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Department Events & Announcements

Events

• Oct

  3

  CS Seminar: Behavior-Bound Machine Learning (Kawin Ethayarajh)

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  12:00 PM Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  Thursday / CS Seminar
  October 3rd / 12:00 PM
  Hybrid / Mudd 3514

  Speaker
  Kawin Ethayarajh

  Talk Title
  Behavior-Bound Machine Learning

  Abstract
  We have long accepted that machine learning is bottlenecked by what hardware and software can do; we often discuss whether a process is memory-bound or compute-bound, for example. In this talk, I propose that machine learning is also behavior-bound: i.e., what it can accomplish is often circumscribed by the behavior of real-world actors such as workers, firms, and states. The behavior of these actors is only partially observable, hard to change, and often conflicts with that of other actors. My work formalizes these behaviors so that we can build machine learning pipelines that work as well in the real world as they do on paper, with actual humans and not just idealized ones. In this talk, I will discuss: (1) how to overcome the principal-agent problem in dataset creation to create datasets as complex as real-world problems; (2) how Kahneman & Tversky's prospect theory enables us to better align models with human feedback; (3) how to do cost-sensitive evaluation that better captures how firms choose among models in practice.

  Biography
  Kawin Ethayarajh is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton Language and Intelligence (PLI), where he works on behavioral machine learning. He received a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University, where he was advised by Dan Jurafsky. Prior to that, he was a National Scholar at the University of Toronto, where he received a BSc and MSc in Computer Science. His work has been recognized with a Facebook (Meta) Fellowship and an Outstanding Paper award at ICML 2022.

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  Zoom: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/96280259503
  Panopto: https://northwestern.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=c29e2db7-f445-4437-9290-b1ef00f262af
  DEI Minute: Colorblind Accessibility https://chemistry.northwestern.edu/documents/colorblind-accessibility.pdf

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  TIME Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

  LOCATION Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Aug

  20

  Alumni Education Webinar: McCormick School of Engineering's Strategic Vision

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  12:00 PM

  EVENT DETAILS

  Join us to explore the McCormick School of Engineering’s strategic vision and its vital role in advancing Northwestern’s top priorities. From groundbreaking research to transformative education, Northwestern Engineering is shaping solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges and working to advance Northwestern. During this presentation, you will learn directly from Dean Christopher Schuh on how our alumni community can come together to amplify this impact—through engagement, mentorship, philanthropy, and industry connections. Learn how your involvement can help unlock bold ideas and ensure Northwestern remains a global leader in engineering and beyond.

  Event Contact Info

  NAA Alumni Education
  alumnieducation@northwestern.edu

  Register Now

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  TIME Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  8

  Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  9:00 AM LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free light breakfast on the Tech East Plaza will follow.

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  TIME Monday, September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

  LOCATION LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  12

  New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

  University Academic Calendar

  All Day

  EVENT DETAILS

  New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

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  TIME Friday, September 12, 2025

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  CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

• Sep

  15

  Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  11:00 AM Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free lunch on the Tech East Plaza will follow.

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  TIME Monday, September 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

  LOCATION Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  16

  Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

  University Academic Calendar

  All Day

  EVENT DETAILS

  Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

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  TIME Tuesday, September 16, 2025

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  CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

• Sep

  25

  Bagel Thursday

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  9:00 AM

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)