Big Data
Two new big data databases are putting John Jay on the forefront of social science. Criminal justice graduate students working with PI Dr. Joshua Freilich are collaborating with colleagues from other universities to establish the first-ever school shootings database. The tool documents where and when school violence occurs, as well as key characteristics of perpetrators, weapons and locations to help develop prevention strategies and relevant policy, a vital source of information in a country where a mass shooting is perpetrated nearly every day.
And, under the guidance of Dr. Ned Benton and Dr. Judy- Lynne Peters, master’s students in Public Administration created the New York State Slavery Records Index, which draws on tens of thousands of records and original source material to identify enslaved individuals and their owners from 1525 through the Civil War. The researchers found evidence of the slave trade in New York years before its “accepted” start date, and are shining a light on individuals often overlooked in our nation’s history. (Illustrator: Harry Campbell)