The next Cognitive Lunch will be held Wednesday, February 4.
Time: 12:10-1:10 p.m.
Place: Psychology Conference Room (Room 128)
"Neural Substrates of Visual-Haptic Object Recognition" will be presented by Thomas W. James, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University.
Abstract:
In humans and many other primates, vision plays the major role in object recognition. But, objects can also be recognized by touch. In fact, visual and tactile (or haptic) object recognition systems have in common the ability to recognize and/or represent objects based on their volumetric shape. The object recognition literature, both behavioral and neural, is dominated by studies of vision, so why is haptic object recognition research important? Besides determining the object recognition capabilities of the haptic system itself, studying haptic object recognition also helps constrain theories of object processing in general. Real-world object recognition can be extremely computationally demanding. The primate visual system is not isolated from other perceptual and motor systems; therefore, it is likely that a recognition system would utilize all available evidence, whatever the input modality, to accomplish its task. Studying object recognition using a single input modality overlooks the importance of the integration of inputs. To explore the interplay between visual and haptic inputs for object recognition, we used behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging techniques. The data from these studies converge to suggest that shared mechanisms for volumetric shape processing across vision and touch are found in the lateral occipital complex and the anterior intraparietal sulcus. Processing of visual-haptic shape in two separate locations suggests that the two visual streams theory may extend to dorsal and ventral streams of visual-haptic shape integration for action and perception.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Colloquium: Joseph Reagle
You are cordially invited to attend the following School of Informatics colloquium:
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Informatics East (I2), Room 130
Joseph Reagle, New York University, will present, "In Good Faith: Wikipedia Collaboration and the Pursuit of the Universal Encyclopedia."
Abstract:
In 1990 Mike Godwin coined his "Law of Nazi Analogies" to capture the common devolution of online discourse into insulting comparisons with Nazis or Hitler. Eleven years later, Jimmy Wales wrote that it was important that the Wikipedia community "preserve and extend our culture of co-operation, with all of us standing as firmly as possible against the culture of conflict embodied in Usenet." I argue Wikipedia is a realization -even if flawed-of a long-held vision for a universal encyclopedia: a technology inspired vision seeking to wed increased access to information with greater human accord. And I claim Wikipedia's collaborative culture is a big factor for this success: the norms of "Neutral Point of View" ensures that the scattered pieces of what we think we know can be joined and good faith facilitates the actual practice of fitting them together.
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Informatics East (I2), Room 130
Joseph Reagle, New York University, will present, "In Good Faith: Wikipedia Collaboration and the Pursuit of the Universal Encyclopedia."
Abstract:
In 1990 Mike Godwin coined his "Law of Nazi Analogies" to capture the common devolution of online discourse into insulting comparisons with Nazis or Hitler. Eleven years later, Jimmy Wales wrote that it was important that the Wikipedia community "preserve and extend our culture of co-operation, with all of us standing as firmly as possible against the culture of conflict embodied in Usenet." I argue Wikipedia is a realization -even if flawed-of a long-held vision for a universal encyclopedia: a technology inspired vision seeking to wed increased access to information with greater human accord. And I claim Wikipedia's collaborative culture is a big factor for this success: the norms of "Neutral Point of View" ensures that the scattered pieces of what we think we know can be joined and good faith facilitates the actual practice of fitting them together.
Lunar New Year Celebration
It's the Year of the Ox!
Lunar New Year Celebration
Sponsored by IU Asian Culture Center and Monroe County Public Library
Date: Saturday, January 31
Time: Stories and performances start at 2:00 p.m. in the Library Auditorium
Crafts and snacks begin at 2:30 in Meeting Rooms 1B and 1C.
Program ends at 4:00 p.m.
Venue: Monroe County Public Library
Celebrate the year of the Ox with stories, performances, crafts, and snacks on Lunar New Year with ACC and Monroe County Public Library staff members. Drop-in to celebrate! No registration necessary. Grades K - 6, young school-age children should be accompanied by an adult.
For more information, please contact Mai-Lin Poon at acc@indiana.edu
Other Lunar New Year Celebrations:
Saturday, January 31, 6:00 p.m. at the IU Auditorium
Hosted by IU Chinese Students and Scholars Association
Lunar New Year Celebration
Sponsored by IU Asian Culture Center and Monroe County Public Library
Date: Saturday, January 31
Time: Stories and performances start at 2:00 p.m. in the Library Auditorium
Crafts and snacks begin at 2:30 in Meeting Rooms 1B and 1C.
Program ends at 4:00 p.m.
Venue: Monroe County Public Library
Celebrate the year of the Ox with stories, performances, crafts, and snacks on Lunar New Year with ACC and Monroe County Public Library staff members. Drop-in to celebrate! No registration necessary. Grades K - 6, young school-age children should be accompanied by an adult.
For more information, please contact Mai-Lin Poon at acc@indiana.edu
Other Lunar New Year Celebrations:
Saturday, January 31, 6:00 p.m. at the IU Auditorium
Hosted by IU Chinese Students and Scholars Association
Lecture: Brian Riordan
The next CL lunch talk will be given by Brian Riordan.
When: Friday, Jan. 30, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Where: Memorial Hall 401
Brian Riordan will present, "Redundancy in perceptual and linguistic experience: Comparing feature-based and distributional theories of semantic representation."
Abstract:
In recent years a variety of machine learning techniques have been developed to learn semantic representations directly from linguistic structure. Variations of these approaches have been used in cognitive science to model a variety of semantic phenomena, from semantic priming to word association. The success of these approaches suggests that much information relevant to semantic representations is encoded in the linguistic environment. However, these models have been criticized as inadequate cognitive theories of human semantic learning and representation because their representations are purely symbolic and are not grounded in perception and action. Models based on human-generated features have been argued to give access to such perceptual aspects of lexical semantic representation. I explore the hypothesis that the amount of perceptual information that can be learned from purely distributional statistics has been underappreciated. In this work I demonstrate that, in a semantic clustering task, several distributional models perform as well as human-generated feature-based representations. Furthermore, when trained on child-directed speech, the same distributional models perform as well as sensorimotor-based feature representations of children's lexical semantic knowledge. These results provide support for the hypothesis that, to a large extent, information relevant for extracting semantic categories is redundantly encoded in perceptual and linguistic experience.
When: Friday, Jan. 30, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Where: Memorial Hall 401
Brian Riordan will present, "Redundancy in perceptual and linguistic experience: Comparing feature-based and distributional theories of semantic representation."
Abstract:
In recent years a variety of machine learning techniques have been developed to learn semantic representations directly from linguistic structure. Variations of these approaches have been used in cognitive science to model a variety of semantic phenomena, from semantic priming to word association. The success of these approaches suggests that much information relevant to semantic representations is encoded in the linguistic environment. However, these models have been criticized as inadequate cognitive theories of human semantic learning and representation because their representations are purely symbolic and are not grounded in perception and action. Models based on human-generated features have been argued to give access to such perceptual aspects of lexical semantic representation. I explore the hypothesis that the amount of perceptual information that can be learned from purely distributional statistics has been underappreciated. In this work I demonstrate that, in a semantic clustering task, several distributional models perform as well as human-generated feature-based representations. Furthermore, when trained on child-directed speech, the same distributional models perform as well as sensorimotor-based feature representations of children's lexical semantic knowledge. These results provide support for the hypothesis that, to a large extent, information relevant for extracting semantic categories is redundantly encoded in perceptual and linguistic experience.
Student Academic Center Workshops
The Student Academic Center will offer the following free workshops next week. Workshops are open to all students, and you do not need to sign up in advance to attend. However you are advised to arrive early to get seating. Questions may be directed to Sharon Chertkoff, Outreach Coordinator, Student Academic Center, 855-7313.
Monday, 2/2/09, The Balancing Act: Getting Good Grades and Having Fun, Too, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Briscoe Academic Support Center
Tuesday, 2/3/09, Building Bridges, Not Walls: Learn to Communicate with Your Instructor, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Teter TEF 258
Wednesday, 2/4/09, Building Bridges, Not Walls: Learn to Communicate with Your Instructor, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Ballantine Hall 231
Monday, 2/9/09, Listening Skills for Large Lectures, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Forest Academic Support Center
Tuesday, 2/10/09, Reading Between the Lines: Tips for Effective Retention, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Teter TEF 258
Wednesday, 2/11/09, Reading Between the Lines: Tips for Effective Retention, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Ballantine Hall 231
Monday, 2/2/09, The Balancing Act: Getting Good Grades and Having Fun, Too, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Briscoe Academic Support Center
Tuesday, 2/3/09, Building Bridges, Not Walls: Learn to Communicate with Your Instructor, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Teter TEF 258
Wednesday, 2/4/09, Building Bridges, Not Walls: Learn to Communicate with Your Instructor, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Ballantine Hall 231
Monday, 2/9/09, Listening Skills for Large Lectures, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Forest Academic Support Center
Tuesday, 2/10/09, Reading Between the Lines: Tips for Effective Retention, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Teter TEF 258
Wednesday, 2/11/09, Reading Between the Lines: Tips for Effective Retention, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Ballantine Hall 231
Colloquium: Diane Kewley-Port
You are cordially invited to attend the following Colloquium presented by the SPHS Department and the SPHS PhD Organization.
Monday, February 9
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Speech and Hearing Building, Room C141
Diane Kewley-Port, Indiana University, Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences and Cognitive Science, Vice President Elect of the Acoustical Society of America will present, "All about Vowels."
Abstract:
Results from numerous experiments on vowel perception will be presented. One series determined that vowels are more important than consonants for understanding fluent English. These studies investigated the perception of sentences where either all the vowels or all the consonants were replaced by noise. Both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners recognized twice as many words in sentences with vowel only information. As expected, the hearing-impaired listeners with typical moderate hearing loss perform much worse than normal-hearing listeners. Other experiments have established that hearing-impaired listeners have processing deficits for vowels at peripheral levels of the auditory system that are predictive of their ability to identify vowels at more central levels. Similar experiments have also been conducted with second language learners (L2) of English (with normal hearing). While some language groups have extreme difficulty in identifying English vowels, they exhibit a normal ability to process vowels in the auditory periphery. These studies suggest that training protocols should help improve perception by L2 learners. Results from our current training protocol for vowels in single words show surprisingly good generalization to words in sentences.
Monday, February 9
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Speech and Hearing Building, Room C141
Diane Kewley-Port, Indiana University, Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences and Cognitive Science, Vice President Elect of the Acoustical Society of America will present, "All about Vowels."
Abstract:
Results from numerous experiments on vowel perception will be presented. One series determined that vowels are more important than consonants for understanding fluent English. These studies investigated the perception of sentences where either all the vowels or all the consonants were replaced by noise. Both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners recognized twice as many words in sentences with vowel only information. As expected, the hearing-impaired listeners with typical moderate hearing loss perform much worse than normal-hearing listeners. Other experiments have established that hearing-impaired listeners have processing deficits for vowels at peripheral levels of the auditory system that are predictive of their ability to identify vowels at more central levels. Similar experiments have also been conducted with second language learners (L2) of English (with normal hearing). While some language groups have extreme difficulty in identifying English vowels, they exhibit a normal ability to process vowels in the auditory periphery. These studies suggest that training protocols should help improve perception by L2 learners. Results from our current training protocol for vowels in single words show surprisingly good generalization to words in sentences.
