MITH is pleased to announce a call for participation for its NEH-funded workshop on Topic Modeling for Humanities Research. This one-day event will take place Saturday, November 3, 2012 from 9 am to 5 pm on the campus of the University of Maryland.
Topic Modeling for Humanities Research will be a unique opportunity for cross-fertilization, information exchange, and collaboration between and among humanities scholars and researchers in natural language processing on the subject of topic modeling applications and methods. The workshop will be organized into three primary areas: 1) an overview of how topic modeling is currently being used in the humanities; 2) an inventory of topic modeling methods that have particular relevance for humanities research questions; and 3) a discussion of software implementations, toolkits, and applications. The workshop is designed to foster collaboration between these communities by providing humanities scholars with a deeper understanding of latent variable modeling methods (and best practices for their interpretation), and by articulating fundamental literary and historical questions for researchers outside of the humanities who are developing the models and methods. The organizers encourage applications from faculty, staff, and graduate students, as well as other academics and members of the general public with a serious interest in natural language processing, topic modeling, and the literary and historical questions that intersect with these research areas. Confirmed speakers include: Matthew Jockers of the University of Nebraska, David Mimno of Princeton University, Rob Nelson of the University of Richmond, Jordan Boyd-Graber of the University of Maryland, and more.
To apply to attend the Topic Modeling Workshop, please visit here. Applications should include an application statement (may consist of up to 2 pages) and a current curriculum vitae.** Applications Due: August 13th**
The application statement should directly address the following questions: 1) How will participation in this workshop further your career advancement? Please include a statement of any current projects in topic modeling and skills you might bring to the workshop. 2) What do you see yourself accomplishing through participation in the workshop? 3) What kinds of work do you anticipate doing in related areas of research after the workshop?
Participants will be selected based on these criteria with each area being weighted equally. Notification of selection will be made by September 1st. For more information including FAQ, please visit: http://www.mith.umd.edu/topicmodeling or tweet us at @UMD_MITH hastag #DHtopic