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Robust and efficient learning in high dimensions from noisy data
Get PDFAt the heart of intelligence – human or artificial – lies the ability to learn from an imperfect world. Modern machine learning systems, despite their scale and sophistication, remain brittle when exposed to the noise, ambiguity, and adversarial forces that characterize real-world data. This dissertation addresses a central question:
Can we build efficient learning systems, that not only scale – but endure ?
We take a principled approach to this problem, demonstrating that robustness and efficiency need not be at odds. Through the lens of estimation, representation, and selection, we develop algorithmic frameworks that embrace corruption while retaining computational tractability. We begin with robust optimization (Chapter 2), introducing Block Coordinate Geometric Median Descent (BGmD) – a scalable algorithm that performs robust mean estimation in high dimensional distributed (and federated) learning by aggregating coordinate wise gradients and compensating with a memory mechanism. Next, we turn to the problem of learning representations from noisy and weakly supervised data. In Chapter 3, we study the behavior of contrastive learning (CL) in the Positive-Unlabeled (PU) learning setting – a challenging regime where only a subset of positive examples are labeled and no explicit negatives are available. We analyze how standard contrastive objectives perform under PU supervision and propose a suite of methods that judiciously leverage the weak supervision to learn well-separated and robust representation manifolds. We next study the
problem of combinatorial set function maximization over discrete input spaces, a setting that arises across a wide range of applications involving constrained decisions over structured inputs. In Chapter 4, we introduce a framework that tackles this intractable optimization problem via a novel convex relaxation. Starting from the insight that common set functions can be represented as operations over corners of the unit hypercube, we extend them into a continuous domain and propose a projected proximal gradient method to solve the relaxed problem efficiently. Finally, we turn to the problem of selecting a small, representative subset of data—one that is not only resilient to corruption but also diverse enough to capture the structure of the underlying distribution. In Chapter 5, we study the task of robust -subset selection under gross corruption and introduce Geometric Median (Gm) Matching, a method that selects representative data points via moment alignment in representation space, balancing fidelity and diversity in presence of corruption. Furthermore, we show that Gm Matching enjoys a O(1/) sample convergence rate – a quadratic improvement over random sampling.Electrical and Computer Engineerin
Season 5, Episode 10: How Writing Center Workers Write : Frances Crawford
No full textUniversity Writing Cente
Harnessing artificial intelligence, education, and public engagement to improve our understanding of the universe
Get PDFOnly recently have we discovered that our universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, and the nature of this motion remains uncertain. As astronomers, we have named the cause of this accelerated expansion dark energy. In this thesis, I investigate dark energy through galaxies, which serve as cosmic probes that have left imprints of the early universe. I work to reveal this puzzle and enhance our understanding of the universe by utilizing artificial intelligence, participatory science (also known as citizen science), and new astronomy curricula. This work began with the creation and launch of the NASA Zooniverse project Dark Energy Explorers. In my work, the science and education goals work synergistically, and the quality of one depends on the other. One significant challenge with a mystery as vast as dark energy is understanding the sheer amount of data. I started with a pilot study on a small sample of Lyman-alpha emitting galaxy candidates and combined this with artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to identify artifacts. I discovered this as an efficient and effective way to clean datasets, which led to the expansion of 1.2 million Lyman-alpha emitting galaxy detections. To match this growth, I expanded the Dark Energy Explorers community and developed educational materials to foster continued engagement. To aid in building a community of scientific thinkers, I led an educational research study on incorporating climate change into introductory astronomy, resulting in students becoming more confident in engaging in scientific conversations. Arguably, training and communicating our research are just as necessary as the research itself. In this thesis, I take this approach through public engagement and improvements in astronomy education to ensure that we train and develop critical thinkers in astronomy and society. With continued work on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment, the first light from the Vera Rubin Observatory, and other telescopes on the horizon, I aim to educate, uplift, and understand how our role as humans fits into this complex and mysterious universe.Astronom
