IGS at the 11th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association The 11th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association titled "Media Ecology and Natural Environments" takes place from June 10–13, 2010, at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine.

General semantics is featured in several events at the convention. General semantics speakers include Jacqueline Rudig, Lance Strate, Corey Anton, Ray Gozzi, Jr., along with featured speakers Mary Catherine Bateson (2009 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer), Don Ihde, C. A. (Chet) Bowers, Ursula Heise, and Andrea Polli, with a presentation of "Thus Spoke the Spectacle" by Eric Goodman and Mike Stevens.

The subject of media ecology was formed with two biological metaphors in mind, Neil Postman wrote in “The Humanism of Media Ecology” (2000). In biology, a medium is a substance within which a culture grows. Change “substance” to “technology” and media ecology defines a medium as a technology within which a culture grows, forming its politics, social organization, and ways of thinking. In biology, ecology is the study of what constitutes a balanced and healthy natural environment. Media ecology refers to ways that cultures maintain a healthy symbolic balance to help keep our natural world in order. Media ecology seeks to make us more aware that we live in two different environments. We live in both the natural environment of air, water, animals, and plants, and the media environment of language, images, symbols, and technologies that shape us.

The 11th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association explores the connections between these two ecologies, one of culture and communication, the other of nature and the physical sciences. Convention submissions draw on a wide variety of perspectives in environmental studies in the sciences and communication, from issues such as climate change, biodiversity, acid rain, and wildlife ecology. How do media ecology and natural ecology intersect? How do ecologists in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences create dialogue with each other? Can scholarship bring artists, communication researchers, and scientists together? What is the relationship between primary natural and virtual media realities? What is the history of environmental thought?

The convention will be sponsored by the Vice President for Research, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of Maine. Campus housing will be available. Tours of Maine’s natural environments will be offered. For more information on the convention, and to register, please visit http://media-ecology.org/activities/index.html.

The following are sessions of note for people interested in general semantics. A complete program for the convention is available at http://media-ecology.org/activities/11mea_program.pdf.

Thursday, June 10
Session 4
2:30 – 3:45 pm
4.A DPC Rm. 107

Korzybski and Media Ecology
Chair: Jacqueline Rudig, Institute of General Semantics

“Situating Korzybski”
Corey Anton, Grand Valley State University

“Abstraction: Language, Television, and Culture”
Geri Forsberg, Western Washington University

“Korzybski, Luhmann, and McLuhan”
Lance Strate, Fordham University

Thursday, June 10
Plenary Presentation
8:00 – 9:30 pm
Wells Conference Center, Banquet Room

“In Search of Active Wisdom”
Mary Catherine Bateson

Friday, June 11
Session 6
1:00 – 2:15 pm
6.B DPC Rm. 109

Founding Figures
Chair: Lance Strate, Fordham University

“Ernest Reginald McClintock Dix, 1857-1936: The Last Man of Letters”
Peter Fallon, Roosevelt University

“Korzybski's Theory of Abstraction: Language, Media and Culture”
Geri Forsberg, Western Washington University

“Ong, Teilhard and the Evolution of Consciousness”
Jerry Harp, Lewis and Clark College

Friday, June 11
Session 7
2:30 – 3:45 pm
7.B DPC Rm. 109

Metaphors and Symbols
Chair: James Morrison, Babson College

“Lapel Pins: Sign, Symbol, Message, and Communication Medium?”
Jack Ciak, Seton Hill University

“The Metaphor of Cloud Computing”
Ray Gozzi, Jr., Ithaca College

“Media Ecology: Exploring the Metaphor”
Carlos Alberto Scolari, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Friday, June 11
Music Video Media Critique (Performance/Screening)
9:45 – 11:00 pm
DPC 100

“Thus Spoke the Spectacle”
Eric Goodman & Mike Stevens

“Thus Spoke the Spectacle” is a music video media critique exploring the nature and effects of our electronic communication environment. It’s produced by Eric Goodman and Mike Stevens, who have performed and screened the show at colleges, high schools, theaters, art galleries, conferences, and film and music festivals around the United States. In 2008, “Thus Spoke the Spectacle” was awarded the Media Ecology Association's John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology. For more information and to view videos from the show, go to http://www.thespectacle.net.

"How to Handle Personality Disorders": A General Semantics Workshop in Paris

General Semantics Workshop:
"How to handle
personality disorders?"

by Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer
from the Institute of General Semantics

Friday, July 9, 2010 // 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Saturday, July 10, 2010 // 9:00am – 12:30pm

Number of participants limited to 9 + lecturer
Inscription by mail or fax:
biard [at] hotmail.com
06 17 72 39 20 // 01 45 03 55 19 (fax)
15 euros of fees for drinks and materials

 
City Hall of the 5th arrondissement of Paris
Room Soufflot
21 Place du Panthéon 75005 Paris
RER B Luxembourg (exit "Jardin du Luxembourg")
Métro Line 10 : Cardinal Lemoine // Métro Line 7 : Place Monge
Parking 22, rue Soufflot 75 005 Paris

Click here to download the flyer in English

General Semantics:

When the premises of this new approach had been made, I unexpectedly discovered they were [...] the basis of a non-Aristotelian system whose modus operandi I called 'General Semantics' [...]

