29.87, Summer Schools: The Norwegian Summer Institute on Language and Mind 2018/Norway

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LINGUIST List: Vol-29-87. Thu Jan 04 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.87, Summer Schools: The Norwegian Summer Institute on Language and Mind 2018/Norway

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Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2018 15:05:19
From: Nicholas Allott [nicholas.allott at gmail.com]
Subject: The Norwegian Summer Institute on Language and Mind 2018

 

The Norwegian Summer Institute on Language and Mind 2018

Host Institution: University of Oslo
Coordinating Institution: Norwegian Graduate Researcher School in Linguistic
Website: http://folk.uio.no/nicholea/summerinstitute/

Dates: 31-Jul-2018 - 10-Aug-2018
Location: Oslo, Norway

Focus: The institute brings graduate students (doctoral researchers and MA students) up to date with developments in work on language and mind by presenting interactive lectures with leading researchers in the relevant fields. These include linguists, psychologists and other cognitive scientists open to philosophical issues, and philosophers focused on linguistics and the cognitive sciences.
Minimum Education Level: BA


Description:
Theme for the institute in 2018: Cognition, representation and the mind/brain:

Work in cognitive science and linguistics relies on the idea that the
mind/brain performs computations over representations. This year we focus on
syntax and pragmatics as well as foundational questions about computation and
representation. In all these areas, we look at recent developments in
integrating symbolic theories with experimental and neurological research.

The lectures are divided into three different strands: syntax and the brain,
theoretical and experimental pragmatics, and foundational questions about
computational/representation theories of cognition.

Specific issues will include: Memory and economy considerations in syntactic
theory. How do syntactic representations relate to neuroscience? How do
hearers bridge the gap between encoded linguistic meaning and utterance
content? The curent state of experimental investigation into pragmatic
inference. What constraints does computational cognitive science place on
neuroscience and what constraints does neuroscience place on computational
models? Is there a single notion of representation that covers e.g.
navigation, vision, where there’s often an independent external reality, and
grammar and language (where there may not be one)?

The teaching:

Classes are from Tuesday – Saturday and then Monday – Friday.

The first day will have introductory lectures to get everyone up to speed with
the relevant parts of linguistics, philosophy and psychology.
For the rest of the course, days will include 90 minute classes on each of the
three "strands" (see below). Teaching will be discursive, with plenty of time
for questions and answers in each class.

There will also be two round-table discussion sessions, where we will discuss
issues across the strands, guided by student questions.

Lectures:

Syntax and the Brain
Invited Lecturers: David Adger (Queen Mary) and Ellen Lau (Maryland)

Topics to include: syntactic representations and neuroscience, brain areas
involved in representing syntactic structure, computational vs. algorithmic
vs. implementational approaches to syntax, the role of memory and economy
considerations in syntactic theory

Pragmatics: Theory and Experiment
Invited Lecturers: Ira Noveck (CNRS) and Deirdre Wilson (UCL), plus Ingrid
Lossius Falkum (University of Oslo)

Topic: the current state-of-the-art in theoretical and experimental
pragmatics, including: how hearers bridge the gap between linguistic meaning
and utterance content; the kinds of neurological measures used in recent
experimental pragmatics; the role of effort factors in utterance
interpretation; and lexical pragmatics and figurative speech.

Foundational Questions About Computational/Representation Theories of
Cognition
Invited Lecturers: Rosa Cao (Stanford) and Randy Gallistel (Rutgers)

Topics to include: What constraints does computational cognitive science place
on neuroscience and what constraints does neuroscience place on computational
models? What sort of general architecture is plausible for the brain:
classical, connectionist, map-like, analog? In what sense do the computational
states employ representations? Is there a single notion of representation that
covers e.g. navigation, vision, where there’s often an independent external
reality, and grammar and language (where there seems not to be one)?


Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science
                      Discipline of Linguistics
                      General Linguistics
                      Linguistic Theories
                      Neurolinguistics
                      Pragmatics
                      Psycholinguistics
                      Semantics
                      Syntax

Tuition: 0 USD

Tuition Explanation: The classes at the summer institute are free for all registered participants.


Registration: 08-Jan-2018 to 07-Apr-2018

Contact Person: Nicholas Allott
                Email: nicholas.allott at gmail.com

Apply on the web: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM7XYAnNoZXITxCbAUBmtlfvNiTQwzHzoITjRTVONH9UKs1A/viewform

Registration Instructions:
There are limited places on the summer institute. Please fill in the online
form linked to from this announcement (or you can click through from the
summer institute homepage) and follow the instructions there to apply. 
You have to enter a few details about yourself, paste a short covering letter
into the form, then email us a CV/resumé.

We’re looking for students who we think will benefit from the summer institute
and who have the most to offer to the institute. 

We evaluate all the applications together _after_ the closing date.
We’re aiming to make our decisions on places and funding by 7th May 2017.




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