Seventh Annual Permaculture Course
Announcing the Seventh Annual Permaculture Course: LLC-L 230 Permaculture: Learning through Nature
You are invited to attend our Information Session:
Collins LLC Coffeehouse
Thursday, February 12
5:00 p.m.
Pizza and snacks will be served.
The course will be take place May 31 - June 14 at the Lazy Black Bear Retreat Center in Paoli, Indiana. The course will be run by Professor David Haberman, and taught by Peter Bane and Keith Johnson, two of the best Permaculture teachers in the country. They are former residents of the Permaculture eco-village Earthaven and are the publishers of the Permaculture Activist, the only Permaculture magazine in North America.
Permaculture is a design technique for creating sustainable human communities that are in harmony with the natural environment. It is a rapidly growing and internationally recognized design system for creating better ways of living with our life support systems and with each other. It is a set of principles and techniques that aim to create ecologically sound, economically prosperous, and spiritually rich human communities. This course provides students with innovative conceptual tools and the chance to view the future from many different angles. This is a unique opportunity for hands on experience in a class at Indiana University.
Students who complete this course receive not only three hours of IU credit, but certification in Permaculture, which enables them to practice and teach the art and science of Permaculture. Students must complete an application and be accepted to register for the course. The application deadline is Friday, March 27th. Enrollment is limited to 25 students. In addition to the 3 credit-hour tuition, a fee of $555 will be charged to cover transportation, food, lodging, facilities, and some course materials. The application is available at: http://www.indiana.edu/~llc/academics/permaculture.shtml
For more information, contact:
Professor David Haberman
Department of Religious Studies
dhaberma@indiana.edu
You are invited to attend our Information Session:
Collins LLC Coffeehouse
Thursday, February 12
5:00 p.m.
Pizza and snacks will be served.
The course will be take place May 31 - June 14 at the Lazy Black Bear Retreat Center in Paoli, Indiana. The course will be run by Professor David Haberman, and taught by Peter Bane and Keith Johnson, two of the best Permaculture teachers in the country. They are former residents of the Permaculture eco-village Earthaven and are the publishers of the Permaculture Activist, the only Permaculture magazine in North America.
Permaculture is a design technique for creating sustainable human communities that are in harmony with the natural environment. It is a rapidly growing and internationally recognized design system for creating better ways of living with our life support systems and with each other. It is a set of principles and techniques that aim to create ecologically sound, economically prosperous, and spiritually rich human communities. This course provides students with innovative conceptual tools and the chance to view the future from many different angles. This is a unique opportunity for hands on experience in a class at Indiana University.
Students who complete this course receive not only three hours of IU credit, but certification in Permaculture, which enables them to practice and teach the art and science of Permaculture. Students must complete an application and be accepted to register for the course. The application deadline is Friday, March 27th. Enrollment is limited to 25 students. In addition to the 3 credit-hour tuition, a fee of $555 will be charged to cover transportation, food, lodging, facilities, and some course materials. The application is available at: http://www.indiana.edu/~llc/academics/permaculture.shtml
For more information, contact:
Professor David Haberman
Department of Religious Studies
dhaberma@indiana.edu
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Kaplan Practice Tests
On February 21, Kaplan will be offering a campus-wide opportunity for students to take a free practice GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, DAT, or OAT test administered under simulated testing conditions at the IU Kelley School of Business.
Kaplan's Practice Test is a terrific opportunity for prospective business, graduate, law, medical, and dental students to answer a critical question: "If I took the exam today, how would I score?"
Last year, thousands of Kaplan Practice Test participants assessed their test-taking skills while learning valuable strategies to help them ace the real test. Since admission to law, business, graduate, medical, and dental school is competitive, a high exam score is crucial to the admissions process.
We would like to invite you to participate in the Kaplan Practice Test Event taking place on the Indiana University campus. To register, call 1-800-KAP-TEST or visit us online at www.kaptest.com/practice.
Kaplan's Practice Test is a terrific opportunity for prospective business, graduate, law, medical, and dental students to answer a critical question: "If I took the exam today, how would I score?"
Last year, thousands of Kaplan Practice Test participants assessed their test-taking skills while learning valuable strategies to help them ace the real test. Since admission to law, business, graduate, medical, and dental school is competitive, a high exam score is crucial to the admissions process.
We would like to invite you to participate in the Kaplan Practice Test Event taking place on the Indiana University campus. To register, call 1-800-KAP-TEST or visit us online at www.kaptest.com/practice.
Monday, January 26, 2009
LAMP: Liberal Arts and Management Program
Attention Freshmen and Sophomores:
The Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP) will be accepting applications from February 1 to March 31.
Are you interested in majoring in the College of Arts and Sciences but also learning about business, management and leadership? Do you enjoy studying multiple points of view? If you answered “yes” then LAMP might be the right place for you. What is LAMP you ask? LAMP is an honors interdisciplinary program offered by the College of Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the Kelley School of Business. It allows students the opportunity to have a major in the College but take classes in the business school that enhance management and leadership skills. LAMP students are drawn from the full range of majors within the College--from Biochemistry to Theater & Drama. Students can complete either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science, and many LAMP students pursue a double major.
At LAMP, students don’t just learn inside the classroom, we provide a wide variety of co-curricular programs for students to get involved in. During any given week a student could attend a Master Class with the CEO of Clorox, have lunch with the Sudan Desk Officer from the US State Department , and attend a workshop on preparing for a career fair. We encourage students to pursue all their passions, whether that is multiple majors, overseas study, or internship experience. We are here to make sure that students can get the most out of their 4 years at Indiana University.
LAMP will be holding multiple information sessions over the next 6 weeks in residence hall and academic buildings to help students become more familiar with the program. You are welcome to call the office at (812) 856-4966 to schedule an appointment with me to chat. Or visit our website at www.indiana.edu/~lamp.
Sincerely,
Stephanie J. Gray
Assistant Director of Student Services and
Academic Advisor
Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP)
Wylie Hall 245
100 South Woodlawn Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone (812) 856-4966
Fax (812) 856-4672
lamp@indiana.edu
The Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP) will be accepting applications from February 1 to March 31.
Are you interested in majoring in the College of Arts and Sciences but also learning about business, management and leadership? Do you enjoy studying multiple points of view? If you answered “yes” then LAMP might be the right place for you. What is LAMP you ask? LAMP is an honors interdisciplinary program offered by the College of Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the Kelley School of Business. It allows students the opportunity to have a major in the College but take classes in the business school that enhance management and leadership skills. LAMP students are drawn from the full range of majors within the College--from Biochemistry to Theater & Drama. Students can complete either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science, and many LAMP students pursue a double major.
At LAMP, students don’t just learn inside the classroom, we provide a wide variety of co-curricular programs for students to get involved in. During any given week a student could attend a Master Class with the CEO of Clorox, have lunch with the Sudan Desk Officer from the US State Department , and attend a workshop on preparing for a career fair. We encourage students to pursue all their passions, whether that is multiple majors, overseas study, or internship experience. We are here to make sure that students can get the most out of their 4 years at Indiana University.
LAMP will be holding multiple information sessions over the next 6 weeks in residence hall and academic buildings to help students become more familiar with the program. You are welcome to call the office at (812) 856-4966 to schedule an appointment with me to chat. Or visit our website at www.indiana.edu/~lamp.
Sincerely,
Stephanie J. Gray
Assistant Director of Student Services and
Academic Advisor
Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP)
Wylie Hall 245
100 South Woodlawn Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone (812) 856-4966
Fax (812) 856-4672
lamp@indiana.edu
Seminar: John M. Beggs
The Spring 2009 Biocomplexity Institute Seminar Series presents John M. Beggs, Biocomplexity Institute, Indiana University Bloomington.
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Swain Hall West 238
Tea preceding the seminar at 3:30 p.m., Swain Hall West 238
Professor Beggs will discuss, "Information Flow Through Local Cortical Networks Is Not Democratic."
Abstract:
The average cortical neuron makes and receives 1,000-10,000 synaptic contacts, suggesting that cortical neurons are connected in a fairly equal manner. The pattern of information flow in such networks, however, is virtually unknown and can not be inferred from anatomy alone. Theory indicates that the presence of even a few hubs, or nodes with many more connections than average, can greatly improve the efficiency and robustness of a network. Accordingly, we tested for the presence of hubs of information flow in local cortical networks. Information flow was very unequally distributed among neurons, and the data were significantly more likely to have been drawn from networks with hubs than networks without hubs. Simulations indicate the observed cortical information flow networks are significantly more efficient in routing signals, can form more associations, and are more robust than control networks without hubs. To our knowledge, this is the fist demonstration of information flow hubs in local cortical networks. We conclude that the highly unequal distribution of information flow among cortical neurons contributes to the efficiency and robustness of information processing in the cortex.
Work done in collaboration with Alan Litke of UC Santa Cruz, Olaf Sporns of Indiana University, and Duane Nykamp of The University of Minnesota.
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Swain Hall West 238
Tea preceding the seminar at 3:30 p.m., Swain Hall West 238
Professor Beggs will discuss, "Information Flow Through Local Cortical Networks Is Not Democratic."
Abstract:
The average cortical neuron makes and receives 1,000-10,000 synaptic contacts, suggesting that cortical neurons are connected in a fairly equal manner. The pattern of information flow in such networks, however, is virtually unknown and can not be inferred from anatomy alone. Theory indicates that the presence of even a few hubs, or nodes with many more connections than average, can greatly improve the efficiency and robustness of a network. Accordingly, we tested for the presence of hubs of information flow in local cortical networks. Information flow was very unequally distributed among neurons, and the data were significantly more likely to have been drawn from networks with hubs than networks without hubs. Simulations indicate the observed cortical information flow networks are significantly more efficient in routing signals, can form more associations, and are more robust than control networks without hubs. To our knowledge, this is the fist demonstration of information flow hubs in local cortical networks. We conclude that the highly unequal distribution of information flow among cortical neurons contributes to the efficiency and robustness of information processing in the cortex.
Work done in collaboration with Alan Litke of UC Santa Cruz, Olaf Sporns of Indiana University, and Duane Nykamp of The University of Minnesota.
POSTPONED: Cognitive Lunch Abstract for January 28
The next Cognitive Lunch will be held Wednesday, January 28.
Time: 12:10-1:10
Place: Psychology Conference Room (Room 128)
"Neural Substrates of Visual-Haptic Object Recognition" will be presented by Thomas W. James, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University.
Abstract:
In humans and many other primates, vision plays the major role in object recognition. But, objects can also be recognized by touch. In fact, visual and tactile (or haptic) object recognition systems have in common the ability to recognize and/or represent objects based on their volumetric shape. The object recognition literature, both behavioral and neural, is dominated by studies of vision, so why is haptic object recognition research important? Besides determining the object recognition capabilities of the haptic system itself, studying haptic object recognition also helps constrain theories of object processing in general. Real-world object recognition can be extremely computationally demanding. The primate visual system is not isolated from other perceptual and motor systems; therefore, it is likely that a recognition system would utilize all available evidence, whatever the input modality, to accomplish its task. Studying object recognition using a single input modality overlooks the importance of the integration of inputs. To explore the interplay between visual and haptic inputs for object recognition, we used behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging techniques. The data from these studies converge to suggest that shared mechanisms for volumetric shape processing across vision and touch are found in the lateral occipital complex and the anterior intraparietal sulcus. Processing of visual-haptic shape in two separate locations suggests that the two visual streams theory may extend to dorsal and ventral streams of visual-haptic shape integration for action and perception.
