Coding that Matters

Uniquely designed for the Arts & Science Program, the third year Coding Inquiry (ARTSSCI 3C03) course takes a creative, interdisciplinary approach to computer programming that focuses on coding as both a technical and social practice. Discussions surrounding culture and code through the lens of critical code studies (CCS) and Creative Coding fill the classroom and animate the self-directed inquiry projects that students undertake.

CCS is an emerging interdisciplinary field that draws from software studies, new media studies, and software development. CCS discusses computer code in relation to national identity, ethnicity, gender, and social class to understand how software produces social patterns. Creative Coding entails a hands-on and often artistic approach to entering into such discussions with and about the computer.

For their final Coding Inquiry course projects, students produced interactive infographics, tactile experiences, and web-based games discussing topics of decolonial computing, Feminist Human-Computer Interaction, Ethno-computing, Queer computation, and Techno-vernacular computing. Students applied coding and design skills to their projects by using coding languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and design tools like Figma and Canva.

“I was very surprised at how deeply students engaged with the course topics. I was struck by the effort they put into developing technical skills while also deeply reflecting on social issues surrounding coding,” says Coding Inquiry Instructor, Dr. Luis Navarro Del Angel.
“I am very proud of them!”

Check out the following descriptions of some of the work Arts & Science students did for their final Coding Inquiry course projects:

Student(s)	Project name and description
Daniel Botros, Isabelle Cardos, Ali Kubba & Jayden Miller	Enchanted Escape: The Princess and the Frog Maze Adventure A web-based videogame exploring technology such as screen readers and text-to-speech for visually impaired people.
Ella Jeffery & Shir-El Kline	Hamilton Environmental Map An app to learn environmental facts about the different Hamilton wards.
Leah McMillan	Army spoof A parody of a US military website that critiques US military interventions in countries around the world.
Aliana Niezova	Tajiks in the world An app/multimedia website about people from Tajikistan and their diasporas worldwide.
Alina Pace & Imogen Walks Kowalchuk	GPA: Game of Prioritization and Achievement A web-game about figuring out how to balance student’s grades and mental health.
Surbhi Rao	Real or Not Real? An app to test your ability to tell if text is written by generative AI (ChatGPT 3.5).