Sincerely: A Literary Essay
Get PDFThis Plan II Honors creative thesis is a work of creative nonfiction, specifically of essay. As will be discussed within the work itself, essay is a genre which has many names and identities, but is favored by unconventional, particularly marginalized, writers for its malleability, privileging of the writer’s perspective, and candor. This essay, “Sincerely”is a hermit crab essay, meaning an essay which adheres to a non-literary format, such as a to-do list, a recipe, etc. In this case, the essay is written as a series of letters and diary entries. In it, the speaker investigates her anxieties and experiences as a young queer woman writer—specifically, by investigating each of those identities (young, queer, woman, and writer) as they intersect and as they individually raise questions for the speaker. The speaker adopts a method similar to that in A Room of One's Own by using literary texts and life-writing produced by Virginia Woolf and by Louise DeSalvo, a Woolf scholar and essayist in her own right. These texts serve as a point of reference in understanding and writing through the speaker's lived experience. The creative text is followed by an artistic treatise, which elaborates on the research and process that went into the production of the text.Plan II Honors Progra
The Propaganda Model Revisited: Analyzing Media and Power Today
Get PDFThis paper revisits Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model in the context of social-media, ultimately arguing for the model’s continued relevance in analyzing power dynamics in the spread of systematic propaganda. By offering a critique and analyzing the original five filters of the propaganda model, this study explores potential modifications for the five filters to be better applicable to social-media. This study argues that the traditional theory needs to be retooled in order to encompass all of the dynamics that are found on social-media. By incorporating contemporary critiques of the theory, as well as integrating an original analysis on the topic, this paper seeks to offer a potential adaptation of the model. This paper concludes by suggesting the ongoing genocide in Gaza as a case study for an application of the retooled Propagnda Model, offering an interesting dynamic given how well the original theory works when applied to traditional media that may not hold true when used for social-media.Plan II Honors Progra
Orthobros and orthobroxy : digital colonialization of Eastern Orthodoxy
Get PDFThis thesis is an examination of the driving forces that have shaped recent trends of
Americans converting to Eastern Orthodoxy. These newer converts often defy traditional
norms and exhibit behaviors that are inconsistent with the traditional teachings of canonical
Eastern Orthodoxy. Relying on qualitative and content analysis, this thesis explores the
behaviors and digital social practices of a people known as Orthobros. I illustrate how the
phenomenon of what I term “Orthobroxy” manifests in varying digital forms including
Internet forums, videos, and memes. These manifestations are finding increasing appeal
among certain populations yet I argue that they demonstrate clear patterns of deviation
from canonical Orthodoxy. Though this notion of Orthobro is newly emergent, there is an
increasing need for scholars to analyze the growing social phenomenon and its implications
for the study of religion, gender, and digital lifeworlds.Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studie
Black minds in a white world : the impact of vicarious racism on the health and wellbeing of African Americans and strategies for addressing it
Get PDFThis study examines how the indirect exposure to racism and discrimination influences the lives of African Americans and how their mental and physical wellbeing can be shaped by this specific form of discrimination. Previous research has been conducted to dissect the impact of major social movements and the effect of direct racism on the health and wellbeing of these groups, but has rarely delved into the impact of second-hand exposure. With the rise of technology and subjection to racism through various media outlets, this issue of vicarious racism has become a more pressing matter. Vicarious racism encompasses the secondary contact with discrimination and racism through media, word of mouth, and physical proximity to a racist event. This report examines literature about the effects of vicarious racism on the holistic health of African Americans. Engaging W.E.B. DuBois’ theories on double consciousness as well as Bridget Goosby’s frameworks of biosocial mechanisms of discrimination, this report reveals the hidden dynamics of how vicarious racism “gets under the skin” of African Americans. The research examined within this study shows that African Americans who face vicarious racism experience heightened mental and physical stress, an exacerbated experience with double consciousness, and are more apt to practice assimilation and acculturation techniques as a coping mechanism. It was also seen that vicarious racism through social media exposure is a growing issue encountered by this population. Such virtual vicarious racism increases the perception of “linked lives,” creating a solidarity among those both directly and vicariously impacted by discrimination and racist events. Because of their status in social society, African American college students are a particularly vulnerable group in terms of exposure and lack of support for vicarious racism. The implications from this literature review can be used to promote more inclusive and beneficial resources for African Americans, and increase public awareness of the precarious effects of vicarious racism.Humanities, Health and Medicin