Time: 12:10-1:10
Place: Psychology Conference Room (Room 128)
"Neural Substrates of Visual-Haptic Object Recognition" will be presented by Thomas W. James, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University.
Abstract:
In humans and many other primates, vision plays the major role in object recognition. But, objects can also be recognized by touch. In fact, visual and tactile (or haptic) object recognition systems have in common the ability to recognize and/or represent objects based on their volumetric shape. The object recognition literature, both behavioral and neural, is dominated by studies of vision, so why is haptic object recognition research important? Besides determining the object recognition capabilities of the haptic system itself, studying haptic object recognition also helps constrain theories of object processing in general. Real-world object recognition can be extremely computationally demanding. The primate visual system is not isolated from other perceptual and motor systems; therefore, it is likely that a recognition system would utilize all available evidence, whatever the input modality, to accomplish its task. Studying object recognition using a single input modality overlooks the importance of the integration of inputs. To explore the interplay between visual and haptic inputs for object recognition, we used behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging techniques. The data from these studies converge to suggest that shared mechanisms for volumetric shape processing across vision and touch are found in the lateral occipital complex and the anterior intraparietal sulcus. Processing of visual-haptic shape in two separate locations suggests that the two visual streams theory may extend to dorsal and ventral streams of visual-haptic shape integration for action and perception.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Marketing your Science Degree
The Career Development Center is hosting, "Making Yourself Marketable in the Sciences: How to Find Jobs and Internships in a Tough Economy."
Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Location: Chemistry 122
Description: Do you want to learn how to make your science degree more marketable? Join us to learn how to go about a successful job/internship search, resume/cover-letter writing, interviewing and how the Career Development Center can help. Discover resources and strategies that are right at your fingertips. Meet with other like-minded students and Career Development Center staff. This night should be especially useful for students in the sciences regardless of where you are in your career planning process.
Beth Kreitl, MS, NCC
Associate Director, Student Services
Career Development CenterArts & Sciences Career Services
Indiana University Bloomington
(812) 855-9888
kbethany@indiana.edu www.iucareers.com
Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Location: Chemistry 122
Description: Do you want to learn how to make your science degree more marketable? Join us to learn how to go about a successful job/internship search, resume/cover-letter writing, interviewing and how the Career Development Center can help. Discover resources and strategies that are right at your fingertips. Meet with other like-minded students and Career Development Center staff. This night should be especially useful for students in the sciences regardless of where you are in your career planning process.
Beth Kreitl, MS, NCC
Associate Director, Student Services
Career Development CenterArts & Sciences Career Services
Indiana University Bloomington
(812) 855-9888
kbethany@indiana.edu www.iucareers.com
Student Academic Center Workshops
The Student Academic Center will offer the following free workshops next week. Workshops are open to all students, and you do not need to sign up in advance to attend. However you are advised to arrive early to get seating. Questions may be directed to Sharon Chertkoff, Outreach Coordinator, Student Academic Center, 855-7313.
Monday, Jan. 26, How to Succeed in Accounting A100, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Forest Academic Support Center
Tuesday, Jan. 27, Where Does Time Go? Strategies to Beat Procrastination, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Teter TEF 258
Wednesday, Jan. 28, Where Does Time Go? Strategies to Beat Procrastination, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Ballantine Hall 321
Monday, Jan. 26, How to Succeed in Accounting A100, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Forest Academic Support Center
Tuesday, Jan. 27, Where Does Time Go? Strategies to Beat Procrastination, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Teter TEF 258
Wednesday, Jan. 28, Where Does Time Go? Strategies to Beat Procrastination, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Ballantine Hall 321
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Lecture: Mathias Niepert
Mathias Niepert, IU Computer Science Department, will give the following talk: On Implication Problems for Disjunctive Constraints.
Wednesday, January 28
4:00 p.m.
Chemistry 033
Abstract:
Implication problems occur in many areas of computer science. Examples include, of course, logic, but also database systems (constraints), data mining (association rules), and reasoning under uncertainty (conditional independence). We provide a general framework for implication problems based on the observation that many can be reduced to an implication problem for additive constraints on specific classes of real-valued functions. Furthermore, we provide inference systems and properties of classes of real-valued functions which imply the soundness and completeness of these systems. We present computational complexity results for an important class of implication problems for which a finite axiomatization exists. We also derive properties of classes of real-valued functions that imply the non-existence of finite, complete axiomatizations.
Wednesday, January 28
4:00 p.m.
Chemistry 033
Abstract:
Implication problems occur in many areas of computer science. Examples include, of course, logic, but also database systems (constraints), data mining (association rules), and reasoning under uncertainty (conditional independence). We provide a general framework for implication problems based on the observation that many can be reduced to an implication problem for additive constraints on specific classes of real-valued functions. Furthermore, we provide inference systems and properties of classes of real-valued functions which imply the soundness and completeness of these systems. We present computational complexity results for an important class of implication problems for which a finite axiomatization exists. We also derive properties of classes of real-valued functions that imply the non-existence of finite, complete axiomatizations.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Cognitive Science Visitor: George Kampis
We would like to announce the arrival of a visitor, Dr. George Kampis, to Indiana University. Dr. Kampis is the head of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Eötvös University in Budapest, and the Director of the Budapest Semester in Cognitive Science. He has a wide variety of research interests, including artificial life, theoretical biology, cognitive science, philosophy of science, evolution and creativity, mechanisms and explanations, comparative behavior, grid computing, and complex systems. His web site is: http://hps.elte.hu/~gk/.
Dr. Kampis has a Fulbright fellowship to support his half year stay here in Bloomington, and he would like to use this time to immerse himself in the local cognitive science community. So, please contact him by e-mail at kampis.george@gmail.com or visit him in his office in Informatics East.
Announced by:
Dr. Robert Goldstone
Chancellor's Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Director of the Cognitive Science Program (http://www.cogs.indiana.edu/)
Indiana University
Psychology Building
1101 E 10th St.
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN. 47405-7007.
812-855-4853 (work). 812-333-0152 (home). 812-855-4691 (fax)
Email: rgoldsto@indiana.edu
Percepts and Concepts Laboratory: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/
Dr. Kampis has a Fulbright fellowship to support his half year stay here in Bloomington, and he would like to use this time to immerse himself in the local cognitive science community. So, please contact him by e-mail at kampis.george@gmail.com or visit him in his office in Informatics East.
Announced by:
Dr. Robert Goldstone
Chancellor's Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Director of the Cognitive Science Program (http://www.cogs.indiana.edu/)
Indiana University
Psychology Building
1101 E 10th St.
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN. 47405-7007.
812-855-4853 (work). 812-333-0152 (home). 812-855-4691 (fax)
Email: rgoldsto@indiana.edu
Percepts and Concepts Laboratory: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/
Monday, January 19, 2009
Internship/Job Fair
The Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies Internship/Job Fair is approaching. Please plan on attending the Internship/Job Fair on Tuesday, February 10, from 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. in HPER Gym 163. Come prepared to meet with potential internship or seasonal summer job employers. Dress professionally and bring copies of your resume.
This is a great networking event and a perfect chance to secure your summer internship or summer job. Please visit our web site to see participating companies (with more added each day):
http://www.indiana.edu/~recpark/news/jobfair.shtml
You may contact Dr. Julie Knapp by e-mail if you have questions about the event:
Julie S. Knapp
Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies
Indiana University
HPER 133
Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 856-1068
Fax: (812) 855-3998
E-mail: julknapp@indiana.edu
This is a great networking event and a perfect chance to secure your summer internship or summer job. Please visit our web site to see participating companies (with more added each day):
http://www.indiana.edu/~recpark/news/jobfair.shtml
You may contact Dr. Julie Knapp by e-mail if you have questions about the event:
Julie S. Knapp
Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies
Indiana University
HPER 133
Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 856-1068
Fax: (812) 855-3998
E-mail: julknapp@indiana.edu
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Women in Science Research Conference
Women in Science Research Conference of the Office for Women’s Affairs
Friday March 6, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Indiana Memorial Union, Solarium
We invite you to present a poster about your research, and network with other women researchers at the 11th annual Women in Science Research Conference. Cash prizes of $100 for first place and $75 for second place will be awarded for best poster presentations in each of the following categories: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Math & Technology. Awards are given to graduate and undergraduate students, respectively, in each category so that undergraduate and graduate students are not competing with each other.
We hope to see a variety of types of research posters, including those that present:
· Key findings from a research paper you wrote for a class
· Research you are doing in a lab on campus
· Conclusions you have drawn based on a literature review
· A draft of your dissertation proposal
· Results from a past research project
· Results from research that is being updated
· Your plan for an upcoming research project
Team presentations are welcome and encouraged!
The conference is open to all undergraduate and graduate women studying Math, Technology, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. To complete the registration process, please send the attached registration form to wisp@indiana.edu by Friday, February 20, 2009.
If this is your first time assembling a research poster, the Office for Women’s Affairs will hold an optional ‘how to make a poster & give a poster presentation’ workshop for all interested participants.
ATTENTION UNDERGRADUATES! If you have written a final paper for one of your classes in which you cited scholarly research, it is very likely that you can turn this into a poster presentation.
Feel free to contact me to talk about how you can make a poster from a research paper or if you have any other questions:
Brooke Treadwell
Coordinator, Women in Science Program
Office for Women's Affairs
wisp@indiana.edu
(812) 855-3849
Friday March 6, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Indiana Memorial Union, Solarium
We invite you to present a poster about your research, and network with other women researchers at the 11th annual Women in Science Research Conference. Cash prizes of $100 for first place and $75 for second place will be awarded for best poster presentations in each of the following categories: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Math & Technology. Awards are given to graduate and undergraduate students, respectively, in each category so that undergraduate and graduate students are not competing with each other.
We hope to see a variety of types of research posters, including those that present:
· Key findings from a research paper you wrote for a class
· Research you are doing in a lab on campus
· Conclusions you have drawn based on a literature review
· A draft of your dissertation proposal
· Results from a past research project
· Results from research that is being updated
· Your plan for an upcoming research project
Team presentations are welcome and encouraged!
The conference is open to all undergraduate and graduate women studying Math, Technology, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. To complete the registration process, please send the attached registration form to wisp@indiana.edu by Friday, February 20, 2009.
If this is your first time assembling a research poster, the Office for Women’s Affairs will hold an optional ‘how to make a poster & give a poster presentation’ workshop for all interested participants.
ATTENTION UNDERGRADUATES! If you have written a final paper for one of your classes in which you cited scholarly research, it is very likely that you can turn this into a poster presentation.
Feel free to contact me to talk about how you can make a poster from a research paper or if you have any other questions:
Brooke Treadwell
Coordinator, Women in Science Program
Office for Women's Affairs
wisp@indiana.edu
(812) 855-3849
Cognitive Lunch Abstract for January 21
The next Cognitive Lunch will be held Wednesday, January 21.
Time: 12:10-1:10 p.m.
