Shomir Wilson
@shomir.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Human-Centered Computing and Social Informatics at Penn State. AI and sociotechnical NLP, especially for privacy and fairness. Also posting about academia, photography, and travel. Opinions mine. he/him. http://shomir.net
Pinned
Shomir Wilson
@shomir.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Shomir Wilson - My Academic Journey
Nine universities across four continents, six years on the academic job market, inglorious persistence, and luck.
shomir.net
Hello, world. I often post about #academia on my social networks. Here’s some backstory. shomir.net/academic_jou...
I added another photo collage to my office. This one consists of pictures I've taken in Pennsylvania. Because of space constraints, I wanted to create a shape that was organic, asymmetric, and balanced with nearby objects.
November 13, 2025 at 12:14 AM
I added another photo collage to my office. This one consists of pictures I've taken in Pennsylvania. Because of space constraints, I wanted to create a shape that was organic, asymmetric, and balanced with nearby objects.
Do I have any friends going to AAAI this January in Singapore? The last time I attended AAAI was 2008 in Chicago, making this my longest been-and-returned gap for a conference.
November 10, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Do I have any friends going to AAAI this January in Singapore? The last time I attended AAAI was 2008 in Chicago, making this my longest been-and-returned gap for a conference.
On LinkedIn I've been sharing stories from my academic job search. Here are two about embarrassment: an application question gone wrong and a cover letter mistake that turned out fine. www.linkedin.com/posts/shomir...
Here are a couple more stories from my academic job market years. If you make a faux pas during a job search, you can compare it to these and possibly feel better.
Several years ago I was a postdoc… ...
Here are a couple more stories from my academic job market years. If you make a faux pas during a job search, you can compare it to these and possibly feel better.
Several years ago I was a postdoc i...
www.linkedin.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:16 PM
On LinkedIn I've been sharing stories from my academic job search. Here are two about embarrassment: an application question gone wrong and a cover letter mistake that turned out fine. www.linkedin.com/posts/shomir...
Spare a thought for the prosocial benevolence of labeling curbside appliances as broken. I don't know you and you don't know me, but if you lug this dehumidifier home it will only cause you misery. I wrote "DOES NOT WORK" on a piece of masking tape to protect you from false treasure.
November 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Spare a thought for the prosocial benevolence of labeling curbside appliances as broken. I don't know you and you don't know me, but if you lug this dehumidifier home it will only cause you misery. I wrote "DOES NOT WORK" on a piece of masking tape to protect you from false treasure.
Thanks to Lycoming College's Lycoming Scholars program for hosting me for a talk today. I enjoyed talking with students and faculty about my lab's research into the social biases of large language models.
I walked around Williamsport afterward and added a fridge magnet to my travel collection.
I walked around Williamsport afterward and added a fridge magnet to my travel collection.
October 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Thanks to Lycoming College's Lycoming Scholars program for hosting me for a talk today. I enjoyed talking with students and faculty about my lab's research into the social biases of large language models.
I walked around Williamsport afterward and added a fridge magnet to my travel collection.
I walked around Williamsport afterward and added a fridge magnet to my travel collection.
I recently wrote a single-author paper that was accepted to SIGCSE, ACM's flagship conference on computer science education. I wanted to deconstruct the guidance of student researchers, for the benefit of faculty and also students. Here's a preprint.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08885
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08885
Rethinking How We Discuss the Guidance of Student Researchers in Computing
Computing faculty at research universities are often expected to guide the work of undergraduate and graduate student researchers. This guidance is typically called advising or mentoring, but these te...
arxiv.org
October 23, 2025 at 12:32 AM
I recently wrote a single-author paper that was accepted to SIGCSE, ACM's flagship conference on computer science education. I wanted to deconstruct the guidance of student researchers, for the benefit of faculty and also students. Here's a preprint.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08885
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08885
Four pictures I took during a recent visit to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, a former psychiatric hospital now run as a museum.
October 22, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Four pictures I took during a recent visit to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, a former psychiatric hospital now run as a museum.
Similar to @askamanager.org 's recommendation, most rejections in academia are by email. If you receive a rejection at all: I never received a reply for ~60% of the positions I applied for.
October 16, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Similar to @askamanager.org 's recommendation, most rejections in academia are by email. If you receive a rejection at all: I never received a reply for ~60% of the positions I applied for.
This Friday (October 17) at West Virginia University I'll give a talk "Natural Language Processing for Privacy Empowerment and Fairness", about my lab's research. It'll be 4pm - 5pm at ESB 501.
Spring 2025 Seminars
community.wvu.edu
October 14, 2025 at 2:32 PM
This Friday (October 17) at West Virginia University I'll give a talk "Natural Language Processing for Privacy Empowerment and Fairness", about my lab's research. It'll be 4pm - 5pm at ESB 501.
Map I hadn't generated before because it took a lot of effort: where I've lived (houses in green), where I've performed professional activities (suitcases in blue), and my flights. I'll use this in a series of talks I'm giving for the honors college about going abroad for research and conferences.
October 12, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Map I hadn't generated before because it took a lot of effort: where I've lived (houses in green), where I've performed professional activities (suitcases in blue), and my flights. I'll use this in a series of talks I'm giving for the honors college about going abroad for research and conferences.
I recently received an email from a student at a different university about my advice pages. I asked for and got permission to share the excerpt below on social media.
shomir.net/advice
shomir.net/advice
Shomir Wilson - Advice
I created these guides to help people understand often-unwritten customs and procedures in academia.
shomir.net
October 7, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I recently received an email from a student at a different university about my advice pages. I asked for and got permission to share the excerpt below on social media.
shomir.net/advice
shomir.net/advice
20 years ago this month I bought a pack of red pens. I was a teaching assistant, and I thought I would need them to grade students' work. However, faculty provided the pens when I needed them, and I still have the ones I purchased. I used one this evening to edit a paper I've written.
