Information Systems Department Seminar

Subjectivity and Social Role Recognition in Meetings

Theresa A. Wilson
Human Language Technology Center of Excellence
Johns Hopkins University

12 noon-1pm, Tue. 20 Nov. 2012, ITE459

Opinions, sentiments and other types of subjective content are an important part of any meeting. Meeting participants express pros and cons about ideas, they support or oppose decisions, and they make suggestions that may or may not be adopted. In this talk, I will present an annotation scheme for labeling subjective content in meetings, as well as experiments for recognizing subjective utterances and their polarity. Our experiments show that even very shallow linguistic features, such as n-grams of characters, can be effective for this task, and that the combination of classifiers using word, character, and phoneme n-grams yields the best result for subjective utterance recognition. Finally, I will discuss the application of subjectivity recognition to social role recognition in meetings.

Theresa Wilson is a research scientist working on opinion and sentiment analysis at the Johns Hopkins Human Language Technology Center of Excellence (HLTCOE). Before coming to Johns Hopkins, she completed her post-doctoral research as part of the AMIDA Project (www.amiproject.org) at the University of Edinburgh Human Communication Research Centre. She received her Ph.D. in Intelligent Systems from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008.

Information Systems Department Seminar

Subjectivity and Social Role Recognition in Meetings

Theresa A. Wilson
Human Language Technology Center of Excellence
Johns Hopkins University

12 noon-1pm, Tue. 20 Nov. 2012, ITE459

Opinions, sentiments and other types of subjective content are an important part of any meeting. Meeting participants express pros and cons about ideas, they support or oppose decisions, and they make suggestions that may or may not be adopted. In this talk, I will present an annotation scheme for labeling subjective content in meetings, as well as experiments for recognizing subjective utterances and their polarity. Our experiments show that even very shallow linguistic features, such as n-grams of characters, can be effective for this task, and that the combination of classifiers using word, character, and phoneme n-grams yields the best result for subjective utterance recognition. Finally, I will discuss the application of subjectivity recognition to social role recognition in meetings.

Theresa Wilson is a research scientist working on opinion and sentiment analysis at the Johns Hopkins Human Language Technology Center of Excellence (HLTCOE). Before coming to Johns Hopkins, she completed her post-doctoral research as part of the AMIDA Project (www.amiproject.org) at the University of Edinburgh Human Communication Research Centre. She received her Ph.D. in Intelligent Systems from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008.

CLIMB UP Summer 2013 will be held from early June 2012 through Friday August 2, 2013 (Monday-Friday 8:30-5PM).

Highlights include...

• Orientation and Laboratory Safety Training Course
• Individualized Research
• Weekly Breakfast Workshops: Friday Mornings
• Visits to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
• Learning about fellowship/scholarship opportunities
• The “Buffalo Wing Social”
• Field Trips to Niagara Falls and other Western New York attractions!!
• Lasting friendships and mentoring relationships
• CLIMB UP Final Research Presentations
• Summer Research Day with other UB summer programs: Friday August 2, 2013.

You will spend your days in the laboratory of your research mentor, whom you will be paired with based on your research interests. We will train you in various areas necessary to safely and efficiently perform your research and related activities

Our combination of research, academic, and social activities make for an exciting and worthwhile summer experience!

I have enjoyed learning 3D modeling and how to use a 3D printer, preparing materials for a focus group with older adults on rapid prototyping and helping run a focus group. I have also enjoyed the assistance and direction of my supervisor Dr. Hurst and other students and working as a team. One of my favorite quotes is “Never let the hands that hold you, hold you down”. I am also a member of the African Student Association and planning on joining the pre-physical therapy club.

Read more about Uvonne's research by visiting the link below...

UPDATE: 2013 applications are now available!
Priority application deadline: Dec. 17th, 2012 
Final application deadline: Dec. 31st, 2012

The Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT) program at CBU provides international research training opportunities to qualified undergraduate, graduate, and medical students from socially or economically disadvantaged groups who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral research careers.

• This program offers research sites in Brazil and Uganda. Students spend 10 weeks during the summer at their designated international research site. CBU has partnered with leading scientists and universities in these countries who serve as research mentors for MHIRT students.
• MHIRT students engage in research related to: biomedical science, behavioral science, environmental science, carnivore conservation, and/or public health.
• MHIRT is a paid internship. All expenses relative to travel, room and board, preparation, and workshops are paid.  In addition, students receive a monthly stipend.
• This program has been continuously funded since 2000 by the Fogarty International Center and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health.
• The Mid-South Coalition For Minority International Research consists of the lead institution, Christian Brothers University, and the following participating universities: LeMoyne Owen College, Rhodes College, Tennessee State University, and  University of Memphis.
• Preference is given to students from participating schools within the Coalition and from the Mid-South Region; however, any US citizen or permanent resident may apply.

All applications materials must be e-mailed to Julia Hanebrink (jhanebri@cbu.edu).