CMSC 201 Computer Science I for Non-CS Disciplines
Spring 2019

This spring, Dr. Susan Mitchell will teach a special section of CMSC 201 Computer Science I designed for social and biological sciences and humanities majors. The course will cover the same content and have the same rigor as all other sections of CMSC 201 and prepare students to continue on to CMSC 202 if they wish.  As with other sections, it fulfills any major’s requirement for CMSC 201. The key difference will be that the assignments and projects will emphasize topics applicable to many non-CS disciplines, such as statistical analysis, working with large data sets, and data visualization. The catalog description is:

An introduction to computer science through problem solving and computer programming. Programming techniques covered by this course include modularity, abstraction, top-down design, specifications documentation, debugging and testing. The core material for this course includes control structures, functions, lists, strings, abstract data types, file I/O, and recursion.

The course will include a lecture from 2:30pm to 3:45pm on Mondays and Wednesdays (Section 24-LEC) and a one-hour lab on either Tuesdays 11:30-12:20 (Section 19-DIS) or Wednesdays 4:00-4:50 (Section 21-DIS).

Permission from the instructor is required to register for this section. No prior programming experience is required. The only prerequisite is that students must have completed MATH 150, 151 or 152 with a C or better; OR have MATH test placement into MATH 151; OR have completed MATH 155 with a C or better.

For permission or questions, email Dr. Susan Mitchell at