Abstract
UPDATE: The event was held successfully! You can find the slides here.
The Department of Linguistics and the Robert Henderson Language Media Center proudly present “Careers in Language Data: How to prepare our language students for the data-focused job future," a symposium in celebration of Pitt's Year of Data and Society.
"Language data specialist", "Language engineer"... Did you know companies are hiring for these job roles? Industry news outlets are taking notice (“Linguists Wanted! 10 language jobs big tech is hiring for right now”, Nov 24 2021), and so should you! We invite undergrad and grad students studying language, faculty in language departments, alumni and local industry reps to join us for our symposium where we discuss how language professionals play an active role in the data-driven technology landscape, bring our expertise to the table, and lead decisions on how language data is curated and used for productivity and, ultimately, greater societal good.
Through the first session "Industry Panel", attendees will learn about the roles that language experts are increasingly playing in the technology industry. The 2nd session "Curriculum Panel" will then present concrete paths for language majors for acquiring data skills needed for this career preparation.
There will be snacks, and opportunities to chat with language experts building a career in industry! Recruiting tables from several companies will also be present.
Schedule (April 1, Friday)
| 1pm | Opening remarks |
| 1:15 - 2:30pm | Session 1: Industry Panel Language professionals in the tech industry: an insider’s look |
| (15 minutes Q&A, 15 minutes Coffee Break) | |
| 3 - 4:15pm | Session 2: Curriculum Panel Data literacy for language students: curricular recommendations |
| (15 minutes Q&A) | |
| 4:30 - 5pm | Coffee & Showcase (Industry and community tables, posters) |
| 5pm | Wrap |
Industry Panel (hosted by Dan Villarreal; slides are available here)
- Justin Glover (Program Manager at Google Pittsburgh; German PhD)
- Emily Moline (Curriculum Designer at Duolingo; Spanish BA, Linguistics PhD)
- Steve Sloto (Software Engineer at Microsoft; Linguistics BA, Turkish)
- Marleigh Bickel (Linguistic Data Specialist at Voci/Medallia; Linguistics and PoliSci BA, German certificate)
Curriculum Panel (hosted by Na-Rae Han; slides are available here)
- Laura Dickey (Site Lead, Amazon Pittsburgh)
- Dmitriy Babichenko (Pitt SCI: Department of Informatics and Networked Systems)
- David J. Birnbaum (Pitt Slavics)
- Claude Mauk (Pitt Linguistics, Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center)
- Abdesalam Soudi (Pitt Linguistics)
Location and Address
University Club, Ballroom A
(123 University Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15260)
RSVP required: https://tinyurl.com/careers-language-data
Event will also be streamed live. For in-person attendance, please RSVP by March 25. In-person slots are full now. You may still select in-person attendance while RSVPing, but your name will be placed on the wait list.
ASL interpretation will be provided. Please inquire for other accommodations.
Sponsors
This event is jointly sponsored by the Robert Henderson Language Media Center and the Year of Data and Society at the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about Pitt's Year of Data and Society celebrations here.
Organizing Committee
Na-Rae Han, Dan Villarreal, Claude Mauk, and Abdesalam Soudi