[PL-sem-jr] PL Seminar Sr, and PL Seminar Jr: planning meeting Wednesday

[Aaron Turon]

Mitch has requested that I take over PL Seminar Sr.

A bit of context, for new students: Mitch's PL Seminar is the primary
colloquium for the PRL.  It is the main venue for visiting researchers
to give talks, and -- at least in the past -- has been a way for PRL
members to discuss their own work, and work that they are studying.

For a variety of reasons, PL Seminar can be somewhat intimidating for
students, which is part of why PL Seminar Jr was created several years
ago.  Perhaps partly as a consequence, it has become somewhat rare for
students to give PL Seminar talks.  In handing the seminar over to the
students, Mitch is hoping to reinvigorate student involvement.

Both of these seminars offer something complementary to our classes
and research.  They provide exposure to a wider range of ideas, a
chance to sharpen presentation skills, and a way of getting feedback
from the entire lab.  But they will only be successful if we, the
student body, take the initiative and participate.

In light of all this, the planning meeting for PL Jr tomorrow will
have greater scope than usual.  I would like to discuss the future of
both seminars, and especially their relative roles.  It'd be helpful
if people came to the meeting with some ideas in mind about topics of
interest, both to hear about, and to talk about.  Here are a few
reference lists that could provide inspiration:

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/369-s04/texts.html
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/courses/670Fall04/GreatWorksInPL.shtml
http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~mairson/Courses/cs190/cs190.pdf
http://readscheme.org/
https://wiki.ccs.neu.edu/display/GRADWIKI/PlSeminarJr (suggested topics section)

The planning meeting tomorrow will be held on **Wed, Sep 16, 11:45 in
WVH366** (the usual PL Seminar time).