How you define your research variables has a profound impact on research outcomes. This is particularly true with social, political-science and psychological research, where taxonomies are critical to the categorization and analysis of data: Psychological research depends on the DSM V definitions, for example, while political and social sciences research is frequently dependent on concepts/constructs such as ethnicity, nationality, religiosity and sexual orientation.

This project seeks to determine whether a common machine learning algorithm will identify cohorts similar to those used by PSOT researchers in their research projects, when presented with the data-sets used by PSOT researchers.

This project is a side investigation of a much bigger research project, which is an analysis of whether identity (religion, sexual orientation and/or ethnicity), contingency (wrong place / wrong time) or the political activity of victims of torture has any predictive power as to the intensity of survivor’s levels of psychological trauma (specifically PTSD and depression) and / or the arc of their recovery.

The machine learning project is a way of testing the assumption that the categories of identity, contingency and activity have any relevance at all to the clinical history of our clients.

Background

In 2008 I began a project to duplicate the technique(s) found in “Nude Descending a Staircase” using Max/MSP and any solo-dance video.

Theory

For theory, you can refer to Edward Fry’s beautiful book Cubism for a “canonical” approach to cubism. There are a dozen copies at the Strand.

Method

My approach to cubist video employs the following techniques:

• the breakdown and rearrangement of objects in space
• the breakdown and rearrangement objects over time
• different perspectives

All of these components can be found in Duchamps and Picasso. Video allows for more complicated implementations of more or less the same ideas.

This project is quite well advanced, but is being done under the auspices of the Program for Survivors of Torture. When I am finally authorized to publish the work, I will post a link here. Contact me if you are interested in this project.

My research, conducted with Dr. Kristina Jones of Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, and under the aegis of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, is on the impact of sexual assault on the level of PTSD among male torture survivors.

It was originally presented at American Psychiatric Association in May 2015. An updated version was presented at the 10th Annual Research Symposium of The National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs on March 5, 2018.

The research found that sexual assault is associated with a dramatic increase in the presentation of Post Traumatic Stress disorder among male survivors, ranging from 1.5 times to 2.0 times, depending on how narrow or broad a definition of sexual assault is used.

It is being prepared for publication. If you would like to view it, please feel free to contact me and I will provide you with a password.

Click here to view the DRAFT interactive website I’m developing with Dr. Jones based on this research using Angular and Material Design. The idea behind the project, technologically, is that research, once published, becomes static. We want to create a research project that can be updated in real-time as our evidence base changes.

Click here to view the DRAFT interactive website I’m developing with Dr. Jones based on this research using Angular and Material Design. The idea behind the project, technologically, is that research, once published, becomes static. We want to create a research project that can be updated in real-time as our evidence base changes.

Go to Course Outline

MMP350 gives students the tools to build standards-compliant dynamic web sites. Students will incorporate client-side and server-side scripting with advanced CSS to create intuitive and interactive web interfaces.

From a technological perspective, the content management system WordPress will be the focus of the course, but other web technologies, development approaches and frameworks will be actively explored. A foundational knowledge of programming concepts, HTML, CSS and design for the web, is required for this course.

Over the course of the semester students, either individually or in small groups, will create a portfolio or blog using WordPress. With the instructor’s permission, the term project may use development frameworks such as Bootstrap and Angular.js and / or content management systems such as Drupal or Ghost. For the design component of the class,students may use image editing programs, for example Photoshop, Illustrator, GIMP, Inkscape, Blender, Maya and AfterEffects. These technologies will be supported, as time allows, by the Professor, but are not considered critical pathAdd links to syllabus and course materials

Introductory Video Course Outline | Syllabus | View Student Projects

I taught this class at Sarah Lawrence College in the fall of 2016. You can see the final student projects by clicking on the View Projects link.

The Human Rights and Technology Innovation Lab considers in what ways “21^st century technologies” like voice recognition, data visualization, smartphone applications, and social networking can (and cannot) be used to improve service provision by human rights organizations, human rights advocates and political actors. The class has two primary components: weekly seminars and a final project. The weekly seminars feature discussion, student presentations and outside lecturers. The final project will be a web-based multi-media research paper and/or digital art project.

The goals of the course will be achieved through three units of 4 weeks each. The first unit will look at ways in which technology can, and cannot, be used to improve the intake process for torture victims specifically, and trauma victims generally. The second unit will ask the same questions, but from a research perspective. The final unit will focus on multi-media publishing.

Academically, the class will feature concurrent streams related to fjve different disciplines: clinical psychology, software application development, data visualization, user experience design and communications. Although students will be exposed to all of these disciplines, they will not be expected to master them all.