Major
On Mon 03 Mar 2025, the Bates Faculty voted to approve a new major in DCS. The DCS Program Committee is working hard to finalize details of the major, with a plan of offering the major first to the graduating class of 2027.
This page will be updated with more details, but below is the general outline of the major. To help students in planning, DCS has also created an advising document here with more details of the forthcoming major.
Core Elements
- Two distinct courses in methods of computer science (CS)
- One course from among DCS 109D, 109R, 109S (previously 109), or 109T (previously 111)
- (Previous offerings of DCS 109 or DCS 111 will count)
- One course in CS with a focus in software development, having DCS 109 as a prerequisite (currently, either DCS 211 or DCS 229)
- One course from among DCS 109D, 109R, 109S (previously 109), or 109T (previously 111)
- Courses fulfilling four additional methods requirements, with no single course fulfilling more than two of the requirements:
- methods of data science, analysis, & visualization
- methods of critical digital studies
- methods of human-centered design
- methods of community-engaged learning
- A one-semester capstone course taken in the senior year, serving as the W3 requirement.
- Advised by DCS faculty, students will work in teams to design, build, analyze, & critique a solution in partnership with external stakeholders.
Electives: Students must take sufficient DCS courses bringing the total to 10 courses, with at least 2 at the 300-level or above.