What you'll learn

  • Challenges at the Intersection of Law and Technology

  • Computational Thinking

  • Programming Languages

  • Algorithms, Data Structures

  • Cryptography

  • Cybersecurity

Course description

This course is a variant of Harvard University's introduction to computer science, CS50, designed especially for lawyers (and law students). Whereas CS50 itself takes a bottom-up approach, emphasizing mastery of low-level concepts and implementation details thereof, this course takes a top-down approach, emphasizing mastery of high-level concepts and design decisions related thereto. Ultimately, it equips students with a deeper understanding of the legal implications of technological decisions made by clients.

Through a mix of technical instruction and discussion of case studies, this course empowers students to be informed contributors to technology-driven conversations. In addition, it prepares students to formulate technology-informed legal arguments and opinions. Along the way, it equips students with hands-on experience with Python and SQL, languages via which they can mine data for answers themselves.

Topics include algorithms, cloud computing, databases, networking, privacy, programming, scalability, security, and more, with a particular emphasis on understanding how the work developers do and the technological solutions they employ may impact clients. Students emerge from this course with a first-hand appreciation of how it all works and all the more confident in the factors that should guide their decision-making.

Instructors

Senior Preceptor in Computer Science, Harvard University
Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

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This course picks up where CS50 leaves off, diving more deeply into the design and implementation of web apps with Python, JavaScript, and SQL using frameworks like Django, React, and Bootstrap.

Price
Free*
Duration
12 weeks long
Registration Deadline
Available now