Zoom link: https://mit.zoom.us/j/91279678580 ----- Speaker: Michaela SocolofAffiliation: CPL / Levy LabTitle: An information-theoretic approach to compositionalityAbstract: A fundamental property of language is that words can be combined into larger phrases in systematic and predictable ways. This property, known as compositionality, allows language users to produce novel, complex utterances using set rules. Yet compositionality is not absolute—some structures involve meanings that combine in non-systematic ways. If we have a way of precisely quantifying compositionality, then we can investigate the relationships between compositionality, linguistic structure, and processing. This talk will present an approach to formalizing compositionality using information theory and will include a discussion of completed and potential future experiments.

Do you feel the freedom to offer – or, if you are in leadership, to receive – genuine values-based feedback about how well your DLCI is living up to its stated mission? Join us for this collaborative staff workshop in which we respond to this question with insights from Dr. Mary Gentile’s Giving Voice to Values ® curriculum.Register to secure your meal.

Speakers: James McClure (Purdue University)Title: Making linear algebra student-friendly by re-ordering the topics and adapting the toneAbstract: Linear Algebra is often an obstacle for students whose only prior experience is with calculus. I discuss a textbook I'm writing that takes a very different approach from existing textbooks. The target audience is ordinary students, not honors students. A key organizing principle is for the course to have a narrative arc, with near term and longer-term goals pointing the way forward at each stage. The arc for the first part of the course focuses on diagonalization, first for the 2 x 2 case, and then using the n x n case as motivation for concepts like linear independence. Another important organizing principle is to introduce a concept only when it is necessary for the arc—for example, the transpose of a matrix isn't introduced until chapter 18—and then to give the students an intensive experience of using the concept. Proofs are a basic part of the course, and most homework problems are proofs; however, the usual emphasis on formal language is avoided (set theoretic language isn't used until chapter 16 and quantifiers are never used) without loss of mathematical correctness. The approach is both student-friendly and mathematically rich.Zoom link: https://cornell.zoom.us/j/92415199317Zoom Link Password: olsumeFor more information on OLSUME: https://olsume.org/

Have some fun(nel) on a tunnel or sun(nel) walk! Join us for a 30-minute volunteer-led walk either through MIT’s famous tunnel system or around Killian Court. As the weather gets warmer, walk leaders may choose to take the group outside. Is the weather warm and you missed the start? Find the group on Killian Court and join in!Location details: Meet in the lobby with the big mirror, right inside the Collier Memorial entrance to Stata. Location photo below.Sun(nel) Walk Leaders will identify themselves by holding a white flag at the meeting location.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit canvas boat tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: These walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend checking this calendar just before you head out!Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.

We are living in a time of unprecedented crisis and breakdown. But amid the chaos, small "islands of coherence" are emerging—localized pockets where change makers are taking action and begin to catalyze multi-system transformation. In this talk Katrin asks: what would it take to allow existing regenerative practices to become mainstream.Based on her upcoming book co-authored with Otto Scharmer: Presencing: Seven Practices for the Transformation of Self, Society and Business, Katrin will introduce a framework and practices for system transformation. In this book the authors argue that while we see ourselves faced with a polycrisis across different sectors - from agriculture, to education, to health care, to business, technology and to governance, these challenges might share the same root causes. In other words: while most innovators and leaders think about their sector in terms of unique conditions, the actual transformation challenge, might be more cross-cutting and require an upgrade of the underlying operating system.This book is based on her work with a global NGO that leads system transformation initiatives across sectors and regions.

MIT Free English Class is for international students, sholars, spouses. Twenty seven years ago we created a community to welcome the nations to MIT and assist with language and friendship. Join our Tuesday/Thursday conversation classes around tables inside W11-190.