[Lingtyp] Specialist Meeting on Universals and Variation in Spatial Referencing across Cultures and Languages (Dec 7-9, Santa Barbara)

[Bernard Comrie]

Greetings,

We invite your application to a Specialist Meeting on *Universals and 
Variation in Spatial Referencing across Cultures and 
Languages*,**sponsored by the Center for Spatial Studies at the 
University of California, Santa Barbara (_http://spatial.ucsb.edu/_) and 
held *December 7–9, 2016,* at the Upham Hotel in Santa Barbara, CA 
(_http://www.uphamhotel.com/_). Suggested travel dates are Tuesday, Dec. 
6 (arrival) and Friday Dec. 9 afternoon (departure). If accepted, 
participation is requested for the entire meeting, which will run from 
9:00 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7 until 12:00 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9.

By “spatial referencing” we mean the function with which a natural 
language expression locates something in the world. What do we know (and 
what would we like to know) about how such expressions and their 
referring function stay the same or vary across languages and cultures? 
Are there universals and systematic variations?

We anticipate hosting 30 to 35 researchers for an open discussion of 
research results and needs addressing these and related questions. 
Invitees will represent the broadest possible range of disciplines and 
professions offering insights on the topic. The evolving webpage for the 
meeting (http://spatial.ucsb.edu/2016/spatial-reference/) provides more 
information on the format, objectives, and some key questions to 
address, as well as logistical information.

We are now accepting applications for this meeting and ask you to submit 
a one-page paragraph-style bio and a two-page position paper to Easy 
Chair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=spatial2016_)_, *no later 
than September 9*. (Submission instructions can be found at 
https://www.easychair.org/help/article.cgi?art=131;a=12356373.)

The position paper should draw on your thoughts and expertise and 
address the meeting topic. Applications will be reviewed by the 
organizers and you will be notified by *September 23* about your 
selection for participation, requesting confirmation of attendance by 
*September 30*.

If desired, position papers of successful applicants may be revised and 
re-submitted until *October 15*. You will then be asked to provide a 
photograph to accompany the bio. Both position papers and bios (with 
photo) will be posted to the website for other participants to review 
before the meeting. At the meeting, plenary sessions and small-group 
discussions will explore the topic and pertinent research needs.

The Center for Spatial Studies will cover successful applicants’ 
expenses for travel (up to $700 for travel in North America; up to $1200 
for intercontinental travel) and lodging for three nights at the 
historic Upham Hotel in downtown Santa Barbara. /Funding is not 
available for federal employees/.

We look forward to welcoming you to a productive meeting in pleasant 
surroundings on an important and challenging transdisciplinary research 
topic.

Yours sincerely,

*The Specialist Meeting Organizing Committee:*

- *Werner Kuhn *(Chair), Director of the Center for Spatial Studies and 
Jack and Laura Dangermond Professor of Geography, UCSB

- *Niclas Burenhult*, Associate Professor of General Linguistics, Centre 
for Languages and Literature, Lund University; and Research Associate, 
Language and Cognition Group at the Max Planck Institute for 
Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen

- *Bernard Comrie*, Distinguished Faculty Professor, Department of 
Linguistics, UCSB

- * James Pustejovsky*, Chair, Language and Linguistics and 
Computational Linguistics Programs and Director, Lab of Linguistics and 
Computation, Brandeis University

- * Thora Tenbrink, *Director of Research, College of Arts and 
Humanities and Reader in Cognitive Linguistics, Bangor University.


-- 

Bernard Comrie
Distinguished Faculty Professor of Linguistics, University of California Santa Barbara

E-mail: comrie at linguistics.ucsb.edu
Web site: http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/people/bernard-comrie

Department of Linguistics
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3100
USA

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20160828/349a76d3/attachment.htm>