Where: Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities When: Saturday, November 3, 2012 Times: 09:00 am – 05:00 pm Twitter: #dhtopic

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 click here. Applications should include an application statement (may consist of up to 2 pages) and a current curriculum vitae. 

Applications Due: August 27, 2012

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 resources might you anticipate contributing to potential areas of research and development within applications, extensions, and implementation of topic modeling post-workshop?
4. 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 FAQs, please visit the event website or tweet us at @UMD_MITH hashtag #DHtopic