Problems in Ontology

PHI 531 Seminar: Problems in Ontology

Up to 4 Credit Hours

Principal faculty: Barry Smith

Mondays, 4-6pm, Fall 2012, Park 141, UB North Campus

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Content

This class will consist of a mixture of:

• presentations by ontologists from UB and elsewhere;
• ontology development and planning sessions;
• teaching on specific ontology topics (for examples see http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Basic_Formal_Ontology_2.0#DRAFT_SCHEDULE here]);
• video presentations (for example from here).

We will cover a variety of topics in theoretical and applied ontology, paying special attention to applications in the areas of biology and medicine on the one hand, and defense and security on the other.

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Outcomes

By the end of the class students will be able to:

• understand the nature, utility and scope of contemporary applied ontology
• understand methods and rules for ontology development and evaluation
• contribute to ontological development initiatives
• engage in discussion of major issues in theoretical and applied ontology

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Schedule

Opening session: August 27, 2012

We will begin with an overview of the course, and provide a basic introduction to ontology by answering questions such as:

What is an ontology?

How are ontologies used?

The remainder of this class will be devoted to the question: What is a musical score?

Future sessions will include:

• September 3: TBD
• September 10: Presentation by Werner Ceusters (Bioinformatics/Psychiatry)
• September 17: Rosh Hashanah (no class)
• September 24: TBD
• October 1: TBD
• October 8: TBD
• October 15: TBD
• October 22: TBD
• October 29: Alexander Diehl (Neurology): From the Gene Ontology to the Neurological Disease Ontology
• November 5: TBD
• November 12: TBD
• November 19: TBD
• November 26: TBD
• December 3: TBD

will include presentations by

Alan Ruttenberg (UB) on OWL and time

Ron Rudnicki (CUBRC) on the Information Artifact Ontology

Bill Mandrick (US Army) on military ontology

All sessions will be accessible both for face-to-face participants and on-line.

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Grading Requirements for this class will depend on the selected number of credit hours, but will include active class participation and completion of some written work or ontology project.

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Literature

Introductory readings are provided here.

See also the Buffalo Ontology Site.