Project

Data: A Quantitative History

Program

ACLS Fellowship Program

Department

Robert D. Clark Honors College

Abstract

Today is an age of data, yet the history of the concept of data has yet to be written. This project unearths that history, exploring how the concept emerged during the seventeenth century, what it has meant since then, and how, in recent years, it has moved to the center of public discourse. The project is both qualitative and quantitative, offering both a conceptual history and a critical toolkit for data-driven humanities research.