On Friday, September 20th, doctoral candidate Kiran Kumar Bandeli presented his ongoing research on computational narrative analysis on blogs and social media at the EIT Colloquium.  “Blogs in particular act as virtual spaces where narratives are framed. It is therefore important to study and understand the way information is said by the actors on social media platforms,” Bandeli explained. Narratives are organized, long-lasting themes and ideas that persist in discourses. It is challenging to extract narratives from social media, and even more so to interpret them. However, developing a more effective way to study these narratives carries great implications, paving the way for strategic communicationRead More →

Ph.D. student Kiran Kumar Bandeli has been invited to speak about “Computational Narrative Analysis on Blogs/Social Media.” The colloquium will be held in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT) Building, Room 217 at 3:00pm CST. You can attend in person or utilize the link below to view the presentation from any device with online access: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/72ac95525d524120812cd25254122fbb Abstract of Talk: Social media is widely used to express views and share opinions with others. With the availability of inexpensive and ubiquitous mass communication tools like social media, creating narratives, false information and propaganda is both convenient and effective. Social media users leverage this platformRead More →

On Thursday, April 18, students showcased their work at the Student Research and Creative Works Expo and EIT Open House. Guests viewed displays of capstone projects, theses, dissertations, and other research. COSMOS was well-presented by Kiran Kumar Bandeli, Nihal Hussain, Thomas Marcoux, Billy Spann, Richard Young, Michael DiCicco, Tuja Khaund, Karen Watts, Zachary Stine, and Adewale Obadimu who showcased their work. Our team members were presented with numerous awards at the 2019 Student Research and Creative Works Expo Awards Ceremony and the EIT Open House Awards Ceremony: Student Research and Creative Works Expo – First Place: Zachary Stine Student Research and Creative Works Expo – SecondRead More →

With the start of the Spring semester, life on campus has become more active again.  The calm during the break is over. Classes are in full swing and so are activities. One of them took place last weekend, the Global Game Jam® (GGJ).  Teams all over the globe participated in the game creation spectacle including a UA Little Rock team that COSMOS’ Richard Young was part of. During a 48-hour development cycle, his team collaborated at the Contemporary Rhetorics and User Experience (CRUX) Research and Development Lab to create prototype game designs. Participating teams worldwide shared the common theme of “What home means to you”Read More →

Moving from a humanities discipline as an undergraduate into a STEM field for graduate school was not exactly easy. I am hesitant to recommend this academic trajectory generally, but have found that my undergraduate training in the humanities has been a great source of help, even in a field that seems completely unrelated. When I first started college, I had no idea what subject I wanted to major in. I had just decided to switch from an out-of-state school, where I had been accepted into their music composition program, to a smaller in-state school after deciding against music composition. In my first semester, I tookRead More →

My name is Michael DiCicco. I’m a junior here at UA Little Rock majoring in Information Science, a Technical Assistant at the UA Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, and a Research Assistant at COSMOS.  What little spare time I have is spent traveling around the country participating in 24-hour long competitions called “hackathons”. Not that kind of hack, think lifehack + marathon. The hackathons I participate in are generally sponsored by the company Major League Hacking, and their current schedules are posted on their website https://mlh.io.  MLH hackathons are really great because they accommodate participants of all skill levels. They are catered offering deliciousRead More →

As the Fall semester has reached its third week, we thought it is time to introduce you to one of our newest additions.  He has been reintroduced to UA Little Rock after graduating and returning to France. * * *  I  often get asked why I chose to leave France, my home country, and move to Little Rock. It seems strange to some people. Why move away from the “European dream” and a less stressful way of life? Not to forget the rich history and beautiful sights!  Turns out, these don’t mean much if you don’t feel fulfilled and believe you are not living theRead More →

Several years ago, I heard of UA Little Rock for the first time.  My husband was working closely with Dr. Agarwal on social network analysis research.  The work caught my interest and the possibility of earning my doctoral degree through UA Little Rock’s online program got me hooked.  Yes, it took some time to get all my ducks in a row by preparing for the GRE, getting all required documents and then actually applying for my PhD, but when the acceptance email arrived, I was thrilled.   Fast forward a few months: I am ready to start my second semester. A few more are downRead More →

  This week cosmographer Zachary Stine presented his paper “Agent-based models for assessing social influence strategies” at the 9th International Conference on Complex Systems hosted by the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge, MA. It is a unique interdisciplinary forum that unifies and bridges the traditional domains of science and a multitude of real-world systems. The conference was held from July 22 – 27 in Cambridge, MA. The paper has been published in the conference’s proceedings available here: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-96661-8_14 Stine, the lead author of the paper, is a Ph.D. student in Computer & Information science at UA Little Rock. Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor ofRead More →