Call for Papers -- Cognitive Fututures of the Humanities, April 2013, Bangor University

[Vyv Evans]

Cognitive Futures of the Humanities
International Conference 4-6th April 2013, Bangor University
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite 20-minute paper submissions for the first international
conference organized on the Cognitive Futures in the Humanities. The
conference will take place on 4-6 April 2013, and will be hosted by
Bangor University (www.bangor.ac.uk). Confirmed plenary speakers include:

Peter Stockwell (University of Nottingham)
Ellen Spolsky (Bar Ilan University )
Shaun Gallagher (University of Memphis)
Lisa Zunshine (University of Kentucky)
Mark Turner (Case Western Reserve University)
Elena Semino (Lancaster University)

The conference is associated with an international research network on
the ‘Cognitive Futures in the Humanities’, which is supported by the
UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

RATIONALE AND CONTEXT
This first major conference provides a forum in order to bring together
researchers from different humanities disciplines, whose work relates
to, informs, or is informed by aspects of the cognitive, brain and
behavioural sciences.  It aims to address, in various ways, the
following questions: what is the ‘cognitive humanities’? In what ways is
knowledge from the cognitive sciences changing approaches to language,
literature, aesthetics, historiography and creative culture? How have
practices in the arts and humanities influenced the cognitive sciences,
and how might they do so in the future? This conference will facilitate
the exchange of new, innovative research at the intersection of
established disciplines, such as philosophy, linguistics, literary
studies, art history and cultural studies.

The ‘cognitive revolution’ has begun to make an impact on how humanists
think about language, identity, embodiment and culture, in fields such
as cognitive poetics, narratology, phenomenology and literary theory.
This conference will assess the state of the field now and ask what new
directions lie open for cognitive humanities research. If the cognitive
sciences ask fundamental questions about the very nature of the ‘human’
that underpins the humanities, what new forms of knowledge and research
practice might be produced in an emerging area called the ‘cognitive
humanities’? How can the field be mapped? What methodological
opportunities exist, and what value do cognitive paradigms add to
traditional modes of inquiry? How may interests particular to the
humanities, such as fiction and the imagination, influence the
development of research in the cognitive sciences? In addressing these
questions, the conference will generate exciting new communication
across disciplines and help define an emerging international research
community.

As part of this initiative, two postgraduate fee-waiver bursaries are
being advertised (see details below).

CONFERENCE STRUCTURE
In addition to six plenary talks, the conference will feature a series
of special themed panel sessions with leading researchers serving as
discussants, including Alan Richardson (Boston College), Michael Wheeler
(Stirling University), Vyv Evans (Bangor University) and Patricia Waugh
(Durham University). Proposals may indicate if they wish to be
considered for inclusion in one of these sessions (see below).

We invite abstracts for 20-minute papers on topics such as:
•	Cognitive neuroscience and the arts
•	Language, meaning and cognitive processing
•	Embodiment
•	Phenomenology of technologies
•	Cognitive poetics and interpretation
•	Reading, immersion and memory
•	Theory of mind
•	Cognition beyond the skin
•	Applied conceptual blending
•	Empirical aesthetics
•	Modularity and creativity
•	Cognition and race, gender and sexuality
•	Cognitive approaches to theatrical performance
•	Literature and affect
•	Literary history and mental science
•	Historicizing cognitive science

SUBMISSION DETAILS:
Please send 250-word abstracts to az.cognitivefutures at northumbria.ac.uk
by the closing date of 30 November 2012. Abstracts should be included as
Word file attachments, and be anonymised. Please indicate clearly in
your email whether your abstract is to be considered for a paper, as
part of a 3-person panel, or poster, along with the name of
presenter(s), university affiliation(s) and email address(es). Proposers
can expect to hear if their abstract has been accepted by January 2013.
If you wish your abstract to be considered for one of the special themed
sessions, please also state which of the following sessions it might
contribute to: Metaphor and Mind; Extended and Embodied Cognition;
Cognitive Historicism; The Minds of Others; and Cognitive Approaches to
Art, Visual Culture and Performance.

If you are a postgraduate student who wishes to apply for one of the two
fee-waiver bursaries, please also append a 100-word statement to your
attached abstract explaining how your research relates to the conference
theme of the ‘cognitive humanities’, and include contact details for
your principal supervisor.

For further details about the conference, or about the Cognitive Futures
research network, visit the website
www.northumbria.ac.uk/coghumanities-conference or contact Dr Peter
Garratt (peter.garratt at northumbria.ac.uk), Professor Vyv Evans
(v.evans at bangor.ac.uk) – also the local conference organizer – or Dr
Matt Hayler (m.s.hayler at exeter.ac.uk).


-- 
Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans
Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth
www.vyvevans.net

Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol
School of Linguistics & English Language/
Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg
Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor
www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics

Deputy Head of College (Research)/
Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil)
College of Arts and Humanities/
Coleg y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau
Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor

General Editor of 'Language & Cognition'
A Mouton de Gruyter journal
www.languageandcognition.net
-- 
Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565

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