One of the greatest pleasures of being an undergraduate at Yale is getting to go to events for free! For example, while alumni and others associated with Yale pay dues to become a Timothy Dwight fellow, undergraduates have the unique opportunity to attend these events for free and hear from alumni about their experiences while also learning a quick overview of a Yale professor’s research. Luckily, the fellow event this month was an Oscar-themed party in honor of Computer Science Professor Theodore Kim who won Oscars for his work in animation.
The event started with a reception with lots of yummy catered food and amazing themed decoration.
Fully stocked drinks table
Amazing balloon decorations
Cardboard cutouts of Hollywood classics
Yummy dinner and the opportunity to talk to alumni and fellows!
Since Professor Kim is heavily involved with undergraduates at Yale and is part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) board at Yale, many students crowded him to hear about his updates in research, courses, and the department as a whole. However, our Head of College swooped in and escorted him to the podium where all the fellows and students got to hear his research on skin color and animation graphics. In the talk, Professor Kim went through the politics of skin color and how those politics sneak their way into science, creating biased algorithms as well as his current work creating algorithms that suit darker skin tones in animation.
Presentation on the dynamics of hair algorithms
It was a great experience to learn more about the physics behind animation as well as becoming more aware of the biases in science that are often obscured. We even got to take home an Oscar chocolate!
Nice sweet treat to wrap up the day
