Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Linda Zhao, University of Chicago "Networks at Work: Officer Diversity, Racial Homophily, and Police Misconduct"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Room L130 (lower level), Kellogg Global Hub
Details
Speaker:
Linda Zhao, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago
Title:
Networks at Work: Officer Diversity, Racial Homophily, and Police Misconduct
Abstract:
Although it is frequently argued that recruiting minority officers can improve policing by fostering positive contact and collaborations between minority and white officers, officer diversity could in theory also produce more racially polarized networks and thus have the opposite of the intended effect. Few studies so far consider how officer networks differ across policing contexts, and little is known about the link between the diversity of police workforces, the structure of officer networks, and policing outcomes. In this study, I use data from the second-largest police agency in the United States to analyze joint implications of officer diversity and racial homophily, defined as barriers to racial mixing in officer co-arrest networks, for police misconduct. Results show that levels of racial homophily are higher in districts with more diverse officer workforces, and that the combination of homophily and diversity is linked to an elevated risk of police misconduct, even after controlling for other explanations of misconduct at both the officer and district level. These patterns contradict the idea that diversifying police forces necessarily improves the internal dynamics of police forces and is consistent with the broader sociological insight that the benefits of diversity are challenged by racial homophily within social networks.
Speaker Bio:
Linda Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. She is interested in how social contexts (such as levels of diversity or inequality in a population) can shape intergroup dynamics in social networks, how social networks and social contexts are linked to our behaviors and decisions, and how such networks can generate inequality. Throughout, her projects investigate intergroup dynamics, inequality, and social influence in networks within the areas of immigrant integration, policing, and public health. Her current work leverages data from a range of contexts such as adolescent friendships in classrooms, officer networks in police departments, as well as quasi-experimental settings using computational models.
Location:
In person: Kellogg Global Hub room L130 (lower level) - please note, this is a different location than usual.
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/95939791011
Passcode: NICO23
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems and data science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Room L130 (lower level), Kellogg Global Hub Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Steven Franconeri, Northwestern University "Point Taken: A gamified Intervention that Creates Enlightened Disagreements"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Steven Franconeri, Professor of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences; Professor of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Title:
Point Taken: A gamified Intervention that Creates Enlightened Disagreements
Abstract:
Should we drop standardized testing for college or Ph.D. admissions? Allow athletes to join teams based on gender identity? When organizational and public policies bind behavior, human coexistence requires a way to determine that collective policy. Because individuals and like-minded groups have incomplete information, constrained strategies, and biased perspectives, thoughtful debate on those policies is critical. Unfortunately, those debates too often degrade into chaotic fights.
Point Taken provides a scalable solution by translating best practices in conflict resolution and critical thinking into a structured dialogue that can be learned and played in 30 minutes. In this interactive session, you'll play a short game to feel its effects.
Players replace persuasion with a common goal of discovering why they disagree. Dialogue then unfolds thoughtfully and calmly, through chains of short written reasons and responses. We've tested the game extensively in schools and organizations, and conducted a formal pilot study. All show powerful improvements in the tone and quality of debate, across longstanding and strongly-held disagreements. I’ll give background on best practices for enlightened disagreement, show how they translate to the game, ask you to play a game, and then ask for your advice on next steps.
Speaker Bio:
Steven Franconeri is leading scientist, teacher, and speaker on visual thinking, visual communication, and the psychology of data visualization. He is a Professor of Psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern, Director of the Northwestern Cognitive Science Program, as well as a Kellogg Professor of Management and Organizations by Courtesy. He is the director of the Visual Thinking Laboratory, where a team of researchers explore how leveraging the visual system - the largest single system in your brain - can help people think, remember, and communicate more efficiently.
His undergraduate training was in computer science and cognitive science at Rutgers University, followed by a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Harvard University, and postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. His work on both Cognitive Science and Data Visualization has been funded by the National Science Foundation, as well as the Department of Education, and the Department of Defense. He has received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award, given to researchers who combine excellent research with outstanding teaching, and he has received a Psychonomic Society Early Career award for his research on visual thinking.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/97198523514
PW: NICO26
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Data Science Nights - March 2026 - Speaker: Dawei Xie, Department of Computer Science
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
5:30 PM
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M416, Technological Institute
Details
MARCH MEETING: Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 5:30pm (US Central)
LOCATION:
ESAM Conference Room, Tech M416
2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208
AGENDA:
5:30pm - Meet and greet with refreshments
6:00pm - Talk with Dawei Xie, PhD student, Department of Computer Science, Northwestern University, working with Prof. Marcelo Worsley in the tiilt Lab.
TALK TITLE:
AI-Augmented Learning Analytics for Understanding Collaborative Discussions
ABSTRACT:
Collaborative learning has been recognized as an important skill for the 21st century, yet understanding what constitutes high-quality collaborative discussion remains a challenge. This talk explores how AI systems might move beyond traditional behavioral metrics to support nuanced semantic interpretations of collaborative learning. I present our recent work on an AI-augmented analytics system that transforms real-time group discussions into structured representations, and enables educators to explore collaboration quality through interaction with a conversational agent. I discuss both the technical architecture and the design considerations around how users and AI can jointly shape analytical outputs. Finally, I share findings on how this interplay can afford richer, more grounded sensemaking through analytical dialogue.
DATA SCIENCE NIGHTS are monthly meetings featuring presentations and discussions about data-driven science and complex systems, organized by Northwestern University graduate students and scholars. Students and researchers of all levels are welcome! For more information: http://bit.ly/nico-dsn
FUTURE DATES:
Data Science Nights will be held on Thursday evenings in the winter and spring terms, with future dates on April 30, and May 28, 2026.
Time
Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location
M416, Technological Institute Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Spring Series returns on April 8th!
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
The Wednesdays@NICO Speaker Series returns on April 8th for the spring term, running through May 20th, 2026. Detailed speaker info will be shared in the coming weeks.
Speakers:
4/08/2026 - Yu-Ru Lin - University of Pittsburgh
4/15/2026 - Nihar Shah - Carnegie Mellon University
4/22/2026 - Michelle Birkett - Northwestern University
4/29/2026 - Lightning Talks with NU Scholars - Sign up here!
5/06/2026 - Daniel Stouffer - Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany (NU Alum '07)
5/13/2026 - Hamsa Bastani - University of Pennsylvania
5/20/2026 - Andreia Sofia Teixeira - Northeastern University London
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: Zoom links will be available
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)