The LCM conferences

  • LCM I: Portsmouth, England 2004. University of Portsmouth.
    Special theme: Integrating Perspectives and Methodologies.
  • LCM II: Paris, France 2006.
  • LCM III: Odense, Denmark 2008. University of Southern Denmark.
    Special theme: Social Life and Meaning, Construction.
  • LCM IV: Turku, Finland 2010. Åbo Akademi University.

Topics

Topics include but are not limited to

  • biological and cultural co-evolution
  • comparative study of communication systems
  • cognitive and cultural schematization in language
  • emergence of language in ontogeny and phylogeny
  • language in multi-modal communication
  • language and normativity
  • language and thought, emotion and consciousness.
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The Goals of LCM

The goals of LCM conferences are to contribute to situating the study of language in a contemporary interdisciplinary dialogue, and to promote a better integration of cognitive and cultural perspectives in empirical and theoretical studies of language.

Human natural languages are biologically based, cognitively motivated, affectively rich, socially shared, grammatically organized symbolic systems. They provide the principal semiotic means for the complexity and diversity of human cultural life. As has long been recognized, no single discipline or methodology is sufficient to capture all the dimensions of this complex and multifaceted phenomenon, which lies at the heart of what it is to be human.

Theories of cognition and perception, and their neural foundations, are central to many current approaches in language science. However, a genuinely integrative perspective requires that attention also be paid to the foundations of cultural life in social interaction, empathy, mimesis, intersubjectivity, dialogicality, normativity, agentivity and narrativity. Significant theoretical, methodological and empirical advancements across relevant disciplines now provide a realistic basis for such a broadened perspective.

This conference will articulate and discuss approaches to human natural language and to diverse genres of language activity which aim to integrate its cultural, social, cognitive, affective and bodily foundations. We call for contributions from scholars and scientists in anthropology, biology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, semiotics, semantics, discourse analysis, cognitive and neuroscience, who wish both to share their insights and findings, and learn from other disciplines. Preference will be given to submissions which emphasize interdisciplinarity, the interaction between culture, mind and language, and multi-methodological approaches in language sciences.

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LCM IV