Maxwell Palmer, Junior Faculty Fellow, Gives 3/14 Wed@Hariri/Meet Our Fellows Talk

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM on Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Refreshments & networking at 2:45 PM
Hariri Institute for Computing
111 Cummington Mall, Room 180

The Hariri Institute for Computing continues its 2017-2018 “Meet Our Fellows” series, which will showcase the Institute’s 2017 Junior Faculty Fellows and Graduate Student Fellows. Prior to Junior Faculty Fellow presentations, a Graduate Student Fellow will give a 5-minute preview of his or her current research.

Meet Our Fellows/Research Preview
Kinan Dak Albab
Hariri Graduate Fellow, Hariri Institute for Computing
PhD Candidate, Computer Science
Kinan is working to develop a framework to allow secure multi-party computation to be integrated into modern applications and systems, as well as creating a variety of automated tools and techniques that simplify development of practical and scalable MPC.

Meet Our Fellows/Junior Faculty Fellow Presentation
Maxwell Palmer
Junior Faculty Fellow, Hariri Institute for Computing
Assistant Professor, Political Science

With an introduction by Dino Christenson, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Data Science Faculty Fellow.

Identifying Gerrymanders at the Micro- and Macro-Level

Abstract: When does a district or districting plan become a partisan or racial gerrymander? Identifying gerrymanders is a challenge for academics, legislators, judges, and policymakers in the United States and other countries that hold constituency-level elections. Using a variety of statistical, geographic, and simulation analyses, Palmer explores different ways of identifying and quantifying gerrymanders, and shows how these techniques vary when assessing individual districts (the micro-level) or complete plans (the macro-level). He also discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by big data in drawing and evaluating districting plans.

Bio: Maxwell Palmer is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. He joined the department and Boston University in 2014, after receiving his Ph.D. in Political Science at Harvard University. His research focuses on American political institutions, including Congress, the judiciary, and local government. His current projects examine the returns to office for former politicians, the effects of local political institutions on housing development, and new methods for analyzing redistricting plans and gerrymandering.