April 19, 2010: Susan Rodger of Duke University

Computer Science Concepts Come Alive

Susan Rodger
Department of Computer Science
Duke University

Monday, April 19, 2010
4:30 pm (Tea at 4 pm in KINSC H208)
Koshland INSC H109
Directions and Map

Abstract

We describe how to make computer science concepts come alive through visualization and interaction in several computer science courses from introductory computer science to theoretical computer science. We discuss three software tools. JAWAA, a scripting language, aids in creating animations of algorithms and data structures. JFLAP, a tool for automata and grammars, allows for experimentation with theoretical concepts. Alice, a virtual worlds programming environment, visualizes programming concepts in 3D that are accessible for students as young as middle school. We provide examples of how such tools aid students in understanding concepts.

Biography

Susan Rodger is a Professor of the Practice in the Computer Science Department at Duke University. She received her PhD in computer science from Purdue University. Rodger's research interests include interactive and visual software and computer science education. She developed JFLAP, a tool for experimenting with automata theory. JFLAP is used around the world in automata theory courses, compiler courses, and discrete math courses. Rodger developed JAWAA, a scripting language for algorithm animation over the web. She has taught Alice to students from college level to middle school level, and has run Alice workshops for K-12 teachers. She was a finalist in the 2007 NEEDS Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware (for JFLAP) and received an ACM Distinguished Educator award in 2006.

Mar 18: David Clark at Swarthmore

Computer Science as Social Science: The future of the Internet

David Clark, EECS, MIT

Thursday, March 18
4:15pm in SCI 101
Swarthmore College | Map and Directions

Abstract
A lesson I have learned in my 35 years of working on the Internet is that the technologists are not in charge, and have not been in charge for at least the last 15 or 20 of those years. The forces that will shape the future of the Internet primarily derive from the deep social, economic and cultural embedding of the Internet. Technology will be successful if it is responsive to these pressures. This fact is both exciting and perhaps alarming--it is exciting to be working on a system that has had so much impact on the world, but Computer Scientists are not normally trained to think about these issues, and to derive from these issues what technical problems we should address. I will give some examples, both past and future, that suggest methods and models we can use to link what we as technologists do to the forces in the larger world that will interact with that technology.

Bio
David Clark is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where he has worked since receiving his Ph.D. there in 1973. Since the mid 70s, Dr. Clark has been leading the development of the Internet; from 1981-1989 he acted as Chief Protocol Architect in this development, and chaired the Internet Activities Board. His current research looks at re-definition of the architectural underpinnings of the Internet, and the relation of technology and architecture to economic, societal and policy considerations. He is helping the U.S. National Science foundation organize their Future Internet Design program. Dr. Clark is past chairman of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies, and has contributed to a number of studies on the societal and policy impact of computer communications. He is co-director of the MIT Communications Futures Program, a project for industry collaboration and coordination along the communications value chain.

Feb 25, 2010: Judith Bishop of Microsoft

The Hot under the Cool - Patterns, Programming and Performance

A Colloquium by

Judith Bishop
Director of Computer Science in External Research, Microsoft Research

Thursday, February 25, 4:00-5:00pm (Tea at 3:30pm) in Room 243 Park Science Building, Bryn Mawr College

Abstract:

So much of what computer science produces is labeled as cool, that it is easy for the public to miss the real hard science that goes into getting the graphics, the communications or the devices out there into the consumer space. Yet it is the hot topics under the cool that attract the best students and the biggest grants and should be as visible to the public and to policy makers. This talk looks at research underneath user interfaces and in the quest for performance in the past decade as seen through my years as in academia, but more recently in Microsoft. Patterns and abstraction are not evident to the naked eye, but they drive reusable, safe and cost-effective software. I will examine the progress that has been made, the current research that is ongoing, and the steps that will need to be taken - technical and social - to meet the massive estimated needs of computer specialists in the future.

Bio:

Judith Bishop is Director of Computer Science in External Research at Microsoft Research, based in Redmond, USA. Her goal is to foster strong links between Microsoft's research groups and top computer science departments globally, through encouraging projects, supporting courseware and conferences, and engaging directly in research. Professor Bishop has a distinguished background in academia, having been a professor most recently at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She has had visiting positions in the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy and the USA. Her expertise is in programming languages and distributed systems, with a strong practical bias and an interest in compilers and design patterns. She has over 90 publications including 15 books on programming languages that are available in six languages and read worldwide. Professor Bishop serves frequently on international editorial, program and award committees, and has received numerous awards and distinctions, in particular the IFIP Outstanding Service Award in 2009 for service to the worldwide computer science community.

Apr 22, 2009: James L. McClelland

Does Your Brain Use Symbols or Distributed Representations?

