Business Services will be closed for the Thanksgiving break beginning Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

We will resume normal business hours on Monday, December 1, 2025.
This inbox is not being monitored during the closure.

Business Services will be closed for the Thanksgiving break beginning Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

We will resume normal business hours on Monday, December 1, 2025.
This inbox is not being monitored during the closure.

If you need immediate assistance, please use the following resources:

UMBC Travel Policy Questions:  While we are out please refer to our website  travel.umbc.edu

Concur User Support (24/7/365): 1-866-793-4040

Altour: 

• NEW Booking Assistance (8 a.m.–6 p.m.)  800-333-2115 • travelon@altour.com
• In-Travel Support – 24/7  800-333-2115 • travelon@altour.com

On Language Models and the Dangers of an Algorithmic View From Nowhere

Dr. John Bai, University of Canterbury

2-3:00pm EST Monday, December 1, 2025, online

Large language models (LLMs) are stochastic text generators, trained using large scale, web-scrapped datasets. Uncritically accepting LLM outputs as "truthful" or "objective" risks perpetuating an algorithmic "view from nowhere", which hides the many human decisions involved in developing, training, and fine-tuning LLMs. This talk aims to demystify language modelling and support critical, de-colonial analyses of (human and artificial) knowledge systems.

Dr. John Bai works as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing at the University of Canterbury. He completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of Auckland and a Postdoc in the Department of Educational Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg. His research on artificial intelligence in education takes a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to examine educators' perspectives on the possible futures of education.

This webinar is part of a series on Decentering Intercultural Competence Research and Practice, organized by the Intercultural Competence Research and Practice Working Group (the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence) in collaboration with the UMBC Center for Intercultural Research and Practice.

Register here

Recording

Members of UMBC’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina, for their annual regional conference this November, where multiple members presented their work in the Technical Research Exhibition. Sophomore computer engineering student Amir Walton-Irvin, a Meyerhoff Program Scholar and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Scholar, earned first place for his research presentation.

Walton-Irvin investigates brain connectivity and health disparities in the Machine Learning for Signal Processing Lab of computer science and electrical engineering professor Tülay Adali. He uses statistical signal processing techniques to identify subclinical biomarkers that may predict neurological diseases such as stroke and dementia. 

At the conference, Walton-Irvin gave a 5-minute technical talk about his research, followed by questions from the competition judges and audience.

“Presenting research is a huge part of engineering and science that makes it accessible,” says senior mechanical engineering student Kayla Magruder, vice president of the UMBC NSBE chapter, who also gave a talk at the conference.

“I’m extremely grateful for every opportunity to share my work, and being recognized for it is an incredible feeling,” shares Walton-Irvin. “Moments like this motivate me to keep pushing research that can improve people’s lives, and I’m excited for what the future holds.”

Other UMBC students who attended the conference include mechanical engineering senior Caly Ferguson, mechanical engineering sophomore Nathan Bolima, computer science and financial economics junior Glen Larbie-Mansah, and computer engineering junior Jessica Slaughter.

UMBC’s NSBE chapter supports members with conference preparations and also offers activities such as mentoring, networking, leadership development, and community outreach.