UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Love Data Week at Penn State, Feb. 10–14, will feature various events, thought-provoking discussions and opportunities to explore the significance and power of data.
The event is part of International Love Data Week, hosted by the University of Michigan that week by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan, which brings together data enthusiasts from around the world.
Vote for the "BTAA Data Viz Champion"
As part of this week’s events, the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) invited students, faculty and staff across BTAA institutions to showcase their data visualization skills and compete for the title of "BTAA Data Viz Champion." Several outstanding submissions were received from the Penn State research community for both the student and faculty/staff categories, and will soon compete for the title.
Voting for the BTAA Data Viz Championship will take place from Feb. 10 to 14, during the conference. Visit the website to view the entries and cast your vote for your favorite visualization. Winners will be announced at the showcase on Feb. 14.
Schedule of events
Register for the events below at this link.
Monday, Feb. 10
- 11 a.m. — Navigating the Future: Careers in Data — Join us for an insightful panel discussion on careers in data, where leaders across the Big Ten Academic Alliance share their experiences and insights into the world of data. This session will include a range of topics including career pathways, skills and education, and emerging trends.
- 1 p.m. — Building a resume in Tableau — In today's competitive job market, a well-crafted resume can make all the difference. Join us for an engaging, hands-on session where attendees will learn how to leverage Tableau's powerful data visualization tools to create a standout resume that showcases their skills and experiences in a visually compelling way.
Tuesday, Feb. 11
- 10 a.m.–1 p.m. — Love Data Week Tabling Event — Stop by the Pattee Library Atrium to learn more about data services offered at Penn State Libraries and more.
- 10 a.m. — Strategies for Success in Survey Administration — Struggling with how to create a survey, manage survey fatigue, or wrangle survey data into actionable information? A panel of experts will address these issues in a one-hour conversation.
- Noon — Teaching and Assessing with Artificial Intelligence (AI) — Attendees will learn practical techniques to transform their assignments and assessments. José Antonio Bowen, senior fellow at the Association of American of Colleges and Universities, will provide strategies for integrating AI in teaching and assessment, which could help support Penn State’s academic community to be well-equipped to utilize the technology effectively and ethically. Bowen will enrich attendees understanding of AI’s impact on education and empower them to adopt forward-thinking approaches that advance pedagogical innovation, assessment and academic integrity standards. Co-sponsored by the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Register for this session here.
- 2 p.m.–3 p.m. — Maps & Geospatial: Exploring the BTAA Geoportal: Historical Maps and Open Geospatial Data — The BTAA Geoportal provides users with a discovery and search option for identifying map and geospatial content in a range of formats. This session will highlight search strategies for locating geospatial data resources, describe resource types available, and spotlight collections within the BTAA Geoportal, such as historical maps, open government data portals, aerial imagery, important farmland maps and more. Users across disciplines are welcome to attend to learn more about the discovery of geospatial information in order to support research and teaching activities. In-person at W13 Pattee Library or online at this Zoom link.
- 5 p.m. — Thinking with Data Visualizations, Fast and Slow — Humans' visual systems evolved and developed to process the scenes, faces and objects of the natural world. Using that system to process the artificial world of data visualizations is an adaptation that can lead to fast and powerful — or slow and inefficient — visual processing, as attendees will experience through interactive demonstrations of new research findings on visual capacity limits. Understanding these limits produces guidelines for constructing effective visualizations for both visual analytics and visual communication of patterns in data and explains how display designs and motivated cognition can bias interpretations of those patterns.
Wednesday, Feb. 12
- 8:15 a.m.–noon — Penn State Data Summit Sessions will be held.
- 10 a.m.–1 p.m. — Love Data Week Tabling Event — Stop by the Pattee Library Atrium to learn more about data services offered at the University Libraries and more.
- 10 a.m. — Mastering Data Literacy for Strategic Insights — In an era where data drives decision-making, understanding how to interpret and utilize data effectively is crucial. Join us for an hour-long session where a panel of experts discuss data literacy at their institutions.
- 1 p.m. — Open Data Sharing: What is ScholarSphere and how can I use it? — In this workshop, participants will receive an overview of data repositories, a tutorial on ScholarSphere, and can take advantage of office hours for questions/work with a data curator. Register for this session here.
- 2 p.m. — Unlocking Insights: Rapid Qualitative Data Analysis with Microsoft Copilot — Need to analyze qualitative data quickly and take immediate action? Join us for a workshop where we’ll explore the power of Microsoft Copilot in transforming raw qualitative data into meaningful insights. Whether attendees are seasoned Copilot users or new to qualitative analysis, this session will equip them with the tools and techniques to harness AI for rapid understanding and impactful decision-making.
Thursday, Feb. 13
- 8:15 a.m. to noon — Penn State Data Summit Sessions will be held.
- 3 p.m. — Influence and Impact: The Keys to Great Data Leadership - Data leadership is key to running a successful organization today, and it isn’t just for data scientists and engineers. Join Professor Joel Shapiro as he shares what “data leadership” really means, why it matters so much right now, and how anyone — even those without a technical background — can step up and become a great data leader.
Friday, Feb. 14
- Noon–3 p.m. — Douglass Day Annual Transcribe-a-thon — Every Valentine’s Day, the Center for Black Digital Research’s Douglass Day project invites you to a birthday party for Frederick Douglass. Join us in person or online to transcribe material from the African American Perspectives Collection at the Library of Congress. See which campus libraries are hosting in-person events at https://douglassday.org/penn-state/, or stream the broadcast on YouTube into your library or classroom. Learn more at https://douglassday.org.
- 2 p.m. — Data Viz Championship Showcase — Join the Data Viz Championship Showcase to witness cutting-edge data visualization entries from Big Ten Universities, and for the announcement of the BTAA Data Viz Champions!
Looking for more events?
Check out the official listing of BTAA Love Data Week events from around the globe, many of which are online and open to the public.
For more information and updates on Penn State's International Love Data Week 2025, contact repub@psu.edu.