79-175 Moneyball Nation: Data in American Life

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

From conducting clinical trials and evaluating prisoners' parole cases to drafting professional ballplayers, we increasingly make decisions using mathematical concepts and models. This course surveys the development of--and resistance to--such tools by grounding them in the recent cultural history of the United States. Focusing on baseball, medicine, and the law, we'll explore how and why Americans have come to believe mathematical and computational methods can solve complicated problems, even in seemingly unrelated moral, political, and social domains. The course encourages students to think critically about the wider implications of these transformations by situating their development historically. This course meets the Dietrich Gen Ed "Logic/Mathematical Reasoning" requirement.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2026, Fall 2025

Courseweave needs JavaScript to show sections, workloads and planning tools.