Dr. James McClelland
Center for Mind, Brain and Computation
Stanford University

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 04:30 PM
Mendel Science Center 154
Villanova University
Maps and Directions

Abstract

I will describe research on semantic cognition that relies on distributed representations instead of symbols. I will describe models that use distributed representations to explain a lot of phenomena in child development, adult cognition, and the disintegration of conceptual knowledge in a disorder called semantic dementia. Among the aspects of semantic cognition addressed are differentiation and reorganization of conceptual knowledge in development, domain and context specificity of inductive inference, semantic illusions, and conceptual grounding of knowledge from one domain in knowledge from another domain. The approach will be compared with the symbolic structured Bayesian approach taken by others.

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Speaker Bio

Dr. James McClelland , Stanford University - Center for Mind, Brain and Computation

Jay McClelland received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. He served on the faculty of the University of California, San Diego, before moving to Carnegie Mellon in 1984, where he became a University Professor and held the Walter Van Dyke Bingham Chair in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. He was a founding Co-Director of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint project of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. He served as Co-Director until 2006. In that year he moved to Stanford University, where he is now Professor of Psychology and founding Director of the Center for Mind, Brain and Computation.

Over his career, McClelland has contributed to both the experimental and theoretical literatures in a number of areas, most notably in the application of connectionist/parallel distributed processing models to problems in perception, cognitive development, language learning, and the neurobiology of memory. He was a co-founder with David E. Rumelhart of the Parallel Distributed Processing research group, and together with Rumelhart he led the effort leading to the publication in 1986 of the two-volume book, Parallel Distributed Processing, in which the parallel distributed processing framework was laid out and applied to a wide range of topics in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

McClelland and Rumelhart jointly received the 1993 Howard Crosby Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award (see citation) from the American Psychological Association, the 2001 Grawemeyer Prize in Psychology, and the 2002 IEEE Neural Networks Pioneer Award for this work. McClelland has served as Senior Editor of Cognitive Science, as President of the Cognitive Science Society, and as a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council, and he is currently president-elect of the Federation of the Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and he has received the APS William James Fellow Award for lifetime contributions to the basic science of psychology.

McClelland currently teaches cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience and conducts research on learning, memory, conceptual development, spoken language, decision making, and semantic cognition.

Refreshments will be served in MSC 159 after the talk.

FLICS extra

As a service to our friends in the Greater Delaware Valley area who appreciate a FLICS, here is a talk in Philadelphia this week -- JD

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Copyright vs. Community in the Age of Computer Networks
Richard M. Stallman
Free Software Foundation
March 25, 2009, 2-3:30pm
Kiva Auditorium at Temple University
Directions
Abstract (PDF)

Mar 18: Jennifer Golbeck @ Haverford

Computing with Social Trust: Web Algorithms, Social Networks, and Recommendations

Jennifer Golbeck
University of Maryland, College Park

Wednesday March 18
4:30 pm (tea at 4:00 pm)

Koshland INSC, Hilles 109
Haverford College
Directions to Campus
Campus Map (park in 45 or 53; talk in 5b)

Abstract
Web-based social networks provide a wealth of publicly accessible information about people and their relationships. The trust between people in these is particularly interesting because it can be used to improve the way users access and interact with information especially user-generated content on the web. In this talk, I will present research on the two most important problems in this space. First, I will discuss methods for computing trust between people online, relying on graph algorithms and statistical analysis of user behavior and interaction. Then, I will show how these results can be used in applications where users interact with web-based information. In particular, we will look at recommender systems and see when and how trust can improve the quality of the results.

Feb 6: Bernard Chazelle at Bryn Mawr

What an iPod, a Flock of Birds, and Your DNA have in Common

A Colloquium by Bernard Chazelle, Princeton University

Friday, Feb 6th, 4:00-5:00p (Tea at 3:30p) in Room 338, Park Science Building

This is part of the Fantastic Lectures in Computer Science (FLICS) lecture series jointly sponsored by Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore and Villanova.

For more information on FLICS, please check out:
http://fantasticlecturesincomputerscience.blogspot.com/

Abstract:
Moore's Law holds that, every 18 months, computing power doubles. Most of the wonders of the computer age can be attributed directly to Moore's Law. Alas, its days are numbered. What then? In this talk, I will argue that the years ahead will usher in the era of the "Algorithm," a notion that might prove just as disruptive as the revolution in the physical sciences was in the last century. I will discuss why algorithms are even more powerful than customarily believed but why they will not unleash their true potential until they become full-fledged scientific tools and not just problem-solvers.

Biography

Bernard Chazelle is Eugene Higgins Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, where he has been on the faculty since 1986. He has held research and faculty positions at Carnegie-Mellon University, Brown University, Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole Normale Superieure, University of Paris, INRIA, Xerox Parc, DEC SRC, and NEC Research, where he was a Fellow for many years. He received his Ph.D in computer science from Yale University in 1980. He is the author of the book "The Discrepancy Method."

Honors
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Member, European Academy of Sciences
Fellow, World Innovation Foundation
ACM Fellow
Guggenheim Fellow (1994)