Seminar description
We will pursue the general (and very debatable) theme of GREAT IDEAS in COMPUTING (including some surprising algorithms). The ambitious goal is to try to identify some of the great ideas that have significantly influenced the field and have helped to make computing so pervasive.
We will concentrate on mathematical, algorithmic and software ideas with the understanding that the importance and usefulness of these ideas depends upon (and often parallels) the remarkable ideas and progress in computing and communications hardware. As we will see, many of the great ideas were against the “prevailing opinion”. The list of topics we shall discuss will depend to some degree on the background and interests of the class.
Get to know your professor
Valentina Napolitano
You can call me…
Prof.
I just can't live without…
Tennis
I just can't live without…
A bike
My hometown is…
Treviso, Italy
For my undergraduate degree…
London School of Economics and Political Science
If I wasn't teaching, I would be a…
I would love to be an architect.
What I'm working on now is…
Mysticism and politics.
Lately, something that has been exciting me about my research/scholarship is…
Possibly starting a small fieldwork in Napless.
I was inspired to get into this field because…
I lived a year abroad when I was 16.
My first-year seminar in five words:
- Gods
- AI
- Religion
- Politics
In a sentence, what you’ll learn in my course:
To think creatively and off-centric about a way in which we live in the world.
One of my favourite things about teaching first-year students is…
That they have an open mind and are curious.
My best advice for those starting their first year…
Broaden your horizon.
NAME: Chelsea Rochman.