Together with the Covid-19 virus, an increasing amount of data visualisations (communicating the infection, recovery, and death rates) entered our world. Based on these visualisations, our society assigned meaning to the unfamiliar virus. This course focuses on the role of data visualisations and dashboards in the production of (this kind of) knowledge. 

In this course, as a starting point, students learn which cognitive processes are involved in interpreting visual information and how this shapes the techniques used in the design of data visualisations. We then focus on the representational character of data visualisations and study how they operate as rhetorical devices. We also explore how visuals can communicate an argument or perspective, how design is used to that end and what role this plays in the production of knowledge. Finally, students put theory into practice by learning how to create a data visualisation that conveys a key message (software independent) and to critically assess data visualisations created by others.