuals and communities to work towards equity and social justice.
Amanda Aranoff, managing director of cross-disciplinary programs and academic options at Penn Carey Law, said the school is always gathering information on what its students are looking for to complement their law degree.
“We really do believe that cross-disciplinary study is critical for the next generation of lawyers,” she said. “A program like this certificate is an invaluable addition to our offerings.”
Using a multidisciplinary lens to interrogate issues related to the practice of ethical data use, the program comprises four courses: Applied Data Ethics, Law and the Social Good (the foundational course); a core course in ethics; a core course in law; and a core course in applied use of data for social good, through policy and practice.
The core courses may be completed as one of the course units required for each student’s graduate or professional degree program.
Sherita Ragins, associate director for cross-disciplinary programs at Penn Carey Law, said the certificate is an opportunity for students to combine their legal training with real-world expertise in data ethics and social justice.
“Programs like this empower our students to make a meaningful impact in an increasingly data-driven society,” she said.
This program is the brainchild of Amy Hawn Nelson, research faculty and the director of training and technical assistance for actionable intelligence for social policy, an initiative of the University of Pennsylvania that helps state and local governments collaborate and responsibly use data to improve lives.
The program grew out of what Hawn Nelson saw as a pressing need for training in data sharing.
Hawn Nelson said most of the people tasked with figuring out organizations’ data sharing policies and putting them into practice learn about this work via trial and error and oftentimes this key function is determined by public policy types and IT people just sort of winging it.
“We’ve seen time and again that organizations don’t use data effectively or ethically simply because they don’t know how to do it,” she said, “Up to now, though, there hasn’t really been any course of study dedicated to the effective use of public data.”
The program addresses a variety of real-world issues.