Place: Psychology Conference Room (room 128)
"Model Selection for Dummies" will be presented by Rich Shiffrin, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Abstract:
Model selection in the narrow sense is best viewed as statistical inference, although there are many larger concerns as well. Although a non-expert, I have been involved with many of the modern developments in this area, and even published (with Andrew Cohen and Adam Sanborn) a recent PB&R article on the subject. Access to this field for non-experts is a daunting task, due to technical gimcrackery, uninterpretable terminology, non-stop argumentation among experts about the 'right approach', and mixtures of philosophical, mathematical, and empirical justifications for the alternative approaches. Yet statistical inference in the modern age absolutely requires the use of these modern approaches. Thus scientists are increasingly using model selection techniques, mostly in the form of such simple approximations as AIC and BIC, often without understanding the inference issues that are involved. Even experts can lose their way and lose sight of the basic underlying conceptual issues, and non-experts often cannot find their way at all. In this cognitive lunch talk I will discuss some of the larger model selection issues, but spend most of the time on the narrow issue of statistical inference. The exposition will be almost entirely non-technical (certainly by the standards of this field), but will nonetheless focus on the two or three leading modern approaches to model selection. I hope to illuminate the core conceptual issues. (There will be ample room for experts to express their horror at any mis-characterizations I introduce, but with luck, even experts may find a few nuggets of wisdom in the discussion).
Time: 12:10-1:10 p.m.
Place: Psychology Conference Room (room 128)
"Model Selection for Dummies" will be presented by Rich Shiffrin, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Abstract:
Model selection in the narrow sense is best viewed as statistical inference, although there are many larger concerns as well. Although a non-expert, I have been involved with many of the modern developments in this area, and even published (with Andrew Cohen and Adam Sanborn) a recent PB&R article on the subject. Access to this field for non-experts is a daunting task, due to technical gimcrackery, uninterpretable terminology, non-stop argumentation among experts about the 'right approach', and mixtures of philosophical, mathematical, and empirical justifications for the alternative approaches. Yet statistical inference in the modern age absolutely requires the use of these modern approaches. Thus scientists are increasingly using model selection techniques, mostly in the form of such simple approximations as AIC and BIC, often without understanding the inference issues that are involved. Even experts can lose their way and lose sight of the basic underlying conceptual issues, and non-experts often cannot find their way at all. In this cognitive lunch talk I will discuss some of the larger model selection issues, but spend most of the time on the narrow issue of statistical inference. The exposition will be almost entirely non-technical (certainly by the standards of this field), but will nonetheless focus on the two or three leading modern approaches to model selection. I hope to illuminate the core conceptual issues. (There will be ample room for experts to express their horror at any mis-characterizations I introduce, but with luck, even experts may find a few nuggets of wisdom in the discussion).
Colloquium: Farnam Jahanian
You are cordially invited to attend this School of Informatics colloquium:
Date: Friday, January 23, 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Lindley Hall 102
Farnam Jahanian, University of Michigan, will adress, "The Evolution of Internet Threats: A Case for Security in the Network Cloud."
Abstract:
Threats to the availability and security of the Internet have undergone a rapid and dramatic evolution over the past few years. Highly visible attacks against Internet users and infrastructure began only a few short years ago with the emergence of Internet Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and highly virulent Internet worms. Today, we are in the middle of a fundamental shift from attacks that primarily target infrastructures to coordinated attacks launched from a malicious service platform (botnet) that harvest the resources of infected hosts (bots). Spurred by financial gains or political motives, attackers have become proficient at hiding themselves using compromised hosts as proxies and amplifying the power of their attacks using distributed software. The result is vast numbers of compromised computers, or bots, enabling a rapid increase in spam, phishing, and identity theft. These challenges illustrate how we are at the limits of existing detection and mitigation technologies. This presentation discusses the changing Internet ecology and the evolution of zero-day threats. I will also introduce a new security model for networked environments based on the concept of shifting security services into the network cloud. This framework is inspired by successful detection and mitigation solutions in service provider environments. The key insight is use of multi-resolution distributed sensors deployed inside the network and on end hosts that integrate data from different perspectives to reason about the security of the network as a whole. To illustrate the utility of this model, we will discuss results from two experimental projects that enable security as a service in the network cloud: the Dark Oracle and CloudAV.
Date: Friday, January 23, 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Lindley Hall 102
Farnam Jahanian, University of Michigan, will adress, "The Evolution of Internet Threats: A Case for Security in the Network Cloud."
Abstract:
Threats to the availability and security of the Internet have undergone a rapid and dramatic evolution over the past few years. Highly visible attacks against Internet users and infrastructure began only a few short years ago with the emergence of Internet Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and highly virulent Internet worms. Today, we are in the middle of a fundamental shift from attacks that primarily target infrastructures to coordinated attacks launched from a malicious service platform (botnet) that harvest the resources of infected hosts (bots). Spurred by financial gains or political motives, attackers have become proficient at hiding themselves using compromised hosts as proxies and amplifying the power of their attacks using distributed software. The result is vast numbers of compromised computers, or bots, enabling a rapid increase in spam, phishing, and identity theft. These challenges illustrate how we are at the limits of existing detection and mitigation technologies. This presentation discusses the changing Internet ecology and the evolution of zero-day threats. I will also introduce a new security model for networked environments based on the concept of shifting security services into the network cloud. This framework is inspired by successful detection and mitigation solutions in service provider environments. The key insight is use of multi-resolution distributed sensors deployed inside the network and on end hosts that integrate data from different perspectives to reason about the security of the network as a whole. To illustrate the utility of this model, we will discuss results from two experimental projects that enable security as a service in the network cloud: the Dark Oracle and CloudAV.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Student Radio Station WIUX Seeks Volunteers
WIUX 99.1FM (wiux.org) is seeking volunteers for the spring semester. Student organizations are a great way for individuals to supplement their experience and learning in the classroom with real-world opportunities.
Our informational call-out meeting is Wednesday, January 21, at 8:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts building room 015. The meeting should not last more than 30 minutes, and we will let students know how to apply or get involved.
At IU's student radio station, students can host music, news, talk, or sports shows. In addition the station has multiple committees which can supplement what students in various disciplines are learning in the classroom. Our committees at WIUX include Business Operations/Underwriting, Programming, Engineering, Music, Sports, and more.
Questions may be directed to:
Craig Shank
WIUX Station Manager
815 E. 8th St.
Bloomington, IN 47408
cshank@wiux.org
Our informational call-out meeting is Wednesday, January 21, at 8:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts building room 015. The meeting should not last more than 30 minutes, and we will let students know how to apply or get involved.
At IU's student radio station, students can host music, news, talk, or sports shows. In addition the station has multiple committees which can supplement what students in various disciplines are learning in the classroom. Our committees at WIUX include Business Operations/Underwriting, Programming, Engineering, Music, Sports, and more.
Questions may be directed to:
Craig Shank
WIUX Station Manager
815 E. 8th St.
Bloomington, IN 47408
cshank@wiux.org
IU Asian Culture Center Outreach
The IU Asian Culture Center Outreach is sharing news about ACC Programs, Student Organization Events, Employment/Internship/Scholarship opportunities and other related events with the IUB campus and the greater Monroe County Community!
Year of the Ox - "This year of the Ox is one of particular significance to the nation as it is the year in which President-elect Barack Obama was born."
APIA U: 101 Leadership Workshop (Free - Registration online)
January 21 - Martin Luther King Week presents "Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story," a Movie and Discussion
January 23 - Who Are Asian Pacific Americans? (Talk Series #1)
Topic: "Hello, My Name is Nadir Ratanaruengjumrune, but my Friends call me Bob"
January 29 - Asian American Studies Program Speaker Series presents "Perceptions of Social Support among Minority Immigrant Parents" by Professor Grace Kao, UPenn
January 30 - What's cooking this Friday?
January 31 - It's the Year of the Ox! Lunar New Year Celebration
Sponsored by IU Asian Culture Center and Monroe County Public Library
Weekly, Bi-Weekly, and Monthly Events
See www.indiana.edu/~acc for details.
Year of the Ox - "This year of the Ox is one of particular significance to the nation as it is the year in which President-elect Barack Obama was born."
APIA U: 101 Leadership Workshop (Free - Registration online)
January 21 - Martin Luther King Week presents "Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story," a Movie and Discussion
January 23 - Who Are Asian Pacific Americans? (Talk Series #1)
Topic: "Hello, My Name is Nadir Ratanaruengjumrune, but my Friends call me Bob"
January 29 - Asian American Studies Program Speaker Series presents "Perceptions of Social Support among Minority Immigrant Parents" by Professor Grace Kao, UPenn
January 30 - What's cooking this Friday?
January 31 - It's the Year of the Ox! Lunar New Year Celebration
Sponsored by IU Asian Culture Center and Monroe County Public Library
Weekly, Bi-Weekly, and Monthly Events
See www.indiana.edu/~acc
Summer Seminar in Philosophy
The 2009 Colorado Summer Seminar in Philosophy will be held July 13-31, 2009: Boulder, Colorado. Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The Seminar is intended for outstanding undergraduates who are considering graduate school in philosophy. The aim is to introduce students to the atmosphere of a graduate-level seminar, giving participants a chance to explore and sharpen their philosophical abilities before they commit to a graduate program.
In addition to offering the experience of a graduate seminar, we hope participants will benefit from meeting other students with similar interests and from interacting with prominent faculty in the field. Anyone interested is encouraged to apply, but the program is particularly intended for two kinds of students: first, for those who do not have access to graduate-level classes at their own colleges; second, for those whose undergraduate institutions are not well-known as "feeder schools" into graduate programs. The Seminar is designed to prepare participants for graduate school, and to help participants gain admission into the best programs.
The class size will be between 15 and 20. The course is highly intensive, meeting five times a week for three weeks, for three hours a day, with a further student-led discussion session in the evenings. The readings will be dense and difficult, and students will be expected to participate extensively. Several papers will be required. Preference will be given to students with significant background in philosophy who have not yet applied to graduate school.
The topic of the Seminar changes every summer. In 2009, the Seminar's topic, Identity, will focus on metaphysical and ethical questions concerning identity.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/outreach_summer_seminar.shtml
The Seminar is intended for outstanding undergraduates who are considering graduate school in philosophy. The aim is to introduce students to the atmosphere of a graduate-level seminar, giving participants a chance to explore and sharpen their philosophical abilities before they commit to a graduate program.
In addition to offering the experience of a graduate seminar, we hope participants will benefit from meeting other students with similar interests and from interacting with prominent faculty in the field. Anyone interested is encouraged to apply, but the program is particularly intended for two kinds of students: first, for those who do not have access to graduate-level classes at their own colleges; second, for those whose undergraduate institutions are not well-known as "feeder schools" into graduate programs. The Seminar is designed to prepare participants for graduate school, and to help participants gain admission into the best programs.
The class size will be between 15 and 20. The course is highly intensive, meeting five times a week for three weeks, for three hours a day, with a further student-led discussion session in the evenings. The readings will be dense and difficult, and students will be expected to participate extensively. Several papers will be required. Preference will be given to students with significant background in philosophy who have not yet applied to graduate school.
The topic of the Seminar changes every summer. In 2009, the Seminar's topic, Identity, will focus on metaphysical and ethical questions concerning identity.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/outreach_summer_seminar.shtml
Toastmasters Call-out Meeting
Are you seeking ways in which to improve your public speaking or communication skills, or are you looking to increase your chances of making a favorable impression when interviewing for that dream job? If so, you should attend the Emerging Leaders Toastmasters Club Spring Semester Call-out.