October 3, 2025 at 2:57 AM
20 years ago this month I bought a pack of red pens. I was a teaching assistant, and I thought I would need them to grade students' work. However, faculty provided the pens when I needed them, and I still have the ones I purchased. I used one this evening to edit a paper I've written.
The technical report from our Dagstuhl seminar "Grand Challenges for Research on Privacy Documents" has been published. Thanks to all the seminar attendees, from 29 universities or private companies spread across 10 countries, for gathering in Germany to collaborate on this. doi.org/10.4230/DagR...
Grand Challenges for Research on Privacy Documents (Dagstuhl Seminar 25021)
doi.org
October 2, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The technical report from our Dagstuhl seminar "Grand Challenges for Research on Privacy Documents" has been published. Thanks to all the seminar attendees, from 29 universities or private companies spread across 10 countries, for gathering in Germany to collaborate on this. doi.org/10.4230/DagR...
I mention this incident sometimes in my courses. I use it an example of the importance of human judgement in sociotechnical systems.
Happy Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov Saves the World Day, everybody.
42 years ago today, Lt. Col. Petrov prevented an accidental nuclear war.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
42 years ago today, Lt. Col. Petrov prevented an accidental nuclear war.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
September 26, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I mention this incident sometimes in my courses. I use it an example of the importance of human judgement in sociotechnical systems.
With support from my university's Office of Strategic Communications, I wrote an op-ed about the importance of international students to research at US universities. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published it today. www.post-gazette.com/opinion/gues...
Shomir Wilson: American strength in AI depends on international students
Gasps and murmurs are unusual at the opening session of an academic conference, but I heard many this summer in Vienna, Austria, at the annual meeting...
www.post-gazette.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM
With support from my university's Office of Strategic Communications, I wrote an op-ed about the importance of international students to research at US universities. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published it today. www.post-gazette.com/opinion/gues...
i'll decline this writing suggestion from Gmail.
September 23, 2025 at 11:31 PM
i'll decline this writing suggestion from Gmail.
Sunset over the New Carrollton Metro station, from a recent trip to DC.
September 19, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Sunset over the New Carrollton Metro station, from a recent trip to DC.
I just saw a Facebook ad for an herbal supplement that was claimed to help with concentration, focus, motivation, and productivity.
Dear reader, its name was Thesis.
Dear reader, its name was Thesis.
September 3, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I just saw a Facebook ad for an herbal supplement that was claimed to help with concentration, focus, motivation, and productivity.
Dear reader, its name was Thesis.
Dear reader, its name was Thesis.
Here are four of my advice pages that I periodically share with new university faculty. They’re unofficial, and your mileage may vary by discipline. Remember I'm an associate professor in an iSchool, and I'm a computer scientist by training. (1/)
September 2, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Here are four of my advice pages that I periodically share with new university faculty. They’re unofficial, and your mileage may vary by discipline. Remember I'm an associate professor in an iSchool, and I'm a computer scientist by training. (1/)
Today was the first day of fall semester at Penn State. It's also the start of my tenth academic year as a professor. Being recognized in hallways and greeted warmly at meetings still feels novel, though.
August 26, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Today was the first day of fall semester at Penn State. It's also the start of my tenth academic year as a professor. Being recognized in hallways and greeted warmly at meetings still feels novel, though.
The recent iConnect story about me came with a video. I used to dislike how I looked and sounded in recordings. The longer hair and wardrobe upgrades helped in recent years, but it's also the case that our marketing team is excellent at their work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPh4...
Beyond Bits and Bytes | Dr. Shomir Wilson
YouTube video by ISTatPENNSTATE
www.youtube.com
August 22, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The recent iConnect story about me came with a video. I used to dislike how I looked and sounded in recordings. The longer hair and wardrobe upgrades helped in recent years, but it's also the case that our marketing team is excellent at their work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPh4...
Thanks to our college's marketing office for this article about me in iConnect Magazine. It covers the accomplishments I reflect on most often, my teaching, how artificial intelligence is changing academia and industry, and how my advice pages have been received. ist.psu.edu/iconnect/sum...
Faculty Spotlight: Shomir Wilson - Penn State College of IST
Introduction to Information, People, and Technology (Honors)
I taught this several years ago as an overview “big ideas” course about the major topics in co
ist.psu.edu
August 21, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Thanks to our college's marketing office for this article about me in iConnect Magazine. It covers the accomplishments I reflect on most often, my teaching, how artificial intelligence is changing academia and industry, and how my advice pages have been received. ist.psu.edu/iconnect/sum...
My editorial "Students are unsung heroes of university research, and federal research funding cuts hurt them most" is now listed on Penn State's Research or Regress page, under Voices for Change.
www.psu.edu/research/rea...
www.psu.edu/research/rea...
Research or Regress
Penn State research turns bold ideas into real impact—improving lives, growing industries, and solving urgent challenges.
www.psu.edu
August 18, 2025 at 2:39 PM
My editorial "Students are unsung heroes of university research, and federal research funding cuts hurt them most" is now listed on Penn State's Research or Regress page, under Voices for Change.
www.psu.edu/research/rea...
www.psu.edu/research/rea...
A satisfying conversation about writing with someone I’ve just met is a sign we’ll probably become friends.
Talking about writing with smart people is such a freaking delight.
August 15, 2025 at 1:08 AM
A satisfying conversation about writing with someone I’ve just met is a sign we’ll probably become friends.
#soups2025 attendees, if you’re interested, a very red sunset is happening down by the Seattle waterfront.
August 13, 2025 at 3:05 AM
#soups2025 attendees, if you’re interested, a very red sunset is happening down by the Seattle waterfront.