Lecture spotlight: Measuring literary style; Atticus Adams; Jump Scares; and Harriett Tubman

In Conversation with Atticus Adams
5:30 p.m. Nov. 21, Frick Fine Arts Building

Atticus Adams is a sculptor whose work embodies the transformative power of art to create beauty, meaning, and emotional impact from industrial materials. Using aluminum, bronze, copper, and stainless-steel mesh he creates abstract pieces and installations, which sometimes resemble flowers, clouds, and other natural phenomena.

 

Pittsburgh Film and Media Colloquium — “I’m Screeeeeeeeaming: The Lowly Art of the Jump Scare”
5:30 p.m. Nov. 21, 407 Cathedral of Learning

Adam Charles Hart is a visiting assistant professor in Pitt’s Film and Media Studies Program. He has previously taught at North Carolina State University and Harvard University, and has written articles on horror film and video games. This talk draws from his forthcoming book “Monstrous Forms: Moving- Image Horror Across Media” (Oxford University Press, 2019).

 

“What is literary style and how can it be measured?” by Patrick Juola, professor of Computer Science, Duquesne University
1-3 p.m. Nov. 22, Hillman Library, Digital Scholarship Commons, G-49

Patrick Juola, who revealed J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym with Java-based software, will lead a workshop on how to use writing style to predict authorship. This workshop will present the basics of stylometry and illustrate the applications, strengths and weaknesses of traditional and computational approaches to studying “style.” No programming background is required, but participants are encouraged to bring their own devices and data and install Java and the JGAAP jar package (https://github.com/evllabs/JGAAP) in advance.

 

“Combee”: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Civil War Transformation of the Gullah Geechee
1-3 p.m. Dec. 4, 4130 Posvar Hall

The "Commemorating 1619" lecture series presents Edda Fields-Black, associate professor, Carnegie Mellon University.