Rebecca Nesson
Candidate for Ph.D. in Computer Science (June 2009!)
Harvard University

Home
Cambridge

Work
Maxwell-Dworkin 240
33 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Email
rebeccanesson at gmail.com
nesson at seas.harvard.edu

Curriculum Vitae
Research Statement
Teaching Statement

Computational Linguistics and Computer Science

I am a candidate for Ph.D. in Computer Science at Harvard University. My advisor is Professor Stuart Shieber. I study computational linguistics and do research in the area of synchronous grammar formalisms and applications to computational semantics and machine translation

Publications

Rebecca Nesson, Giorgio Satta, and Stuart Shieber. Complexity, Parsing, and Factorization of Tree-Local Multi-Component Tree-Adjoining Grammar. Currently under review at Computational
Linguistics. Also available as Technical Report TR-05-08, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2008. [.pdf]

Rebecca Nesson, Giorgio Satta, and Stuart Shieber. Optimal k-arization of Synchronous Tree-Adjoining Grammar. In Proceedings of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL-2008), Columbus, OH. June, 2008. [(preprint) .pdf]

Rebecca Nesson and Stuart Shieber. Synchronous Vector-TAG for Natural Language Syntax and Semantics. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Workshop on Tree Adjoining Grammars and Related Formalisms (TAG+ 9), Tübingen, Germany, 7-8 June 2008. [(preprint) .pdf]

Rebecca Nesson and Stuart Shieber. Extraction Phenomena in Synchronous TAG Syntax and Semantics. In Dekai Wu and David Chiang, editors, Proceedings of the Workshop on Syntax and Structure in Statistical Translation, Rochester, New York, 26 April 2007. [.pdf|bib]

Rebecca Nesson, Stuart M. Shieber, and Alexander Rush. Induction of probabilistic synchronous tree-insertion grammars for machine translation. In Proceedings of the 7th Conference of the Association for Machine Translation in the Americas (AMTA 2006), Boston, Massachusetts, 8-12 August 2006. [.pdf|bib]

Rebecca Nesson and Stuart M. Shieber. Simpler TAG semantics through synchronization. In Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Formal Grammar, Malaga, Spain, 29-30 July 2006. [.pdf|bib]

Rebecca Nesson, Alexander Rush, and Stuart M. Shieber. Induction of probabilistic synchronous tree-insertion grammars. Technical Report TR-20-05, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2005. [.pdf|bib]

Teaching

  • Head Teaching Fellow, CS287r: Natural Language Processing, Harvard University, Spring 2008, Spring 2006.
  • Head Teaching Fellow, CSCI S-111: Intensive Introduction to Computer Science Using Java, Harvard Summer School, Summer 2008, Summer 2007.
  • Teaching Fellow, CS121: Theory of Computation, Harvard University, Fall 2007, Fall 2002.
  • Head Teaching Fellow, CSCI S-1: Introduction to Computer Science Using Java, Harvard Summer School, Summer 2006, Summer 2005, Summer 2004.
  • Teaching Fellow, CS187: Natural Language Processing, Harvard University, Fall 2003, Spring 2005.
  • Head Teaching Fellow, Computer Science 51: Introduction to Computer Science II, Harvard University, Spring 2002
  • Teaching Fellow, Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science I, Harvard University, Fall
    2001

Internet & Society, Virtual Worlds for Education and Collaboration and Berkman Island

My unusual background as a lawyer and computer scientist fits right in at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society where over time I have been a student affiliate, a research fellow, and an affiliate. Through the Berkman Center and the Harvard Extension School I have taught courses on Internet & Society, managed the Berkman Center's presence in the virtual world of Second Life, worked to develop and deploy tools for remote participation in events and courses, and researched the potentials of virtual worlds for education.

Publications

Rebecca Nesson and Charles Nesson. In the Virtual Classroom: An Ethnographic Argument for Education in Virtual Worlds. Space and Culture. Sage Publications. 2008. [(preprint) .pdf]

Teaching

  • Instructor, Virtual Worlds, Harvard Extension School, Fall 2007.
  • Instructor, CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion, Harvard Extension School, Fall 2006.
  • Internet & Society: the Technologies and Politics of Control, Harvard Extension School, Spring 2003, Spring 2002.

Berkman Island

Universities are great repositories of knowledge and enthusiasm about education. Yet academics are frequently dismissed as out of touch with the public. Perhaps this is because we don't make more effort to be in touch and to share what we have to offer. What's more, opening our courses to the public offers great potential for improving the experience and education of our enrolled students.

At the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School we are putting this ideology into practice on Berkman Island in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. We offer courses to enrolled students and the public at-large as well as shorter duration educational experiences, such as moot courts and moderated discussions.

I'm basically the doyenne of Berkman Island (via my avatar Rebecca Berkman) and I'm free to imagine, plan, and execute whatever we want do. The interest and excitement is wonderful. Join us!

Other Projects and Software

  • Sheep Beats: a Flash animated sequencer for teaching kids (and fun)
  • The Question Tool: a question/comment aggregator that bubbles the most salient questions to the top. I worked on design and have used it in teaching but I am not one of the coders on this.
  • The Rotisserie: a system for generating one-on-one peer response/feedback for students. Again, I worked on design and used it in teaching but am not one of the coders

Organic Community Farming

Participation in my community is important to me and community organic farming offers me the opportunity to contribute on several critical fronts: environmental preservation, food security and education, land preservation, and health. I am a member of the Board of Directors of Waltham Fields Community Farm, the chair person of our Finance Committee, a CSA shareholder, and a volunteer field worker when i can find the time. Waltham Fields is a 350 member CSA that also donates many thousands of pounds of fresh, organic produce to local shelters and other organizations and provides education and farm experience to students, volunteers, and staff.

 

Personal

I live in Cambridge with my husband Wayne and my daughter Nico (shown above). We are expecting a second (and final) child in March, 2009. Wayne and I are both born and raised in Cambridge and hope to stay here near our extended family.