Understanding Institutions by Analyzing Interactions
It is common to think about critical public institutions such as “the police” or “the justice system” as abstract monoliths. Ultimately, however, these institutions are in large part an aggregate of many person-to-person interactions, often primarily conducted in the medium of language. In my work, I use tools from computational linguistics and sociolinguistics to measure large-scale linguistic trends in institutional settings and quantify disparate impact along social divisions such as race.
In this talk, I will discuss a line of work on police-community interaction using computational models to analyze police body-worn camera footage in this way, addressing both procedural justice considerations related to interpersonal treatment as well as concrete issues of policy compliance and constitutionality. I will also describe the early stages of related work applying similar methods to 911 calls.
This lecture will also be live streamed via Zoom. You are welcome to join us either in South Hall or online.
For online participants
Online participants must have a Zoom account and be logged in. Sign up for your free account here. If this is your first time using Zoom, please allow a few extra minutes to download and install the browser plugin or mobile app.
Speaker
Rob Voigt
Rob Voigt is a computational sociolinguist who applies contemporary natural-language processing methods to questions about the linguistic mechanisms of the social world.
He is interested in natural language processing, social meaning, sociophonetics and interactional variation, Chinese and Japanese linguistics, gesture and embodiment, and applications of linguistic research to social good. He is particularly interested in using computational methods to understand the linguistic mechanisms of social problems in domains like policing, gun violence, immigration, and mental health.
Voigt is an assistant professor at UC Davis Linguistics, where he directs the Linguistic Mechanisms Lab.
Contact
If you have questions about this event, please contact Kimmy Fox.
Getting to South Hall
Accessibility
If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting, CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about mobility access in order to fully participate in this event, please contact Heather Rapp with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7–10 days in advance of the event.
