The PCAS Difference
PCAS offers courses that aim to help students develop the computing (especially programming) skills they need to succeed across majors and minors in LSA. We help students as they become computational scientists, artists who use computational media, and scholars who analyze computational systems and their effects — and help to re-design them using a liberal arts lens. The introductory PCAS courses require no mathematical background beyond algebra and no prior computer programming experience.
PCAS will offer two minors starting in Winter 2024, Computing for Expression and Computing for Scientific Discovery, that prepare students to integrate computation into their problem-solving, creative practices, and analytical toolkit. PCAS graduates will be comfortable with programming, will be expert at communicating goals with both designers and developers, and will rise to the challenge of creating technology that furthers social goals.
PCAS statement in support of a diverse and just community
The Program in Computing for the Arts and Sciences embraces the University of Michigan’s commitment to an environment that values and respects people of all races, colors, national origins, ages, sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, abilities, religions, heights, weights, and veteran or marital statuses. We value diversity for its impact on our campus but also to influence communities beyond our campus.
We are committed to offering courses that explicitly address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in computing. We recognize that the technology sector of the economy in the United States lacks diversity. Decisions around technology have frequently exacerbated inequities rather than redress them. Our courses explicitly frame technological decisions in historical contexts that expose issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
