Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for September
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METRANS SEMINAR SERIES
Wed, Sep 07, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Cyrus Shahabi, Viterbi professor, IMSC director
Talk Title: TransDec: A Data-Driven Framework for Decision Making in Transportation Systems
Abstract: TransDec is a real-data driven system to support decision-making in transportation systems. The vast amounts of transportation datasets collected by federal and state agencies are extremely valuable for real-time decision making, planning and management of transportation systems, In this talk we will present our framework.
Lunch will be availabe for those who RSVP to tgong@usc.edu
Biography: Cyrus Shahabi is a professor and director the NSF's Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) at USC. He is alos CTO and co-founder of a USC spinoff, Geosemble Technologies
Host: METRANS
Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Eric Mankin
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Annenberg Research Seminar
Mon, Sep 26, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, Information Sciences Institute, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Kristina Lerman, Information Sciences Institute
Talk Title: The Dynamics of Information Spread on Networks
Abstract: "The recent proliferation of data about human behavior on social media sites offers a natural laboratory for studying social dynamics, specifically how the structure of social networks affects the flow of information and influence. I will present recent results of the study of information spread on the social news aggregator Digg. By carrying out quantitative analysis of information cascades on the Digg follower graph, we have observed cascades that spread fast enough for one initial seed to âinfectâ hundreds of people, yet end up affecting only 0.1% of the entire network. This conflicts with our understanding of the spread of epidemics on networks, which suggests the existence of an epidemic threshold below which epidemics die out and above which they spread to a significant fraction of the network. I demonstrate that while the highly clustered structure of the Digg network somewhat slows the overall growth of cascades, the far more dramatic effect is created by the contagion mechanism, which deviates from standard social contagion models.â
In the second part of the talk, âI argue that many dynamic processes on social networks, such as the spread of information or disease, cannot be modeled as a random walk. I classify dynamic processes as conservative and non-conservative, based on whether they conserve some diffusing quantity, and show how these differences impact the choice of metrics used for network analysis. I show that Alpha-Centrality, which mathematically describes non-conservative epidemic spread, leads to better, empirically verifiable insights into the structure and behavior of online social networks than conservative metrics, such as PageRank.â
Biography: Kristina Lerman is a Project Leader at the Information Sciences Institute and holds a joint appointment as a Research Assistant Professor in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Computer Science Department. Her research focuses on applying network- and machine learning-based methods to problems in social computing.
She also was principal organizer of the 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Social Information Processing Symposium.
Host: Annenberg Networks Network
More Info: http://annenberg.usc.edu/Events/2011/110926ARSKristinaLerman.aspxLocation: Annenberg School For Communication (ASC) - 207 (Geoffrey Cowan Forum)
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Eric Mankin
Event Link: http://annenberg.usc.edu/Events/2011/110926ARSKristinaLerman.aspx
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Game Theory and Human Behavior seminar
Tue, Sep 27, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 01:15 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, Information Sciences Institute, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Robb Willer, UC Berkeley
Talk Title: Groups Reward Individual Sacrifice: The Status Solution to the Collective Action Problem
Abstract: One of the social sciences' classic puzzles is how
groups motivate their members to set aside self-interest and
contribute to collective action. This lecture presents a solution
to the problem based on status as a selective incentive motivating
contribution. Contributors to collective action signal their
group-oriented motivation and consequently earn diverse benefits
from group members - in particular, higher status - and these
rewards encourage greater giving to the group in the future. In
Study 1, high contributors to collective action were granted
higher status, exercised more interpersonal influence, were
cooperated with more, and received gifts of greater value. Studies
2 and 3 replicated these findings while discounting alternative
explanations. All three studies showed that giving to the group
mattered because it signaled the individual's motivation to help
the group. Study 4 found that participants who received status for
their contributions subsequently contributed more and viewed the
group more positively. These results demonstrate how the
allocation of respect to contributors shapes group productivity
and solidarity, offering a solution to the collective action problem.
Biography: Robb Willer is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and (by
courtesy) Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
His teaching and research focus on the bases of social order. http://willer.berkeley.edu/
One line of his research investigates the factors driving the
emergence of collective action, social norms, group solidarity,
altruistic behavior, and status hierarchies. In other research, he
explores the social psychology of political attitudes, especially
the role of fear, prejudice, and gender identity in contemporary
U.S. politics. Willer's research involves multiple empirical and
theoretical methods, including laboratory and field experiments,
surveys, direct observation, physiological measurement,
agent-based modeling, and social network analysis. He has
published in such journals as American Sociological Review,
American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science,
Social Psychology Quarterly, Proceedings of the Royal Society B:
Biological Sciences, and Social Networks. His work has received
awards from the American Sociological Association's Mathematical
Sociology, Rationality and Society, and Peace, War, and Social
Conflict sections. Professor Willer's research has received
widespread media coverage including CNN, NBC Nightly News, The
Today Show, MSNBC, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post,
Chicago Tribune, Science, Nature, Time, Scientific American,
Slate, Psychology Today, and National Public Radio.
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Eric Mankin
