A Place at the Table: Dinner Cohort Builds Belonging in Data Science

The annual program connects first-year students with graduate mentors and faculty through shared meals and wide-ranging conversations.  

Some of the most important lessons in data science happen beyond the classroom. They take shape through conversation, questions, and encounters with people who approach the field from different perspectives.

Made possible by an endowment from School of Data Science Board Member Oscar Wood, the Data Science Dinner Cohort gives first-year undergraduates a unique experience early in their time at the University of Virginia. Now in its third year, the program brings together School of Data Science master’s students and faculty for monthly meals, where participants explore how data science is practiced, where it can lead, and how the work can be applied for the greater good.

“We had done research on belonging because the program was initially envisioned to foster a sense of connection in both the School of Data Science community and the discipline of data science,” said Siri Russell, associate dean for community and government partnerships and creator of the program.

The cohort primarily serves first-year UVA students interested in data science, with preference given to those enrolled in prerequisites for the B.S. in Data Science. Participants do not need to have decided whether they will apply to the major.

“If you have an interest in data science, we want to help you explore that outside the classroom,” Russell said. “We want to support that exploration with time, space, and a sense of familiarity.”

Dinner provides a different environment for that exploration. Rather than attending another lecture or workshop, students gather around a table where conversations can move naturally between research, career paths, leadership, and life at UVA.

“Dinner gives you that familial sort of space where you’re able to create a more personal connection,” Russell said.

The idea grew from two related efforts. Russell and her colleagues had considered creating a dinner series modeled loosely on Jeffersonian dinners, which bring people together for a focused conversation. At the same time, Associate Professor of Data Science Prince Afriyie had received funding to take students to dinner at local restaurants. Russell saw an opportunity to build on Afriyie’s approach and develop a sustainable program that could reach more students.  

Graduate students in the M.S. in Data Science program serve as near-peer mentors and facilitate small-group discussions. According to Emma Cox, program manager, they are close enough to their own transitions into data science to understand many of the questions first-year students bring. They also offer a perspective further along the academic journey.

“They’re participating and growing in their own data science journey, but they’re also doing that bridging work with first-years,” Cox said.

Each dinner features a faculty guest, and a reading, podcast, video, or other resources shared with participants in advance. The materials provide a starting point, but discussions are not confined to a single research paper or technical topic.

Russell remembers that the first program dinner featured a conversation between a data scientist and a guest whose work combined science communication, folklore, and astrophysics. What began with data science eventually expanded into questions about the meaning of life.

In another session, students explored Assistant Professor of Data Science Alex Gates’ research on the science of success through both a podcast and an academic paper. Students discussed the network-modeling methods behind the research as well as broader questions about why some people are more likely to succeed.

“When it works well, students are interested in both the methods and what those methods are being applied to,” Cox said. “That creates rich discussion.”

The program has evolved since its first year, when approximately 30 students participated. Although the large group generated engaging conversations, organizers found that its size made it difficult to create the personal connections they wanted around the dinner table. Subsequent cohorts have been smaller, allowing more of the conversation to happen in facilitated groups.

For current participants, the experience offers a chance to encounter data science beyond assignments and prerequisite courses.

The 2026-27 cohort will meet throughout the academic year with faculty guests including Jordan Bryan, Hannah Bako, Sarah Groves, and Antonios Mamalakis. Bryan will open the series with a discussion of his research, which uses statistical methods to examine complex data in fields ranging from environmental monitoring and high-energy physics to cancer genomics.

The Office of Community Affairs and Applied Learning operates the program with strategic leadership from faculty sponsor Prince Afriyie. Organizers will assess its impact through student feedback, persistence in BSDS prerequisite courses, and applications to the major.

For Russell, however, the dinner table also offers something harder to measure: a chance for students to meet people who can help them imagine a future in data science and recognize that they already have a place in their community.