CFP: 2012 Workshop on Computational Models of Narrative

[Mark Finlayson]

Please distribute to all interested parties:

First Call for Papers:
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International Workshop on
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Computational Models of Narrative
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May 20-22, 2012, Istanbul, Turkey

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Submissions Due:     *Friday, February 24, 2012*
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http://narrative.csail.mit.edu/ws12

Workshop Aims
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Narratives are ubiquitous in human experience.  It is clear
that, to fully understand and explain human intelligence,
beliefs, and behaviors, we will have to understand why
narrative is universal and explain the function it serves.

The aim of this workshop series is to address key, fundamental
questions about narrative, using computational techniques, so
to advance our understanding of cognition, culture, and
society.

Special Focus: Shared Resources
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The computational study narrative does not yet have carefully
constructed shared resources and corpora that can catalyze the
way forward. This meeting will not only be an appropriate
venue for papers addressing fundamental topics and questions
regarding narrative, but also those papers which focus on the
identification, collection, and construction of *shared
resources and corpora* that facilitate the computational
modeling of narrative.

Papers should focus on issues fundamental to computational
modeling and scientific understanding, or issues related to
building shared resources to advance the field.  A
technological application or motivation is not required.

Illustrative Topics and Questions
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* What kinds of shared resources are required for the
computational study of narrative?

* What content and modalities should be put in a "Story Bank"
at formal representations should be used?

* What shared resources are available, or how can
already-extant resources be adapted to common needs?

* What makes narrative different from a list of events or
facts?  What is special that makes something a narrative?

* What are the details of the relationship between narrative
and common sense?

* How are narratives indexed and retrieved?  Is there a
"universal" scheme for encoding episodes?

* What impact do the purpose, function, and genre of a
narrative have on its form and content?

* What comprises the set of possible narrative arcs?  Is there
such a set? How many possible story lines are there?

* Are there systematic differences in the formal properties of
narratives from different cultures?

* What are appropriate representations for narrative?  What
representations underlie the extraction of narrative schemas?

* How should we evaluate computational models of narrative?

Additional Information
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We will likely have funding available to award travel grants
to authors who have papers at the workshop, but would
otherwise be unable to attend because of financial
constraints.

Also in preparation is an arrangement with a noted
international journal for a special issue featuring expanded
versions of the best papers from the workshop.

Organizing Committee
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Mark A. Finlayson, MIT, USA
Pablo Gervas, UCM, Spain
Deniz Yuret, Koc University, Turkey
Floris Bex, Dundee, UK


Questions should be directed to:

narrative-ws12 at csail.mit.edu