Michael Miller Yoder

Michael Miller Yoder is a Teaching Assistant Professor at the School of Computing and Information at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute, advised by Carolyn Penstein Rosé. His research focuses on data science, natural language processing, and computational social science, with emphasis on analyzing social interaction, identity expression, and ethical implications of technology. Prior to Pitt, he was a postdoctoral researcher at CMU's Center for Applied Research on Targeted Violence (CARVt) and IDeaS Center, advised by Kathleen M. Carley and David West Brown.

• Education:
  • PhD in Language Technologies, Carnegie Mellon University (2021)
  • MSc in Language Technologies, Carnegie Mellon University
  • BSc in Communication Studies & Rhetoric, Cornell University

His work addresses online hate speech, white supremacist extremism, and game design ethics, leveraging text analysis and computational methods. Notable contributions include developing the FanfictionNLP pipeline and StoryQ educational tool. He has received the Best Student Paper Award at IJCNLP 2017 and collaborates with organizations like the Collaboratory Against Hate.

• Key Projects:
  • White supremacist language classification (ACL 2023)
  • Analysis of misogyny in gaming environments (2024)
  • Computational models of identity presentation

Yoder's research bridges technical innovation with societal impact, focusing on mitigating online harm while advancing educational accessibility through AI-driven tools.