Society needs leaders who can harness the power of information — and use it to solve pressing challenges. The Informatics major and minor are centered around the understanding of the role of information and computation. Informatics focuses on critical approaches to information and technology, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary methods. Students develop ethical and technical frameworks and apply them to a wide-ranging set of culturally-relevant problems in order to enrich the public understanding of the relationship between information and culture.

Informatics is transforming ways of knowing and doing — from location-aware apps to simulations of complex biological processes to real-time mapping that aids in crisis response.



Informatics students learn to look beyond the surface to become creative thinkers — change agents who:

  • Dig into underlying technologies to ask questions
  • Connect knowledge from different fields of study
  • Communicate creatively and confidently
  • Tap into the potential of information to improve communities, businesses, nonprofits, and more


How do we do this? By combining core courses in computer science, communication, and art. And by enabling students to focus in areas that align with their goals, including:

  • Health Informatics
  • Polinformatics
  • Geoinformatics
  • Humanities Informatics


We focus on helping students develop the technical expertise to analyze ever-growing streams of data. And – even more important — we empower students to translate that information into action.


Potential Career Paths


User experience designer

Digital artist

Digital librarian

Information architect


Multimedia specialist

Web developer

Technology analyst