A Multidisciplinary Approach to Computer Science: The Role of Social Science Theory

Computing and technological innovation directly influence how people live, work, and learn. As undergraduate computer science majors move into professional spaces, it is critical that they understand the relationship between their work and its impact on people and communities. One way to encourage the development of socially conscious computer scientists is to engage students in computer science learning that integrates social science theory and concepts. In this Birds of a Feather session, we will discuss how to integrate ideas from the social sciences into computer science research and classroom settings, thereby providing undergraduates with hands-on, human-centered research experiences. We will begin the workshop by analyzing the overlap between the social sciences and computer science. Then, we will share personal examples of how social lenses have been integrated into traditional computing research and academic environments and lean on our experiences to develop personalized action plans to integrate social science theory and concepts into computing research efforts. Attendees will leave this session with a stronger understanding of how social science and computing research overlap and practical strategies to integrate social science theory into their existing research practices.