Graduate Certificate in Digital Applied Social Sciences (DASS)

Digital communication technologies and AI are transforming society at an unprecedented pace, driving a growing demand for professionals with expertise in both digital technologies and social sciences across academia and industry.

FSU’s Graduate Certificate in Digital Applied Social Science (DASS) prepares students to meet this demand by providing advanced training in digital social sciences. Students learn to collect, process, analyze, and visualize digital data to tackle complex social science questions. Additionally, DASS students gain hands-on experience with innovative computational tools such as network analysis, natural language processing, social simulations, and generative AI. This technical training is grounded in a strong foundation for applying ethical frameworks to evaluate current and emerging technologies.

DASS stands out for its interdisciplinary approach, combining the strengths of the social sciences and communication fields. Jointly offered by the FSU College of Social Sciences and Public Policy and the FSU College of Communication and Information, the program provides a cohesive coursework plan designed to build advanced skills in digital tools, data analysis, and ethical decision-making.

Graduates of DASS are uniquely positioned for impactful careers that bridge the gap between data science and social science. Career opportunities span fields such as social research, public policy, marketing, communications, business intelligence, and academia.

Certificate Requirements

Students must complete 18 credit hours to earn the certificate. The program includes four required courses (12 credit hours) and two elective courses (6 credit hours) chosen from an approved list. Transfer credits are not accepted.

Required Courses

LIS 5411 – Introduction to Information Policy

This course examines selected fundamental policy questions regarding information and communications, with special attention to intricate policy issues such as information ownership rights, privacy rights, and public access to information. The course will examine such issues by focusing on the underlying constitutional principles, laws and regulations, statutes, and government policies that impact such issues. Specific attention will be given to federal policies within the United States but state and local policies will be examined as needed. Specific course topics will include universal service, information equity, privacy, intellectual property, censorship, e-government, and information management. The course focuses on providing information professionals with a fundamental understanding of the importance and impact of information policy.

SYA 5306 – Data and Society

In today’s data-driven environment, the ability to transform raw data into meaningful insights is paramount across disciplines. This course equips you with data visualization, wrangling, and exploration skills essential for social data analysis. We will learn how to design, interpret, and critically evaluate diverse types of visualizations commonly used in social science research. We will also learn strategies to efficiently prepare data for analysis, covering aspects such as reading, rearranging, recoding, reshaping, exploring, and characterizing data. Additionally, the course places a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary integration. We will apply our data exploration and visualization skills to answer research questions that intersect social science disciplines. No programming experience is required. By the end of the course, you will be able to handle real-world datasets and extract their insights using an interdisciplinary framework.

SYA 5340 – Computational Tools for Social Science Research

With more connected devices than ever before, we are witnessing an explosion of data from social media, mobile apps, and administrative and historical records that have become digitized. Such growth of data has been coupled with novel tools that allow accessing digital records and extracting valuable insights from them. This course will prepare you to examine social phenomena using the novel computational tools of the digital era. Each week, we will discuss how to use computational tools for applications across the social science disciplines. We will explore how to obtain data from digital sources, how to analyze these data using social network analysis and text as data, and how to interpret social simulations that allow exploring alternative worlds. No programming experience is required. By the end of the course, you will have built a portfolio of interdisciplinary explorations using computational techniques.

SYO 5936 – Media and Society

This seminar surveys some of the research examining the influence of digital technologies on individuals, institutions, and culture. The course is organized into two sections. We begin by examining the structure of digital technologies and focus specifically on how artificial intelligence shapes our political and economic systems as well as our experiences in them. Then, we spend the rest of the semester exploring how digital technologies affect social inequality. Here we focus on areas central to sociological research including race, class, gender, age, sexuality, and ability.

Approved Electives

COM 5235 – Crisis Communication
COM 5364 – Foundations of Digital Media
LIS 5341 – Data Organization
LIS 5786 – Introduction to Information Architecture
LIS 5751 – Computers as Persuasive Technology
LIS 5782 – Database Management Systems
SPC 5545 – Studies in Persuasion

With prior approval from the certificate program director, Dr. Maria Cristina Ramos (mcr22c@fsu.edu), students may substitute electives with other courses offered by the College of Communication and Information or the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy.

The coursework is intended to be completed within 2 years.

Admissions

Eligibility

Students are admitted to the certificate program only in the fall semester. Eligibility is limited to graduate students currently enrolled in the College of Communication and Information, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, College of Social Work, or the College of Business. Students from other colleges and non-degree-seeking students are not eligible.

If a student completes a degree program prior to completing the certificate requirements, they must be readmitted as a degree-seeking student. Students completing an undergraduate degree may not enter a graduate certificate program unless they are admitted as a degree-seeking graduate student.

Applicants must have a minimum 3.50 GPA in graduate coursework completed at the time of application. If they have not yet completed graduate coursework, a 3.50 GPA in the last two years of undergraduate study is required.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted online by April 1 for admission to the program in the following fall.

Admission is competitive and based on a review of the following materials:

  • Statement of Purpose: A statement that allows applicants to demonstrate their fit for the DASS program. In up to two single-spaced pages, applicants should explain their interest in the program, their specific focus on the intersection of social science and digital data, and how the program aligns with their academic and professional goals. They should also highlight relevant academic or professional experiences, such as research, coursework, or projects involving social science or digital tools, and reflect on the personal qualities and motivations that make them a strong candidate for this certificate program.
  • Letter of Recommendation: a letter of reference from an FSU Faculty Member. The letter should highlight the applicant’s intellectual abilities, interests, and potential for success in the program.The letter must be sent directly to Dr. Maria C. Ramos (mcr22c@fsu.edu). Please let your recommender know that their letter must be submitted by the April 1st  deadline. 
  • Academic Transcript: A transcript reflecting graduate coursework or, if no graduate coursework has been completed, the last two years of undergraduate studies.
  • Proposed Program of Study. List the courses you plan to take and the tentative terms when you intend to take them (e.g., Fall 2025). Before completing your Program of Study, review the certificate requirements and course availability to ensure your plan aligns with program guidelines. Submitting this information with your application helps expedite the approval process for your coursework upon admission. 

Applications must be submitted before completing 6 credit hours toward the certificate. If more than 6 credit hours have been completed, the application may not be processed.

Applications opening soon! Visit this page regularly to apply as soon as applications are live.