thomashikaru.github.io
Thomas Clark's Page
Thomas Hikaru Clark’s Page
Hi! I’m Thomas :)
Interests
I am interested in the principles underlying human language and cognition, and how the tools of NLP, information theory, and data science can help us shed light on these principles. For example, I’ve recently been looking into what factors influence how speakers choose between two possible ways of saying the same thing, looking at the Russian comparative alternation as a case study via both corpus study and behavioral experimentation. I’m also interested in what makes words and sentences memorable, what might explain why languages have the word orders that they do, and what features of languages are easier or harder to learn.
My other interests include urban design, maps, AI ethics, language learning, science communication, and philosophy.
Publications and Presentations
Education
I am currently a PhD student at MIT in the department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, where I am a member of TedLab and the Computational Psycholinguistics Lab. I received my undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Princeton University, where I also earned certificates in Linguistics and Russian Language & Culture. After college, I earned an M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame as part of the ACE Teaching Fellows 25th Cohort; I taught HS Computer Science and Math in Jacksonville, FL. Afterwards, I returned to grad school for an MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge, where I was involved in the Language Technology Lab and continued on to a PhD in a different city named Cambridge.
Other Experience
Before starting my PhD, I interned at Vimeo on the Machine Learning Research team and at IBM Watson on the Speech to Text team. Previously, I have done iOS development for the Paideia Institute in Rome, Italy, and have done volunteer service projects in Russia and Japan. During the summer of 2021, I was an instructor for a summer startup camp at the Cambridge Center for International Research, teaching machine learning and data science principles to students from around the world.
Check out my Podcast
I host a podcast called Modus Mirandi, which is dedicated to meaningful conversations on random topics with people from different backgrounds and disciplines. You can check it out on Spotify or other podcast platforms.
Follow Me on Medium
Please follow me at https://medium.com/@thomashikaru to see my latest writings on data science, language, and more!
New to Data Visualization? Start With New York City
