“Language and the Mind: Encounters in the Mind Fields” will be the topic of the 2014 Nora and Edward Ryerson Lecture given by Professor John A. Goldsmith on Wednesday, April 23, at Ida Noyes Hall. Goldsmith will discuss the ways in which the ideas of contemporary machine learning can shed new light on how languages can be analyzed and understood.
Goldsmith is the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in linguistics, computer science and the College and a Senior Fellow of the Computation Institute. His areas of interest include computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, phonological theory, American Sign Language and French, and the history of the cognitive sciences. He heads the Linguistica project, an investigation into the natural structure of language, at the University of Chicago.
The University faculty selects a Ryerson lecturer each year based on a consensus that a particular scholar has made research contributions of lasting significance. The Ryerson Lectures grew out of a 1972 bequest to the University by Nora and Edward L. Ryerson, both of whom were active in the University. Mr. Ryerson served as a Trustee and Chairman of the Board and Mrs. Ryerson was a founding member of the Women’s Board.
The event is open to the public. The lecture is at 5 p.m. in the Max Palevsky Cinema, followed by a reception. Please register to attend by April 22.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
