Janet Davis

Photo of Janet Davis by Penrose Library
Associate Professor and Microsoft Chair of Computer Science
Whitman College
Olin 118
509-527-5758
davisj@whitman.edu
Office hours
For the Spring 2021 semester, I will be available for appointments MWF 2-5pm. Use this online tool to make an appointment.
I have drop-in office hours on Zoom M-Th 11:30-noon. See also my calendar.
Blog
Counting from zero: Building a liberal arts CS program in the age of ubiquity
GitHub
I am ProfJanetDavis and my research group is GLAMlab.
Social media
Whitman CS students and alumni are encouraged to connect with me on LinkedIn
and/or contact me about joining the Whitties in Tech organization on Slack.
On Facebook, I accept friend requests from alumni but not current students.
I encourage you to join the group CS@Whitman.
Follow ProfJanetDavis and CS@Whitman on Twitter.
Fall 2020 courses
CS 301: ST: Computer Networks
CS 370: Software Design
Past courses
CS 167: Introduction to Computational Problem Solving
CS 210: Computer Systems Fundamentals
CS/Math 220: Discrete Math & Functional Programming
CS 267: Human-Computer Interaction
CS 370: Software Design
CS 495/6: Computer Science Capstone
Curriculum vitae [pdf]

Interests

Scholarship

My mission as a scholar: Nurture humanity in and through technology. Foster connections among people, disciplines, and ideas.

My chief scholarly interests lie in the area of human-computer interaction (HCI). I see this area as broadly addressing a scientific question and a design question: How do people interact with computers? And how can we design computer systems to enhance rather than detract from the human experience? My work as a computer scientist emphasizes the latter.

I am particularly interested in how we do design. My dissertation research applied Value Sensitive Design to UrbanSim, a large scale urban planning simulator, with an eye to transparency, fairness, and democracy to support the legitimacy of using UrbanSim as part of the political process. Much of my work has applied participatory design methods that engage future users in the processes and procedures of design, respecting equally the expertise of designers and participants. My current work investigates the design of persuasive technology to influence users' speech and writing.

This past summer, I worked with Whitman students Kalilou Ali Kadiri '22, Ahmed Elsayed '23, Zoë Hill '21, Nidhi Jaltare '21, and Dylan Wu '21 to develop a Web interface for Reading for Gender Bias, an API to provide feedback on possible gender bias in recommendation letters. See our work on GitHub!

Teaching

My mission as a teacher: Create transformative experiences while fostering a supportive learning community.

My teaching interests span introductory computer science, computer systems, design, and the social influences and implications of computing and other technology.  In my time at Grinnell, I taught Functional Problem Solving, Computer Organization & Architecture, Operating Systems & Parallel Algorithms, Computer Networks, Software Development, Human-Computer Interaction, Evolution of Technology, and two Tutorials on technology and society.

Personal

My personal interests and pleasures include beadwork, knitting, sewing, and other crafts, walking, gardening, cooking, architecture, reading (especially YA fantasy, cozy mysteries, and light nonfiction), and collecting computer science jokes. Ask me about my daughter, my cat, the home my husband and I built in Walla Walla, or any of my other interests.


Education


Selected Teaching Publications and Presentations

Selected Research Publications and Presentations

* Co-authors are Whitman students or alumni. 
** Co-authors are Grinnell students or alumni.
Janet Davis (davisj@whitman.edu)

Created August 7, 2015
Last modified March 08, 2021, 02:48:10 PM PST