First International Conference on Computational Cultural Dynamics

Call for Papers

Computer technology is leading to sweeping changes in how we can reason about groups in diverse cultures. Examples include computer systems to aid researchers in gathering data about different cultural groups, learning the intensity of opinions that those groups have on various topics, building/extracting models of behavior of those groups, and continuously refining those behaviors through shared, multi-person, learning experiences.

These developments are inherently cross-disciplinary. They blend the behavioral and social sciences—fields such as political science, psychology, journalism, anthropology, and sociology—with technological fields such as computer science, computational linguistics, game theory, and operations research.

Currently, many of these research communities are largely unconnected. There is a need to bring them together to help forge a common understanding of principles, techniques, and application areas. That is the purpose of this conference.

Papers are solicited on computational models for cultural dynamics, and also on applications where such models may be expected to be useful in enhancing cultural sensitivity. Examples of the latter are (but are not restricted to):

• understanding the social patterns that influence the spread of diseases;
• understanding other cultures in order to facilitate international collaboration;
• preventing crime and reducing conflict;
• enhancing understanding the performance of governmental and non-governmental organizations;
• improving the quality of life among groups in diverse multi-ethnic societies;
• assessing the effectiveness of aid programs in a cultural context;
• aiding governmental missions that involve contact with diverse cultural groups;
• recovery from conflicts and disasters.

Program chairs:

• Dana Nau, Computer Science, University of Maryland
• Jonathan Wilkenfeld, Government and Politics, University of Maryland

Program committee:

• Gary Ackerman, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland
• Kirstie Bellman, Aerospace Corporation
• Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, Computational Social Sciences, George Mason University
• Sarit Kraus, Computer Science, Bar-Ilan University
• Arie Kruglanski, Psychology, University of Maryland
• Shahmahmood Miakhel, UN Mission to Afghanistan
• Jennifer Perry, Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Antonio Picariello, Computer Science, University of Naples
• Barry Silverman, Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
• V.S. Subrahmanian, Computer Science, University of Maryland
• Amy Weinberg, Linguistics, University of Maryland

Paper Submission and Publication:

Authors are invited to submit 10-page extended abstracts, for review by the program committee. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, which will be published by AAAI.

Deadlines:

• April 25, 2007: extended abstracts due (please note new due date)
• May 20, 2007: notification of acceptance/rejection
• June 17, 2007: final camera-ready submissions due
• June 22, 2007: deadline for early registration at reduced fee
• August 27, 2007: conference starts
• August 28, 2007: conference ends

This conference is sponsored by the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), and the Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics (LCCD).