Algorithmic predictions are ubiquitous these days—think of Amazon recommending a book based on past purchases. More controversial use arises when algorithms incorporate not just personal history, but information about people generally, blurring the lines of personal causation and broad, population-level trends. More and more decisions are made using machine learning algorithms, which, in theory, can…
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Northeastern will host a series of events next week in remembrance of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide of 1994, and to bring awareness in order to help prevent future genocides. Holocaust and Genocide Awareness Week, which runs April 1-5, continues the university’s annual tradition of remembering the Holocaust, and reflecting on its significance and…
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Tiffany Jieting Yu had a big idea. She wanted to start a theater festival for young, emerging playwrights, actors, and directors that wasn’t exclusive to just one institution or college—something that she couldn’t find anyone else doing. “Is this crazy?” she texted a friend. “Yes. But DO IT,” came the reply. That was in November….
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This past weekend, a young Cuvier’s beaked whale washed up on the Philippine island of Mindanao with 88 pounds of plastic crammed into its stomach. The emaciated animal likely died of dehydration and starvation, unable to get any food past the mass of plastic bags, rice sacks, and tangled nylon ropes. Scientists have estimated that 8 million metric…
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It was a new take on the college course, and it offered a different take on Brexit. In a lecture streamed live from NCH at Northeastern in London and viewed by participants in an agile “pop-up” course on the Boston campus, Northeastern political science professor Mai’a Cross offered a view on Brexit that’s not often present in…
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Katrina Haase never expected she’d be so excited to see a carton of eggs. But when the Northeastern student, a month into her co-op in Cuba, saw someone walking down her street with a dozen and a half eggs, she ran outside to ask where he’d gotten them. She dashed off to the grocery store…
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It is with great pleasure that we announce the winners of the CSSH 2018-19 Outstanding Teaching Awards: Chris Parsons, Assistant Professor, Department of History. With this award, the college recognizes Chris Parsons as an innovative and passionate teacher who challenges his students to examine the connections between historical studies and the world today. His courses…
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Criminologists have long contended that the prevalence of poverty, unemployment, and low-wage jobs in disadvantaged communities can help predict crime rates there. In recent years, they have also begun to explore the relationship between prison cycling, or the flow of people in and out of the prison system, and crime. Eileen Kirk, a doctoral student at Northeastern,…
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Emma Thornton wants you to imagine a world in which crops are shaded and fertilized by trees, coastal ecosystems protect communities from storm surges, and freshwater is purified by biodiverse wetlands. “Doesn’t it just make sense?” she asks. Thornton, a fourth-year environmental science student at Northeastern, reflected on the idea of societies someday using natural…
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Northeastern student Seaton Huang won a scholarship from the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program to work, study, and volunteer in China for seven months. The program, which is funded by the United States Department of Education to support students and faculty who want to study a foreign language overseas, brought him to Xian, China, to study at…
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