AALAC/Mellon 23 Working Group on Information
Fall 2012 Meeting
AALAC/Mellon 23 Working Group on Information
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Science of Information
October 26-27, 2012
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Maps & Directions
Parking: Between Buildings 38 & 40 on Campus Map
Keynote speaker: Prof. Sanjeev Kulkarni, Princeton University & Center for Science of Information, Title: Science of Information Meets the Liberal Arts
Workshop Leaders
Deepak Kumar, Computer Science – Bryn Mawr College (Project Leader)
Duane Bailey, Computer Science – Williams College
Tzu-Yi Chen, Computer Science – Pomona College
Panagiotis T. Metaxas, Computer Science – Wellesley College
Richard Wicentowski, Computer Science – Swarthmore Collage
Agenda:
All Sessions will be held in Room 300, Dalton Hall (Building 28 on Campus Map)
Friday, October 26, 2012
11:30a-Noon: Arrivals and Registration at Wyndham Hall (Building 31 on Campus Map)
Noon-1:30 Lunch at Wyndham
1:30p-3:00p: Session I: What is Information? (Leader: Deepak Kumar)
- Introductions
- What is Information? (Deepak Kumar)
- Borges’s ‘Library of Babel’ and Information Retrieval (Enrique Sacerio-Gari, Bryn Mawr)
- Information: The New Language of Science by Steven Lindell (Haverford)
- Scientific Images: Information and Misinformation by Alan Baker (Swarthmore)
- Discussion
3:00p-3:15p Break
3:15p-4:15p: Session II: Perspectives on Information (Leader: Richard Wicentowski & Takis Metaxas))
- Propaganda, Spam and the Evolution of Search Engines by Takis Metaxas (Wellesley)
- Information Diffusion by David Liben-Nowell (Carleton)
- Discussion
4:30-5:30 Keynote:Science of Information Meets the Liberal Arts by Prof. Sanjeev Kulkarni, Princeton University
6:00p-8:30p: Reception & Dinner (at Glenmorgan Restaurant, Radnor Hotel)
Saturday, October 27, 2012
9:00a-11:45a: Session III: Curricular Excursions (Leader: Duane Bailey & Tzu-Yi)
- Life as an Algorithm by Duane Bailey (Williams College)
- From Information to Knowledge by Tzi-Yu Chin (Pomona)
- Journalism, Media & Computing by Dave Reed and Carol Zuegner (Creighton)
- Information Visualization by Dianna Xu (Bryn Mawr)
- Information Retrieval by David Kauchak (Middlebury)
- Science of Information (Deepak Kumar)
- Discussion
11:45a-1:15p: Lunch
1:15p-4:00p: Session IV: Future Directions
- Information Content in Motion by Sorelle Freidler (Haverford)
- Infomax Control by Paul Ruvolo (Bryn Mawr)
- Big Data: Moral Implications of Information Asymmetry by Tim Burke (Swarthmore)
- Repositories and Digital Libraries by Lillian (Boots) Cassel (Villanova)
- Discussion
4:00p: Departures
Participants:
- Duane Bailey, Williams College
- Alan Baker, Swarthmore College
- Anil Bamezai, Villanova University
- Douglas Blank, Bryn Mawr College
- Timothy Burke, Swarthmore College
- Lillian (Boots) Cassel,Villanova University
- Tzu-Yi Chen, Pomona College
- Eric Eaton, Bryn Mawr College
- Sorelle Friedler, Haverford COllege
- Karen Greif, Bryn Mawr College
- David Kauchak, Middlebury College
- Sanjeev Kulkarni, Princeton University
- Deepak Kumar, Bryn Mawr College
- David Liben-Nowell, Carleton College
- Steven Lindell, Haverford College
- Lisa Meeden, Swarthmore College
- Panagiotis T. Metaxas, Wellesley College
- Dave Reed, Creighton University
- Paul Ruvolo, Bryn Mawr College
- Joshua Shapiro, Bryn Mawr College
- Ameet Soni, Swarthmore College
- Doug Turnbull, Ithaca College
- Rich Wicentowski, Swarthmore College
- Dianna Xu, Bryn Mawr College
- Carol Zuegner, Creighton University
Background: Published in 1948, Claude Shannon’s foundations of information theory have paved the way for data storage, compression, encoding, and transmission for the Internet, CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, JPEGs, WiFi, iPODs, mobile phones, and a whole host of applications underlying today’s information technologies. Together with the advent of the transistor (also at Bell Labs around the same time) and its subsequent impact on the development of digital computers, the so called information age relies heavily on the principles of information theory. The past six decades have brought information theory to the crossroads of several traditional disciplines: mathematics, statistics, computer science, physics, biology, neurobiology, electrical engineering, history, and philosophy. While classical information theory focused solely on the ideas of storing and transmission of information, scientists have come to recognize that information plays a more central role that can help advance our understanding of a diverse range of phenomena in several disciplines. In 2010 the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded a 5-year Science and Technology Center (STC) to explore the emerging frontiers of the new Science of Information. This Center for Science of Information (www.soihub.org) is centered at Purdue University and involves scientists, social scientists, and humanists from Bryn Mawr, Howard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Texas A&M, UC-Berkeley, and UC-San Diego. The mission of the center is to advance science and technology through a new quantitative understanding of the representation, communication, and processing of information in biological, physical, social, and engineered systems.
In the Fall of 2012, Bryn Mawr is offering a pilot undergraduate junior/senior-level course titled, Science of Information, that introduces this new and emerging field to students. Students from all disciplines will be invited to enroll. One of the outcomes expected from this workshop will be a sharing of the course materials and, more importantly, a reflection on the content, nature, and scope of this and other similar courses being offered by participants at their own institutions. For example, At Pomona College, Prof. Tzu-Yi Chen (Pomona) recently offered a freshman critical thinking seminar titled, From Information to Knowledge. Prof. Panagiotis Metaxas (Wellesley) has offered a course titled, The Socio-Techno Web. Others at AALAC have either taught courses in this vein or are interested in creating future offerings.
Outcomes: The 2-day workshop will bring together faculty from AALAC institutions to learn about the latest ongoing research at the CSoI, to share their perspectives, and to discuss ways in which a more sustainable cross-institutional Working Group could be created. While our workshop leaders are primarily from Computer Science we seek at least 50% participation from interested faculty in other disciplines. Among the outcomes from this workshop are: collaborative creation and sharing of course materials and resources for use in courses; and a longer term, sustainable Working Group of Information. This effort, as well as future meetings of the Working Group, will be supported additionally by the resources from CSoI of which Bryn Mawr is a member.
Resources: Click here for materials related to Information
Designated Workshop Liaison
Deepak Kumar
Professor of Computer Science
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
dkumar@cs.brynmawr.edu
Acknowledgements: This event is supported in part by funding from the Mellon Foundation, The National Science Foundation, The Center for Science of Information, Bryn Mawr College Department of Computer Science, and Bryn Mawr College Provost’s Office. We thank them for their support.
