Data Science and Philosophy, BS (Boston) < Northeastern University Academic Catalog

The data science and philosophy combined major offers an opportunity to obtain a fluency in formal logic, including logical proofs and the ability to represent arguments clearly and evaluate them for cogency. Students will find that logic plays a fundamental role in computer science as they experience an in-depth programming foundation. Students study the collection, manipulation, storage, retrieval, and computational analysis of data in its various forms, including numeric, textual, image, and video data from small to large volumes. The philosophy curriculum also focuses on oral and written communication, as well as ethical and social issues related to data storage, usage, manipulation, and presentation.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Data Science Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Computer Science Overview
Must be taken in alignment with your home college:
CS 1200	First Year Seminar	1
or INPR 1000	First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar
or PHIL 1000	Philosophy at Northeastern
CS 1210	Professional Development for Khoury Co-op	1
or EESH 2000	Professional Development for Co-op
Computer Science Required Courses
All students can take a self-assessment to attempt to place out of CS 2000 and CS 2001. Students who place out of CS 2000 and CS 2001 will instead substitute 4-5 semester hours of CS, CY, or DS coursework at the 3000 level or higher not otherwise required in the degree.
CS 1800	Discrete Structures	4
CS 2000 and CS 2001	Introduction to Program Design and Implementation and Lab for CS 2000	5
CS 2100 and CS 2101	Program Design and Implementation 1 and Lab for CS 2100	5
DS 3500	Advanced Programming with Data	4
CS 3200	Introduction to Databases	4
Data Science Foundations
DS 3000	Mathematical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence	4
DS 4200	Information Presentation and Visualization	4
DS 4300	Large-Scale Information Storage and Retrieval	4
DS 4400	Machine Learning	4
DS 4420	Advanced Machine Learning	4
or DS 4440	Modern Neural Networks
Khoury Approved Electives
With advisor approval, directed study, research, project study, and appropriate graduate-level courses may also be taken as upper-division electives.
Complete 4 semester hours from within the following options:		4
CS 2300 or higher, except CS 5010
CY 2000 or higher, except CY 4930
DS 2500 or higher, except DS 4900
EECE 2160	Embedded Design: Enabling Robotics
EECE 2322 and EECE 2323	Fundamentals of Digital Design and Computer Organization and Lab for EECE 2322
MKTG 4606	Digital, Analytics, Technology, and Automation Research Practicum

Philosophy Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
PHIL 1115	Introduction to Logic	4
PHIL 1145	Technology and Human Values	4
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought	4
or POLS 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
or PHIL 2330	Modern Philosophy
PHIL 4515	Advanced Deductive Logic	4
or PHIL 4516	Advanced Inductive Logic
Philosophy Electives
Complete two additional PHIL courses, one of which must be 3000 level or above:		8
Critical Philosophy Elective
Complete 4 semester hours from the following:		4
AFCS 1101	Introduction to African American and Africana Studies
PHIL 1104	Goddesses, Witches, Saints, and Sinners: Women and Religion
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2410	Possession, Sacrifice, and Divination in African Diasporic Religions
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 3492	Indigenous Philosophy
PHIL 3512	Religion, Race, and Politics
PHIL 3822	Philosophy of Race and Racism

Integrative Requirement

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
PHIL 3050	Information and Uncertainty	4
or PHIL 1300	Knowledge in a Digital World
or PHIL 2001	Ethics and Evolutionary Games
PHIL 5005	Information Ethics	4
or PHIL 4050	Artificial Intelligence and Society
or PHIL 5010	AI Ethics

Supporting Courses

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Mathematics Requirement
MATH 1341	Calculus 1 for Science and Engineering	4
Statistics Foundation
ECON 2350	Statistics for Economists	4

Writing Requirement

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
College Writing
ENGW 1111	First-Year Writing	4
Advanced Writing in the Disciplines
Complete one of the following:		4
ENGW 3302	Advanced Writing in the Technical Professions
ENGW 3309	Advanced Writing in the Humanities
ENGW 3315	Interdisciplinary Advanced Writing in the Disciplines

Required General Electives

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Complete 28 semester hours of general electives.		28

NUpath Requirements Satisfied

Engaging with the Natural and Designed World
Exploring Creative Expression and Innovation
Conducting Formal and Quantitative Reasoning
Interpreting Culture
Analyzing and Using Data
Understanding Societies and Institutions
Employing Ethical Reasoning
Writing in the First Year
Advanced Writing in the Disciplines
Writing-Intensive in the Major
Demonstrating Thought and Action in a Capstone

Integrating Knowledge and Skills Through Experience is satisfied through co-op.

Program Requirement

128 total semester hours required

Sample Plans of Study

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer Session B/Fall

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer Session A	Hours	Summer Session B	Hours
CS 1200 or PHIL 1000	1	CS 3200	4	MATH 1341	4	General Elective 1	4
CS 1800	4	PHIL 1145	4	PHIL Elective 1	4	General Elective 2	4
CS 2000 and CS 2001	5	CS 2100 and CS 2101	5
ENGW 1111	4	PHIL 2325, 2330, or POLS 2325	4
PHIL 1115	4
	18		17		8		8
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer Session A	Hours	Summer Session B	Hours
DS 3000¹	4	CS 1210 or EESH 2000	1	ECON 2350	4	Co-op	0
DS 3500	4	DS 4200	4	General Elective 4	4
PHIL 4515	4	PHIL 5005, 5010, or 4050	4
General Elective 3	4	PHIL Elective 2	4
		PHIL Elective 3	4
	16		17		8		0
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer Session A	Hours	Summer Session B	Hours
Co-op	0	DS 4300	4	ENGW 3302, 3309, or 3315	4	Co-op	0
		DS 4400¹	4	General Elective 6	4
		PHIL 3050	4
		General Elective 5	4
	0		16		8		0
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
Co-op	0	DS 4420 or 4440¹	4
		Khoury Elective	4
		PHIL Elective 4	4
		General Elective 7	4
	0		16
Total Hours: 132

¹: Course must be taken in the indicated term or earlier

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer Session A

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer Session A	Hours	Summer Session B	Hours
CS 1200 or PHIL 1000	1	CS 3200	4	MATH 1341	4	General Elective 1	4
CS 1800	4	CS 2100 and CS 2101	5	PHIL Elective 1	4	General Elective 2	4
CS 2000 and CS 2001	5	PHIL 1145	4
ENGW 1111	4	PHIL 2325, 2330, or POLS 2325	4
PHIL 1115	4
	18		17		8		8
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer Session A	Hours	Summer Session B	Hours
CS 1210 or EESH 2000	1	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	General Elective 3	4
DS 3000¹	4					General Elective 4	4
DS 3500	4
PHIL 4515	4
ECON 2350	4
	17		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer Session A	Hours	Summer Session B	Hours
DS 4200	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	ENGW 3302, 3309, or 3315	4
PHIL 5005	4					General Elective 5	4
PHIL Elective 2	4
PHIL Elective 3	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
DS 4300	4	DS 4420 or 4440¹	4
DS 4400¹	4	Khoury Elective	4
PHIL 3050	4	PHIL Elective 4	4
General Elective 6	4	General Elective 7	4
	16		16
Total Hours: 132

¹: Course must be taken in the indicated term or earlier

Academic Catalog 2026-2027

Data Science and Philosophy, BS (Boston)