WHAT: EMERGING LEADERS TOASTMASTERS CLUB
WHEN: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WHERE: IMU Redbud Room
TIME: 7:00–8:00 p.m.
FOOD: Yes!
Toastmasters has helped millions of people improve their speaking delivery, become more confident and competent as public speakers, and prepare for their future careers. This is the one organization where you can gain expert instruction from your peers on how to improve upon your speaking style or increase the communication strengths that you already have.
Come visit. Come on out. There is no obligation to join right away; this is simply an opportunity to see how you can improve upon your delivery and start preparing early for your career.
For more information, contact:
Patrick D. Smith
Executive Director
Office of Mentoring Services and Leadership Development
Eigenmann Hall South 619
1900 E. Tenth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47406-7511
Ph: (812)855-3540
Fax: (812)856-0445
e-mail: smithpd@indiana.edu
URL: www.indiana.edu/~omsld
WHAT: EMERGING LEADERS TOASTMASTERS CLUB
WHEN: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WHERE: IMU Redbud Room
TIME: 7:00–8:00 p.m.
FOOD: Yes!
Toastmasters has helped millions of people improve their speaking delivery, become more confident and competent as public speakers, and prepare for their future careers. This is the one organization where you can gain expert instruction from your peers on how to improve upon your speaking style or increase the communication strengths that you already have.
Come visit. Come on out. There is no obligation to join right away; this is simply an opportunity to see how you can improve upon your delivery and start preparing early for your career.
For more information, contact:
Patrick D. Smith
Executive Director
Office of Mentoring Services and Leadership Development
Eigenmann Hall South 619
1900 E. Tenth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47406-7511
Ph: (812)855-3540
Fax: (812)856-0445
e-mail: smithpd@indiana.edu
URL: www.indiana.edu/~omsld
Colloquium: de Ruyter van Steveninck
What: Colloquium presented by the SPHS Department and the SPHS PhD Organization
Where: Speech and Hearing Building, Room C141
When: January 26, 4-5 pm
Speaker: Dr. Robert de Ruyter van Steveninck, Professor of Physics
Title of Talk: "Signal, noise and neural information processing:
Lessons from the fly visual system."
Abstract:
The fly visual system is very well suited to study quantitative aspects of sensory signal processing. In this talk I will review experimental data on sensory transduction and neural computation in the fly, within an overall context of processing of signals that are representative for natural conditions.
We hope you will join us for this presentation.
Where: Speech and Hearing Building, Room C141
When: January 26, 4-5 pm
Speaker: Dr. Robert de Ruyter van Steveninck, Professor of Physics
Title of Talk: "Signal, noise and neural information processing:
Lessons from the fly visual system."
Abstract:
The fly visual system is very well suited to study quantitative aspects of sensory signal processing. In this talk I will review experimental data on sensory transduction and neural computation in the fly, within an overall context of processing of signals that are representative for natural conditions.
We hope you will join us for this presentation.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Patten Lecture: Werner Sollors
The third speaker in this year’s Patten Lecture Series is Americanist Werner Sollors, professor of English and African and African American Studies from Harvard University. He will give two free lectures.
January 20, 2009
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Chemistry 122
Sollors will speak on African American Intellectuals and Europe between the Two World Wars. He will discuss in his first Patten Foundation lecture the period that witnessed the rise of communism and its transformation into Stalinism, the emergence of fascism, and two momentous "interwar wars," and numerous African American intellectuals that met their counterparts in Europe. Encounters include: Countee Cullen and Claire Goll (Paris), Claude McKay, Alain Locke, and George Grosz (Paris, Berlin, Moscow), McKay, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Leon Trotsky (Soviet Union), Horace Cayton and Nancy Cunard (Paris and Hamburg), Alain Locke and the "Black Watch on the Rhine" (French-occupied Rhineland), Langston Hughes, James Yates, and the Spanish Civil War, and W.E.B. Du Bois in Nazi Germany. Common human misunderstandings create a comedy of intellectuals against the climate of political violence in interwar Europe.
January 22, 2009
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Chemistry 122
Sollors will speak on ’Heil, Johnny’: Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair: or, The Denazification of Erika von Schlütow. He will discuss in his second Patten Foundation lecture how on August 16, 1945 film director Billy Wilder proposed "Propaganda through Entertainment" to the Information Control Division of the American Military Government in Germany, offering to make an "entertainment film," "a very special love story, cleverly devised to help us sell a few ideological items." Working with a comedy that was a Paramount Studios property, Wilder transformed it into the film A Foreign Affair (1948), starring Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich. Set against the background of ruined Berlin, the film deals with denazification and fraternization. Sollors will discuss how the Production Code Administration intervened and how reviewers responded to a movie that poked fun at what were undoubtedly serious issues.
For more information, visit http://www.patten.indiana.edu or see IU News Room article at http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/9565.html.
January 20, 2009
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Chemistry 122
Sollors will speak on African American Intellectuals and Europe between the Two World Wars. He will discuss in his first Patten Foundation lecture the period that witnessed the rise of communism and its transformation into Stalinism, the emergence of fascism, and two momentous "interwar wars," and numerous African American intellectuals that met their counterparts in Europe. Encounters include: Countee Cullen and Claire Goll (Paris), Claude McKay, Alain Locke, and George Grosz (Paris, Berlin, Moscow), McKay, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Leon Trotsky (Soviet Union), Horace Cayton and Nancy Cunard (Paris and Hamburg), Alain Locke and the "Black Watch on the Rhine" (French-occupied Rhineland), Langston Hughes, James Yates, and the Spanish Civil War, and W.E.B. Du Bois in Nazi Germany. Common human misunderstandings create a comedy of intellectuals against the climate of political violence in interwar Europe.
January 22, 2009
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Chemistry 122
Sollors will speak on ’Heil, Johnny’: Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair: or, The Denazification of Erika von Schlütow. He will discuss in his second Patten Foundation lecture how on August 16, 1945 film director Billy Wilder proposed "Propaganda through Entertainment" to the Information Control Division of the American Military Government in Germany, offering to make an "entertainment film," "a very special love story, cleverly devised to help us sell a few ideological items." Working with a comedy that was a Paramount Studios property, Wilder transformed it into the film A Foreign Affair (1948), starring Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich. Set against the background of ruined Berlin, the film deals with denazification and fraternization. Sollors will discuss how the Production Code Administration intervened and how reviewers responded to a movie that poked fun at what were undoubtedly serious issues.
For more information, visit http://www.patten.indiana.edu or see IU News Room article at http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/9565.html.
Study Abroad: IU SPEA in Central London
Comparative Risk Management: IU SPEA in Central London
This is a new summer overseas study program sponsored by SPEA at King’s College in Central London. Eligible students from other schools are more than welcome to apply.
In summer 2009, SPEA will offer two courses at King’s College, University of London: “V450/V550 - Managing Hazards in Europe and the United States I and II.” The following fact sheet and associated Web pages provide key details, including a program application:
http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/flyers/london_sum.html
Undergraduates needing more information should consult SPEA Student Services Assistant Director, Liz Peck, SPEA 240, 812-855-0635 or epeck@indiana.edu. Graduate students needing more information should consult SPEA Student Services Director Jennifer Forney, SPEA 260, 812-855-9485, or jjforney@indiana.edu.
Courses will be taught by SPEA’s Dean, Dr. John D. Graham (http://newsinfo.iu.edu – click on Public and Environmental Affairs) and Professor Ragnar Lofstedt of King’s College.
This is a new summer overseas study program sponsored by SPEA at King’s College in Central London. Eligible students from other schools are more than welcome to apply.
In summer 2009, SPEA will offer two courses at King’s College, University of London: “V450/V550 - Managing Hazards in Europe and the United States I and II.” The following fact sheet and associated Web pages provide key details, including a program application:
http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/flyers/london_sum.html
Undergraduates needing more information should consult SPEA Student Services Assistant Director, Liz Peck, SPEA 240, 812-855-0635 or epeck@indiana.edu. Graduate students needing more information should consult SPEA Student Services Director Jennifer Forney, SPEA 260, 812-855-9485, or jjforney@indiana.edu.
Courses will be taught by SPEA’s Dean, Dr. John D. Graham (http://newsinfo.iu.edu – click on Public and Environmental Affairs) and Professor Ragnar Lofstedt of King’s College.
2009 Health Programs Fair
Mark your calendar now for the 2009 Health Programs Fair at IU Bloomington.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Indiana Memorial Union – Alumni Hall
Co-Sponsored by: Applied Health Science, Biology, Chemistry, Human Biology, Kinesiology, Nursing, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Speech and Hearing Sciences.
Come find out about career choices, educational opportunities, and campus resources related to the healthcare professions. Meet with representatives from medical schools and health professions programs from across the country. Find out about volunteer opportunities and student organizations.
For information on the fair, and to view a list of schools and programs that were represented at the fair in 2008, please go to:
http://www.hpplc.indiana.edu/medicine/med-hpf.shtml
For more information, please call the Health Professions and Prelaw Center at (812) 855-1873, send an e-mail message to hpplc@indiana.edu, or visit Maxwell Hall 010.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Indiana Memorial Union – Alumni Hall
Co-Sponsored by: Applied Health Science, Biology, Chemistry, Human Biology, Kinesiology, Nursing, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Speech and Hearing Sciences.
Come find out about career choices, educational opportunities, and campus resources related to the healthcare professions. Meet with representatives from medical schools and health professions programs from across the country. Find out about volunteer opportunities and student organizations.
For information on the fair, and to view a list of schools and programs that were represented at the fair in 2008, please go to:
http://www.hpplc.indiana.edu/medicine/med-hpf.shtml
For more information, please call the Health Professions and Prelaw Center at (812) 855-1873, send an e-mail message to hpplc@indiana.edu, or visit Maxwell Hall 010.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship
This is a Call for Applications for the 2009 ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship. ThinkSwiss offers 15 scholarships for a research stay in Switzerland. This scholarship program supports highly motivated and qualified U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to do research at a public Swiss university or research institute for two to three months. The scholarship is open to students of all fields. Visit www.thinkswiss.org
Requirements
To apply for a ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship, you must:
- Be currently enrolled at an accredited U.S. university/college
- Be a graduate student or an undergraduate student who will have completed your sophomore year by the time the research stay in Switzerland begins
- Provide a written confirmation from a professor at a Swiss university that he/she will accept you for a research stay in his/her group.
This program does not provide health, accident or liability insurance. Applicants must make sure that they have insurance coverage applicable for their stay in Switzerland. While German, French or Italian language skills are not required for the research stay in Switzerland, knowledge of any of these languages would be helpful in daily life. The working language will generally be English.
The ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship program provides a monthly scholarship of CHF 1,000 (approx. USD 830) for a period of 2-3 months (CHF 3,000 maximum). By accepting this scholarship, you agree to participate in a blog to share your experiences during your research stay in Switzerland. After your return to the U.S. you also agree to involve yourself in some limited activities as student “ambassador” to promote Swiss research. The scholarship will be paid at the end of your research stay and after your final report has been received. To get a better idea, please visit: http://thinkswiss-research.blogspot.com/
If you are interested in the ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship program, please send the following documents by e-mail to the contact address below:
- Cover letter, including information about your educational and professional background, goals for your research stay in Switzerland, why you have chosen that particular Swiss university, and one reason why you would make an excellent student “ambassador” to promote Swiss research in the U.S.
