Intro to Text Analysis in Python

This course introduces students to foundational concepts and methods for analyzing text-as-data using Python. Designed for beginners with no prior coding experience, the course emphasizes hands-on learning and practical applications across disciplines. Students will explore computational techniques for collecting, cleaning, and analyzing text data from sources such as news media, social media, and websites. Topics include web scraping, working with APIs, sentiment analysis, topic modeling, named entity recognition, and more. The course will also examine the role of generative AI in building custom scripts for data collection and analysis.

Through guided instruction and project-based learning, students will develop beginner-to-intermediate Python programming skills, understand core principles of data analysis, and gain experience using Python to explore research questions relevant to policy, media, business, and technology. The course culminates in a final project that may serve as a portfolio piece for job seekers or public scholarship.