On the etymology of Rune
Get PDFThis report addresses the debated etymology of the word Rune. It outlines and assesses the three main etymologies: Germanic, Celtic, or Substrate. Thereafter, the Substrate etymology is proposed as the correct selection based on its merits described.Germanic Studie
A portrait of the artist as an old man : Clint Eastwood’s American Heroism cycle and late style in the crosshairs
Get PDFThis thesis examines Clint Eastwood’s late directorial style through a detailed analysis of his films produced between 2014 and 2024, particularly focusing on American Sniper (2014). I position the film within a variety of broader cinematic and cultural contexts and provide three lenses through which to view it: its generic lineage in Western and war film traditions, its placement in what I call Eastwood’s “American Heroism cycle” – a spiritual quadrilogy comprised of it, Sully (2016), The 15:17 to Paris (2018) and Richard Jewell (2019) – and that unofficial series’ significance in this most recent, likely final stage of Eastwood’s directorial career. Utilizing frameworks from authorship and genre studies as well as theories of late style proffered by Theodor Adorno and Edward Said, this study argues that Eastwood’s late works manifest a unique artistic tension characterized by ideological incoherence and narrative ambiguity. Central to this analysis is American Sniper’s provocative reception, its subsequent widespread misinterpretation and its place in a subgenre here called “cinema du scope,” sniper cinema highlighting complex intersections between violence, media and perception. Further, this study examines how American Sniper, incoherent as it might be as a standalone film, takes on new meaning in the context of the American Heroism cycle. Finally, this thesis explores how Eastwood’s extended cinematographic partnerships – with Bruce Surtees, Jack N. Green, Tom Stern and Yves Bélanger – parallel thematic evolutions in his work and reflect broader changes in cinematic style and industry practice. I contextualize Eastwood’s films within the fraught and longstanding "late style" discourse, suggesting that his and other similarly aged filmmakers' ongoing productivity represents a distinct contemporary artistic phenomenon, here termed “cockroach art,” characterized by sustained creative activity in the face of cultural obsolescence and industry exile. By focusing on the past 10 years, the most idiosyncratic and the least analyzed, of Eastwood’s practice, this study is a necessary addition to published scholarship on the filmmaker. By applying the hitherto predominantly fine arts phenomenon of late style to cinema, this study is an overdue bridge between media studies and art history. By formally examining the unfairly maligned and grossly misunderstood late works of an incomparable American artist, this thesis is an addendum and corrective to recent detrimental trends in film history and cultural criticism.Radio-Television-Fil
Comics in the classroom : new perspectives on teaching 21st century graphic literature
Get PDFThis report is, in essence, a proposal for an undergraduate class that could be taught at an R1 university which focuses on comics, comic books, graphic novels, and graphic literature as its object of study. The course is designed to be both introductory to the subject itself and the field of comics studies, and equally importantly is intended to function as a survey of some notable and influential works from the medium. The first chapter is a presentation of the syllabus of the proposed class, as it would be distributed and made available to students, complete with a full course schedule, course description, list of assignments, a grading breakdown, and a list of the assessments. The second chapter, which constitutes the bulk of this report, is a thorough discussion of all aspects of the class: most saliently the selected assigned comics and articles, along with an explanation of the reasonings behind decisions made relative to the assignments, assessments, and class format. This report is intended to serve as a model for how instructors might create courses that introduce students in a meaningful way to provocative and thoughtful comics, inspiring them to love and pursue the medium once they leave the walls of the academy. It is also, implicitly and explicitly, an argument for the serious consideration of comics within those very confines by those in positions of authority–a plea for the expansion of institutional support for and interest in the form.Radio-Television-Fil