- Résumé
- Letter of acceptance by a professor at a Swiss university into his/her research group
- A current official university/college transcript
- A letter of reference from a senior academic in your field of study
Application Deadline is March 31, 2009.
Contact:
Embassy of Switzerland, Office of Science, Technology and Higher Education (OSTHE), 2900 Cathedral Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008
E-mail: was.science@eda.admin.ch, Phone: (202) 745-7958
Website: www.eda.admin.ch/washington/Studying_in_Switzerland
www.sbf.admin.ch/campus-switzerland
Requirements
To apply for a ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship, you must:
- Be currently enrolled at an accredited U.S. university/college
- Be a graduate student or an undergraduate student who will have completed your sophomore year by the time the research stay in Switzerland begins
- Provide a written confirmation from a professor at a Swiss university that he/she will accept you for a research stay in his/her group.
This program does not provide health, accident or liability insurance. Applicants must make sure that they have insurance coverage applicable for their stay in Switzerland. While German, French or Italian language skills are not required for the research stay in Switzerland, knowledge of any of these languages would be helpful in daily life. The working language will generally be English.
The ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship program provides a monthly scholarship of CHF 1,000 (approx. USD 830) for a period of 2-3 months (CHF 3,000 maximum). By accepting this scholarship, you agree to participate in a blog to share your experiences during your research stay in Switzerland. After your return to the U.S. you also agree to involve yourself in some limited activities as student “ambassador” to promote Swiss research. The scholarship will be paid at the end of your research stay and after your final report has been received. To get a better idea, please visit: http://thinkswiss-research.blogspot.com/
If you are interested in the ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship program, please send the following documents by e-mail to the contact address below:
- Cover letter, including information about your educational and professional background, goals for your research stay in Switzerland, why you have chosen that particular Swiss university, and one reason why you would make an excellent student “ambassador” to promote Swiss research in the U.S.
- Résumé
- Letter of acceptance by a professor at a Swiss university into his/her research group
- A current official university/college transcript
- A letter of reference from a senior academic in your field of study
Application Deadline is March 31, 2009.
Contact:
Embassy of Switzerland, Office of Science, Technology and Higher Education (OSTHE), 2900 Cathedral Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008
E-mail: was.science@eda.admin.ch, Phone: (202) 745-7958
Website: www.eda.admin.ch/washington/Studying_in_Switzerland
www.sbf.admin.ch/campus-switzerland
Paul Klinge Scholarship
The Paul Klinge Scholarship is available to science majors. While this scholarship is administered through the School of Education, it is available to students in the College of Arts and Sciences. In fact, the committee likes to award a scholarship to a Science Education major as well as at least one student from the College. In the past, the award has been at least $2,000 for the following school year, but the amount varies.
Please visit this web site: http://education.indiana.edu/scholarshp
and look for information about the Paul Klinge Scholarship.
Applicants will need to be enrolled full time for at least one semester of the 2009-2010 school year. In other words, December 2009 graduates may apply.
For more information, please contact:
Dorothy Slota
Licensing Advisor, Undergraduate Recorder
School of Education, IUB
dslota@indiana.edu
812-856-8528
Please visit this web site: http://education.indiana.edu/scholarshp
and look for information about the Paul Klinge Scholarship.
Applicants will need to be enrolled full time for at least one semester of the 2009-2010 school year. In other words, December 2009 graduates may apply.
For more information, please contact:
Dorothy Slota
Licensing Advisor, Undergraduate Recorder
School of Education, IUB
dslota@indiana.edu
812-856-8528
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Course on Student Expression Rights (EDUC-U 495)
EDUC-U 495, Seminar in Leadership Training, is being offered under Class Number 30010 with the topic, "Student Expression Rights." The course is sponsored by the Student Advocates Office, and is taught by Clayton H. Slaughter, J.D.
The course looks at how the university is founded on free speech concepts and how the 1st Amendment plays into everything from political speech to pornography and radio to cable television.
According to class evaluations, most students rank the course in the top five classes ever taken at IU, and they rank the teaching in the top 3% of all IUB faculty.
The course looks at how the university is founded on free speech concepts and how the 1st Amendment plays into everything from political speech to pornography and radio to cable television.
According to class evaluations, most students rank the course in the top five classes ever taken at IU, and they rank the teaching in the top 3% of all IUB faculty.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Scholarships and Fellowships at Georgia State
$15,000 Fellowships and Scholarships to M.A. program at Georgia State University
The Master's program of the Philosophy Department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia is accepting applications from qualified students for two Neurophilosophy Fellowships, an Experimental Philosophy Scholarship, a Legal/Political Philosophy Scholarship, and a German Philosophy Scholarship. Fellowships and Scholarships cover tuition, provide $15,000/year for living expenses for two years, and up to $500/year for travel to conferences. Fellowships have no teaching duties. Scholarships have no teaching duties in the first year but require teaching thereafter.
Application deadline: March 15, 2009.
For more information, please visit:
www.gsu.edu/philosophy.
Announced by:
Eddy Nahmias
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
Neuroscience Institute
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 4089
Atlanta, GA 30302-4089
404-413-6117
enahmias@gsu.edu
The Master's program of the Philosophy Department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia is accepting applications from qualified students for two Neurophilosophy Fellowships, an Experimental Philosophy Scholarship, a Legal/Political Philosophy Scholarship, and a German Philosophy Scholarship. Fellowships and Scholarships cover tuition, provide $15,000/year for living expenses for two years, and up to $500/year for travel to conferences. Fellowships have no teaching duties. Scholarships have no teaching duties in the first year but require teaching thereafter.
Application deadline: March 15, 2009.
For more information, please visit:
www.gsu.edu/philosophy.
Announced by:
Eddy Nahmias
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
Neuroscience Institute
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 4089
Atlanta, GA 30302-4089
404-413-6117
enahmias@gsu.edu
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Biocomplexity Seminar: Jonathan D. Victor
The Physics Department presents the following Biocomplexity Seminar.
Jonathan D. Victor, Ph.D., M.D., Fred Plum Professor, Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medical College, will speak on, “Information-Theoretic Analysis of Neural Data: why do it, why it is challenging, and what can be learned.”
Swain Hall West, Rm. 238 (IUB)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
3:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be served at 2:30 p.m.
Abstract
Entropy and information are quantities of interest to neuroscientists, because of their mathematical properties and because they place limits on the performance of a neural system. However, estimating these quantities from neural spike trains is much more challenging than estimating other statistics, such as mean and variance. The central difficulty in estimating information is tightly linked to the properties of information that make it a desirable quantity to estimate.
To surmount this fundamental difficulty, most approaches to estimation of information rely (perhaps implicitly) on a model for how spike trains are related. But the nature of these model assumptions vary widely. As a result, information estimates are useful not only in situations in which several approaches provide mutually consistent results, but also in situations in which they differ. These ideas are illustrated with examples from the visual and gustatory systems.
Jonathan D. Victor, Ph.D., M.D., Fred Plum Professor, Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medical College, will speak on, “Information-Theoretic Analysis of Neural Data: why do it, why it is challenging, and what can be learned.”
Swain Hall West, Rm. 238 (IUB)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
3:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be served at 2:30 p.m.
Abstract
Entropy and information are quantities of interest to neuroscientists, because of their mathematical properties and because they place limits on the performance of a neural system. However, estimating these quantities from neural spike trains is much more challenging than estimating other statistics, such as mean and variance. The central difficulty in estimating information is tightly linked to the properties of information that make it a desirable quantity to estimate.
To surmount this fundamental difficulty, most approaches to estimation of information rely (perhaps implicitly) on a model for how spike trains are related. But the nature of these model assumptions vary widely. As a result, information estimates are useful not only in situations in which several approaches provide mutually consistent results, but also in situations in which they differ. These ideas are illustrated with examples from the visual and gustatory systems.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Interactivist Summer Institute 2009
The web site for the Interactivist Summer Institute 2009, to be held June 9-12, 2009, in Vancouver, Canada, is now open:
http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2009/index.htm
GENERAL INFORMATION
Interactivist Summer Institute 2009
June 9-12, 2009
Simon Fraser University
Vancouver, Canada
Join us in exploring the frontiers of understanding of life, mind, and cognition. There is a growing recognition - across many disciplines - that phenomena of life and mind, including cognition and representation, are emergents of far-from-equilibrium, interactive, autonomous systems. Mind and biology, mind and agent, are being re-united. The classical treatment of cognition and representation within a formalist framework of encodingist assumptions is widely recognized as a fruitless maze of blind alleys. From neurobiology to robotics, from cognitive science to philosophy of mind and language, dynamic and interactive alternatives are being explored. Dynamic systems approaches and autonomous agent research join in the effort.
The interactivist model offers a theoretical approach to matters of life and mind, ranging from evolutionary- and neuro-biology (including the emergence of biological function) through representation, perception, motivation, memory, learning and development, emotions, consciousness, language, rationality, sociality, personality and psychopathology. This work has developed interfaces with studies of central nervous system functioning, the ontology of process, autonomous agents, philosophy of science, and all areas of psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science that address the person.
The conference will involve both tutorials addressing central parts and aspects of the interactive model, and papers addressing current work of relevance to this general approach. This will be our fifth Summer Institute; the first was in 2001 at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA, the second in 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the third in 2005 at Clemson University, South Carolina, USA, and the fourth in 2007 at The American University in Paris. The Summer Institute is a biennial meeting where those sharing the core ideas of interactivism will meet and discuss their work, try to reconstruct its historical roots, put forward current research in different fields that fits the interactivist framework, and define research topics for prospective graduate students. People working in philosophy of mind, linguistics, social sciences, artificial intelligence, cognitive robotics, theoretical biology, and other fields related to the sciences of mind are invited to send their paper submission or statement of interest for participation to the organizers.
Mark H. Bickhard
Lehigh University
17 Memorial Drive East
Bethlehem, PA 18015
mark@bickhard.name
http://bickhard.ws/
http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2009/index.htm
GENERAL INFORMATION
Interactivist Summer Institute 2009
June 9-12, 2009
Simon Fraser University
Vancouver, Canada
Join us in exploring the frontiers of understanding of life, mind, and cognition. There is a growing recognition - across many disciplines - that phenomena of life and mind, including cognition and representation, are emergents of far-from-equilibrium, interactive, autonomous systems. Mind and biology, mind and agent, are being re-united. The classical treatment of cognition and representation within a formalist framework of encodingist assumptions is widely recognized as a fruitless maze of blind alleys. From neurobiology to robotics, from cognitive science to philosophy of mind and language, dynamic and interactive alternatives are being explored. Dynamic systems approaches and autonomous agent research join in the effort.
The interactivist model offers a theoretical approach to matters of life and mind, ranging from evolutionary- and neuro-biology (including the emergence of biological function) through representation, perception, motivation, memory, learning and development, emotions, consciousness, language, rationality, sociality, personality and psychopathology. This work has developed interfaces with studies of central nervous system functioning, the ontology of process, autonomous agents, philosophy of science, and all areas of psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science that address the person.
The conference will involve both tutorials addressing central parts and aspects of the interactive model, and papers addressing current work of relevance to this general approach. This will be our fifth Summer Institute; the first was in 2001 at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA, the second in 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the third in 2005 at Clemson University, South Carolina, USA, and the fourth in 2007 at The American University in Paris. The Summer Institute is a biennial meeting where those sharing the core ideas of interactivism will meet and discuss their work, try to reconstruct its historical roots, put forward current research in different fields that fits the interactivist framework, and define research topics for prospective graduate students. People working in philosophy of mind, linguistics, social sciences, artificial intelligence, cognitive robotics, theoretical biology, and other fields related to the sciences of mind are invited to send their paper submission or statement of interest for participation to the organizers.
Mark H. Bickhard
Lehigh University
17 Memorial Drive East
Bethlehem, PA 18015
mark@bickhard.name
http://bickhard.ws/
EEGLab Workshop Announcement
EEGLab Workshop
Many in the cognitive science community at Indiana University have an interest in electrophysiology. IU will sponsor EPIC XV on April 22-25, 2009, which is an opportunity for EEG researchers from around to world to share there work.
For those new to the field or who would like to learn more about EEG recording, a three-day pre-conference workshop will introduce a free, open-source matlab toolbox called EEGLab. The dates for this workshop are April 20-22, 2009. Slots are filling fast for this workshop (there are only 10 left, with a cap of 40 students), so now is the time to register if you would like to attend.
More information on the EEGLab workshop can be found at:
http://www.epicxv.indiana.edu/workshop.html
Many in the cognitive science community at Indiana University have an interest in electrophysiology. IU will sponsor EPIC XV on April 22-25, 2009, which is an opportunity for EEG researchers from around to world to share there work.
For those new to the field or who would like to learn more about EEG recording, a three-day pre-conference workshop will introduce a free, open-source matlab toolbox called EEGLab. The dates for this workshop are April 20-22, 2009. Slots are filling fast for this workshop (there are only 10 left, with a cap of 40 students), so now is the time to register if you would like to attend.
More information on the EEGLab workshop can be found at:
http://www.epicxv.indiana.edu/workshop.html
CFP: First Dubrovnik Conference on Cognitive Science
First Dubrovnik Conference on Cognitive Science (DUCOG I)
Dubrovnik, May 22-24, 2009
The newly formed Central European Cognitive Science Association launches its first international conference in the historical town of Dubrovnik, Raguza, Croatia. The conference is open for students doing research on all aspects of cognitive science. The core of the conference consists of five poster sessions, and four tutorial talks that present each one hot topic of research in the conference’s lead topic of this year: Language and the brain.
Poster sessions
The core of the conference will consist of student research reports in the form of peer reviewed posters. The posters shall be organized around discussion groups chaired by senior scholars. Five sessions are planned for each conference with approximately 10 posters per session. Posters will be grouped around a central topic. Sessions will be chaired by a senior scholar assigned by the organizing committee. Each poster session shall consist of two parts: a five minute presentation by each participant of his/her own poster, followed by roughly two hours to pose individual questions to the presenting author of the posters.
Tutorial talks
The tutorials shall be given by internationally well know scholars, concentrating on a given area. This talk is not merely a presentation of some specific new research, but a survey of the tutors’ own research, or of their fields, providing a general framework and message.
The following tutorial speakers are scheduled up to now.
Jacques Mehler (SISSA, Trieste. Italy): Why cognitive development deserves precocious study?
Franck Ramus (École Normale, Paris, France): Genes, brain and language
István Winkler (Inst Psych Res, HAS, Budapest) : Maintaining the acoustic internet: How auditory processes support verbal communication
Abstract submission
Abstracts have to be sent to the anonymous site ducog@cogsci.bme.hu by February 1, 2009.
The abstract should have the following structure:
TITLE
Name
Institution
Email
Text: Less than 200 words. Providing a hypothesis, methods and subjects if relevant, main results. No references. If relevant, sponsors are to be mentioned at the end of the abstract.
Key words: 5-7 searchable key words.
Submissions will be subject to an anonymous peer review, on a strictly scientific basis. 50 posters shall be selected for presentation. Out of selected papers up to 30 students from Central and Eastern Europe will have full financial support (travel, accommodation, participation fees).
Acceptance notices will be mailed around January 30.
Abstracts shall be published in a citable reviewed format in journal Learning and Perception, launched in 2008, published by Akadémiai, a Budapest based Walters Kluwer journal. Talks by the tutors, and a student presentation selected as the best will published in a later issue.
Venue: Centre for Advanced Academic Studies Dubrovnik, University of Zagreb
Don Frana Bulića 4 20000 Dubrovnik CROATIA. This downtown site of Dubrovnik is a few hundred meters from the old town, and provides both for accommodation and lecture halls.
Registration fee
General participation fee is 500 Euros. That includes accommodation, conference materials, and a 1 year membership of the CECOG.
Dubrovnik, May 22-24, 2009
The newly formed Central European Cognitive Science Association launches its first international conference in the historical town of Dubrovnik, Raguza, Croatia. The conference is open for students doing research on all aspects of cognitive science. The core of the conference consists of five poster sessions, and four tutorial talks that present each one hot topic of research in the conference’s lead topic of this year: Language and the brain.
Poster sessions
The core of the conference will consist of student research reports in the form of peer reviewed posters. The posters shall be organized around discussion groups chaired by senior scholars. Five sessions are planned for each conference with approximately 10 posters per session. Posters will be grouped around a central topic. Sessions will be chaired by a senior scholar assigned by the organizing committee. Each poster session shall consist of two parts: a five minute presentation by each participant of his/her own poster, followed by roughly two hours to pose individual questions to the presenting author of the posters.
Tutorial talks
The tutorials shall be given by internationally well know scholars, concentrating on a given area. This talk is not merely a presentation of some specific new research, but a survey of the tutors’ own research, or of their fields, providing a general framework and message.
The following tutorial speakers are scheduled up to now.
Jacques Mehler (SISSA, Trieste. Italy): Why cognitive development deserves precocious study?
Franck Ramus (École Normale, Paris, France): Genes, brain and language
István Winkler (Inst Psych Res, HAS, Budapest) : Maintaining the acoustic internet: How auditory processes support verbal communication
Abstract submission
Abstracts have to be sent to the anonymous site ducog@cogsci.bme.hu by February 1, 2009.
The abstract should have the following structure:
TITLE
Name
Institution
Text: Less than 200 words. Providing a hypothesis, methods and subjects if relevant, main results. No references. If relevant, sponsors are to be mentioned at the end of the abstract.
Key words: 5-7 searchable key words.
Submissions will be subject to an anonymous peer review, on a strictly scientific basis. 50 posters shall be selected for presentation. Out of selected papers up to 30 students from Central and Eastern Europe will have full financial support (travel, accommodation, participation fees).
Acceptance notices will be mailed around January 30.
Abstracts shall be published in a citable reviewed format in journal Learning and Perception, launched in 2008, published by Akadémiai, a Budapest based Walters Kluwer journal. Talks by the tutors, and a student presentation selected as the best will published in a later issue.
Venue: Centre for Advanced Academic Studies Dubrovnik, University of Zagreb
Don Frana Bulića 4 20000 Dubrovnik CROATIA. This downtown site of Dubrovnik is a few hundred meters from the old town, and provides both for accommodation and lecture halls.
Registration fee
General participation fee is 500 Euros. That includes accommodation, conference materials, and a 1 year membership of the CECOG.
CFP: Pro and Contra
The University of Evansville Philosophy Club and Department of Philosophy and Religion with the generous support of The GAGE Corporation are hosting our First Annual Undergraduate Ethics Conference, *Pro and Contra,* on Saturday, April 4, 2009. The Conference will be held on the University of Evansville campus in Evansville, Indiana. The purpose of the conference is to discuss and debate ethical issues in contemporary culture.
We would like to extend an invitation to any of your undergraduate students to participate and to submit papers. Submissions are not limited to philosophy students. Students in other areas such as environmental studies, business, religious studies, and healthcare sciences are encouraged to make submissions.
Below please find a brief description of the ethical issues that will be explored at the Conference. Interested students, in teams of two, should submit a one page summary statement of each of two conflicting positions on the topic of their choosing. The Conference will be set up as a debate with sides being determined by lot. Each team of students will make a 20 minute presentation of their position, a ten minute rebuttal followed by questions from a panel of judges as well as open questions from the audience. The debate will be scored by a panel of academic and community professionals.
Submissions should be sent to Dr. William R. Connolly at dc25@evansville.edu. Please include a title page which identifies the team members and their university or college affiliation. Be sure that no such information is included in the body of the statement as they will be blind reviewed. Submissions are due by Feb. 15. Selections for presentation will be announced by March 1.
If you have any questions, please contact me at the address or email listed below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Dr. William R. Connolly
Professor of Philosophy
University of Evansville
1800 Lincoln Ave.
Evansville, IN 47722
dc25@evansville.edu
Problems to be discussed:
Business: Responsibilities for Safety Overseas
You are the CEO of a modest business, ACME Furniture and Appliance Company, that contracts with a firm in Eastern Kaskasia. This country is an emerging industrial nation known for its inexpensive production costs. The per capita income level is low enough and the quality of workmanship high enough that it is an attractive choice for you to feel comfortable working with. This is a good deal for ACME Furniture and Appliances. So, your company has entered into an agreement with this Eastern Kaskasian firm to build wooden cabinets for your furniture line.
Unfortunately, you learn that the legal standards for safety in the workplace in Eastern Kaskasia are not up to US standards. There have been reports that workers have lost limbs, fingers, eyes and hands working with saws without, by US standards, proper guards and without proper eye protection. While the conditions under which they work would not be allowed in the US, they do not violate any Eastern Kaskasian law.
Should you continue this relationship? Would it be right for you to insist that standards of worker safety be up to US standards? Suppose doing so would make contracting with this firm no longer financially feasible? Were you to fail to renew the contract, there would be considerable loss of employment in this Eastern Kaskasian community. What should you do? Do you have a right to try to impose our standards of safety on them? Should your or the Eastern Kaskasian community's economic benefit be the deciding factor in your decision?
Religion in the Workplace
John is a member of a non-denominational Christian Church that encourages its members to evangelize. John works in the local J-Mart store. Aside from the complaints noted below, John has an excellent work record. However, recently management has received several complaints about John's evangelizing on the job, complaints originating from his co-workers and the store's customers. He frequently engages in conversations with his fellow workers whom he encourages to "get right with the Lord" and invites them to attend his church. In addition to initiating such conversations with customers, he also passes out church literature as well. J-Mart supervisors asked him to stop such activities, but John refused, claiming that not to evangelize was to betray his faith. As long as he continued to do his job well (which by all accounts he did), John claimed that to require him to stop evangelizing was an unjustified intrusion on his freedom of religious expression. Should John be terminated if he persists in his evangelizing? If he were terminated, would you consider this termination for cause, making him ineligible for unemployment benefits?
Environmental Ethics
In a state forest in the State of Confusion there are numerous trails for hiking, bird watching and general nature watching. ACME Entertainment Company has approached the state, a state sorely pressed for revenue, with a proposal to purchase the area. It plans to develop the area as a ski resort and entertainment community, complete with musical entertainment and gambling, legal in Confusion. Their offer is contingent on their being able to develop the area.
The issue for you to consider is not whether to approve this sale, but what should be considered in your deliberations. On the one hand, one might argue that while the forest itself has no moral or legal standing, people's interests are affected and the decision should be made to further the interests of the affected people in the community. Will their interest be furthered by the sale or not? On the other hand, some might argue that, in addition to the interests of the people affected, the forest itself has interests that should be taken into account as well. Who should represent its interests? Which approach do you think is best?
Is Health Care a Right?
While there is much disagreement about *how* to "fix it", there is wide agreement *that* the US health care system needs work. It seems to be in crisis. It is expensive. We spend roughly 16% of GDP on health care twice that of any other industrialized nation. Nearly 50 million people are without health insurance and many more are underinsured. It is a significant expense for businesses which provide health insurance for their employees, threatening their competitiveness. Hundreds of thousands of Americans go bankrupt each year due to health care expenses.
Yet, for all that financial outlay, our health outcomes, measured by things like longevity and infant mortality rank near the bottom among industrialized countries. Clearly, something needs to be done.
Before this is tackled, however, we need to ask some fundamental ethical questions. Do we have a right to health care? Is it a positive or negative right? (A negative right is a right that others have an obligation not to interfere with, like the right to free speech. If I have a right to free speech, you may not interfere with my exercise of that right, but you are not obligated to provide me the means to exercise that right. A positive right is a right that others have a duty to provide me the means to exercise. The right to basic education is, in the US, a positive right.
Others, through taxes, are obligated to provide that basic education to all
citizens.) If we have a right to health care, is it a positive right? Does the state have a duty to provide, through taxes, a basic level of health care?
Physician Assisted Suicide
Modern medicine, with its technological and pharmaceutical miracles, has provided the means to extend human life well beyond that possible in past ages. We live longer and healthier lives than ever before. However, this often turns out to be a mixed blessing. With devices that can breathe for us and nourish us and with drugs that can prevent disease from taking its final payment, we are often left to live under circumstances that few of us would choose.
In the light of these developments, there is interest in legalizing physician assisted suicide. Would you support such a move? What restrictions and regulations should such a provision for assisted suicide include?
Access to Genetic Information
With the exponential growth in information about the human genome, we are learning more and more about the genetic bases of many diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. Thanks to the advances of genetic science, we are learning about the genetic predisposition people have to various forms of cancer as well as cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. The future promises even more information.
Such information would be especially valuable to employers and insurers. It might implicate both the costs of health insurance and the prospects of a person's being able to be an effective and economically efficient employee.
The health of their workers is of grave concern to employers. On the other hand, we have a long tradition of respecting peoples' right to protect the privacy of their medical information. Should employers and insurers have access to genetic profiles of its prospective employees and clients? If so, what information do they have a right to?
Almost, But Not Quite, Genetic Matches
Every state in the US collects a DNA sample from convicted felons and forwards the sample to the FBI which loads the results into a national database. When crime detectives later investigate a crime scene and obtain a DNA sample, the sample if forwarded to the FBI to check for matches. If there is a match, the FBI informs the police and this piece of information becomes a valuable piece of evidence.
However, sometimes the match isn't perfect, but is so close that the DNA is almost certainly that of a close family member. Should the FBI inform the police of this? With this information, should the police investigate close family members of the convicted felon on the basis of this genetic information?
This is a two edged sword. On the one hand, it seems to threaten the privacy of innocent people. Should you become a suspect in a crime simply because your brother or sister is a convicted felon? Isn't that an important civil liberties issue? On the other hand, such information has been used to solve serious crimes. In England, for example, a serial killer was arrested and convicted based on a close match with his sister who had been convicted of drunk driving and whose DNA was in the British database. There is no way the police would have known to investigate this person but for the DNA evidence.
In the US this information has also been used to free innocently convicted people upon learning that the crime had been committed by another person, based on a close match with a convicted felon.
Should this information be used in criminal investigations or is the danger for the abuse and harassment of innocent relatives of felons a sufficient reason not to provide such information?
We would like to extend an invitation to any of your undergraduate students to participate and to submit papers. Submissions are not limited to philosophy students. Students in other areas such as environmental studies, business, religious studies, and healthcare sciences are encouraged to make submissions.
Below please find a brief description of the ethical issues that will be explored at the Conference. Interested students, in teams of two, should submit a one page summary statement of each of two conflicting positions on the topic of their choosing. The Conference will be set up as a debate with sides being determined by lot. Each team of students will make a 20 minute presentation of their position, a ten minute rebuttal followed by questions from a panel of judges as well as open questions from the audience. The debate will be scored by a panel of academic and community professionals.
Submissions should be sent to Dr. William R. Connolly at dc25@evansville.edu. Please include a title page which identifies the team members and their university or college affiliation. Be sure that no such information is included in the body of the statement as they will be blind reviewed. Submissions are due by Feb. 15. Selections for presentation will be announced by March 1.
If you have any questions, please contact me at the address or email listed below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Dr. William R. Connolly
Professor of Philosophy
University of Evansville
1800 Lincoln Ave.
Evansville, IN 47722
dc25@evansville.edu
Problems to be discussed:
Business: Responsibilities for Safety Overseas
You are the CEO of a modest business, ACME Furniture and Appliance Company, that contracts with a firm in Eastern Kaskasia. This country is an emerging industrial nation known for its inexpensive production costs. The per capita income level is low enough and the quality of workmanship high enough that it is an attractive choice for you to feel comfortable working with. This is a good deal for ACME Furniture and Appliances. So, your company has entered into an agreement with this Eastern Kaskasian firm to build wooden cabinets for your furniture line.
Unfortunately, you learn that the legal standards for safety in the workplace in Eastern Kaskasia are not up to US standards. There have been reports that workers have lost limbs, fingers, eyes and hands working with saws without, by US standards, proper guards and without proper eye protection. While the conditions under which they work would not be allowed in the US, they do not violate any Eastern Kaskasian law.
Should you continue this relationship? Would it be right for you to insist that standards of worker safety be up to US standards? Suppose doing so would make contracting with this firm no longer financially feasible? Were you to fail to renew the contract, there would be considerable loss of employment in this Eastern Kaskasian community. What should you do? Do you have a right to try to impose our standards of safety on them? Should your or the Eastern Kaskasian community's economic benefit be the deciding factor in your decision?
Religion in the Workplace
John is a member of a non-denominational Christian Church that encourages its members to evangelize. John works in the local J-Mart store. Aside from the complaints noted below, John has an excellent work record. However, recently management has received several complaints about John's evangelizing on the job, complaints originating from his co-workers and the store's customers. He frequently engages in conversations with his fellow workers whom he encourages to "get right with the Lord" and invites them to attend his church. In addition to initiating such conversations with customers, he also passes out church literature as well. J-Mart supervisors asked him to stop such activities, but John refused, claiming that not to evangelize was to betray his faith. As long as he continued to do his job well (which by all accounts he did), John claimed that to require him to stop evangelizing was an unjustified intrusion on his freedom of religious expression. Should John be terminated if he persists in his evangelizing? If he were terminated, would you consider this termination for cause, making him ineligible for unemployment benefits?
Environmental Ethics
In a state forest in the State of Confusion there are numerous trails for hiking, bird watching and general nature watching. ACME Entertainment Company has approached the state, a state sorely pressed for revenue, with a proposal to purchase the area. It plans to develop the area as a ski resort and entertainment community, complete with musical entertainment and gambling, legal in Confusion. Their offer is contingent on their being able to develop the area.
The issue for you to consider is not whether to approve this sale, but what should be considered in your deliberations. On the one hand, one might argue that while the forest itself has no moral or legal standing, people's interests are affected and the decision should be made to further the interests of the affected people in the community. Will their interest be furthered by the sale or not? On the other hand, some might argue that, in addition to the interests of the people affected, the forest itself has interests that should be taken into account as well. Who should represent its interests? Which approach do you think is best?
Is Health Care a Right?
While there is much disagreement about *how* to "fix it", there is wide agreement *that* the US health care system needs work. It seems to be in crisis. It is expensive. We spend roughly 16% of GDP on health care twice that of any other industrialized nation. Nearly 50 million people are without health insurance and many more are underinsured. It is a significant expense for businesses which provide health insurance for their employees, threatening their competitiveness. Hundreds of thousands of Americans go bankrupt each year due to health care expenses.
Yet, for all that financial outlay, our health outcomes, measured by things like longevity and infant mortality rank near the bottom among industrialized countries. Clearly, something needs to be done.
Before this is tackled, however, we need to ask some fundamental ethical questions. Do we have a right to health care? Is it a positive or negative right? (A negative right is a right that others have an obligation not to interfere with, like the right to free speech. If I have a right to free speech, you may not interfere with my exercise of that right, but you are not obligated to provide me the means to exercise that right. A positive right is a right that others have a duty to provide me the means to exercise. The right to basic education is, in the US, a positive right.
Others, through taxes, are obligated to provide that basic education to all
citizens.) If we have a right to health care, is it a positive right? Does the state have a duty to provide, through taxes, a basic level of health care?
Physician Assisted Suicide
Modern medicine, with its technological and pharmaceutical miracles, has provided the means to extend human life well beyond that possible in past ages. We live longer and healthier lives than ever before. However, this often turns out to be a mixed blessing. With devices that can breathe for us and nourish us and with drugs that can prevent disease from taking its final payment, we are often left to live under circumstances that few of us would choose.
In the light of these developments, there is interest in legalizing physician assisted suicide. Would you support such a move? What restrictions and regulations should such a provision for assisted suicide include?
Access to Genetic Information
With the exponential growth in information about the human genome, we are learning more and more about the genetic bases of many diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. Thanks to the advances of genetic science, we are learning about the genetic predisposition people have to various forms of cancer as well as cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. The future promises even more information.
Such information would be especially valuable to employers and insurers. It might implicate both the costs of health insurance and the prospects of a person's being able to be an effective and economically efficient employee.
The health of their workers is of grave concern to employers. On the other hand, we have a long tradition of respecting peoples' right to protect the privacy of their medical information. Should employers and insurers have access to genetic profiles of its prospective employees and clients? If so, what information do they have a right to?
Almost, But Not Quite, Genetic Matches
Every state in the US collects a DNA sample from convicted felons and forwards the sample to the FBI which loads the results into a national database. When crime detectives later investigate a crime scene and obtain a DNA sample, the sample if forwarded to the FBI to check for matches. If there is a match, the FBI informs the police and this piece of information becomes a valuable piece of evidence.
However, sometimes the match isn't perfect, but is so close that the DNA is almost certainly that of a close family member. Should the FBI inform the police of this? With this information, should the police investigate close family members of the convicted felon on the basis of this genetic information?
This is a two edged sword. On the one hand, it seems to threaten the privacy of innocent people. Should you become a suspect in a crime simply because your brother or sister is a convicted felon? Isn't that an important civil liberties issue? On the other hand, such information has been used to solve serious crimes. In England, for example, a serial killer was arrested and convicted based on a close match with his sister who had been convicted of drunk driving and whose DNA was in the British database. There is no way the police would have known to investigate this person but for the DNA evidence.
In the US this information has also been used to free innocently convicted people upon learning that the crime had been committed by another person, based on a close match with a convicted felon.
Should this information be used in criminal investigations or is the danger for the abuse and harassment of innocent relatives of felons a sufficient reason not to provide such information?
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