The mathematical theory of types made me aware of new kinds of linguistic confusions that so far, except for a few mathematicians, almost no one have paid attention to.

Awareness and analysis of these problems led me to the following discovery: the principles of different levels of abstraction, the multi-ordinal terms, the words over / under-defined, the second-order reactions - thinking about thinking, doubt of doubt, fear of being afraid, etc… - cortico-thalamic interaction, the circular nature of human knowledge, etc. [...]

These factors can be considered as the generalization of the theory of mathematical types. The degree to which we are ‘conscious of abstracting’, including what we said above among several elements, becomes a key issue in how we evaluate and therefore can affect how we 'perceive' to a large extend.

Many were inspired by General Semantics: Gregory Bateson, Albert Ellis, Edward T. Hall, Paul Watzlawick, Boris Vian, Gaston Bachelard, etc. General Semantics has been and is used in communication studies, journalism, psychology, and in the army as well.

Personality Disorders:

Human behaviours can appear to us variable and diverse depending on individual settings and circumstances. Without neither generalizing too much nor trying to put a definitive label on behaviours, it seems useful to me to be able to discuss about distinctive patterns of repetitive behaviours which pose a problem to daily and human relationships.

Altogether, General Semantics--as it focus on observation, indexation, framework or reference, etc.--allows us to better adapt ourselves to these behaviours and to spot in ourselves some push buttons--projection, introjections, etc.

Program:

Friday Afternoon: Introduction to General Semantics with exercises focused on map and territory relationship
Saturday Morning: Personality disorders and psycho-linguistic approach to them, with necessary reminders

Announcing the 2010 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture & Symposium The Institute of General Semantics is pleased to announce the 58th Annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture to be delivered by

Deborah Tannen

"Language and New Media:
How Texting, Tweeting, E-mail and Facebook Are Transforming Relationships"

Much has been written about how the use of new media is transforming the language, such as the concern that the use of acronyms like "lol" is compromising written language and creeping into spoken language as well. These concerns will be addressed, but more significant is the way that use of new media transforms relationships, for example by speeding up the length of time expected between communications; in some contexts encouraging the belligerence that results from anonymity; and providing access to more individuals while possibly limiting the volume and type of communication with each.

The 58th Annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture will be held on October 29th at Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus in New York City, in conjunction with the "New Languages, New Relations, New Realities" Symposium to be held on October 29-31.

About Deborah Tannen

Deborah Tannen is University Professor and Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University and author of many books and articles about how the language of everyday conversation affects relationships. She is best known as the author of You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, which was on the New York Times Best Seller list for nearly four years, including eight months as No. 1, and has been translated into 30 languages. Her newest book You Were Always Mom's Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives, which was released in September, became a New York Times best seller and received a Books for a Better Life Award. You Were Always Mom's Favorite! was featured on 20/20 and NPR's Morning Edition. You're Wearing THAT?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation, published in 2006, spent ten weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. Among her other books, Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work was a New York Times Business best seller; The Argument Culture received the Common Ground Book Award; and I Only Say This Because I Love You: Talking to Your Parents, Partner, Sibs, and Kids When You're All Adults received a Books for a Better Life Award. In addition to her writing for general audiences, Tannen is author or editor of 14 books (21, including her general audience books) and over one hundred articles for scholarly audiences. She has also published poems, short stories, and personal essays. Her first play, An Act of Devotion, is included in The Best American Short Plays 1993-1994. It was produced, together with her play Sisters, by Horizons Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.

A frequent guest on television and radio news and information shows, Deborah Tannen has appeared on The Colbert Report, 20/20, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Talk Show, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose, 48 Hours, CBS News, ABC News Tonight, Oprah, CNN, Larry King, Hardball, Nightline, and many NPR shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Diane Rehm Show, and Fresh Air. She has been featured in and written for most major newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, People, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review. Deborah Tannen is one of only five in Georgetown University's College of Arts and Sciences who hold the distinguished rank of University Professor. She has been McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California, following a term in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The recipient of five honorary doctorates, she is a member of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors.

Call for Papers

In addition to the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, the symposium on October 29-31 will feature a range of presentations on topics related to the title, "New Languages, New Relations, New Realities." The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2010 August 31, 2010.

Read the Call for Papers »

About the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture

Over the years, the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture has been presented by a wide range of illustrious speakers.

Read more about the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture »

Stay Tuned

As details become available, we will update the website. Watch the IGS homepage for details on registering for the 2010 AKML & Symposium.

Call for Papers & Paper Proposals: Edited Collection on Alfred Korzybski and His Ideas In response to the resurgence of scholarly interest in the ideas and writings of Alfred Korzybski, Corey Anton and Lance Strate are pleased to announce a call for papers for a forthcoming edited book to be published by the Institute of General Semantics.

The edited collection, tentatively titled Korzybski and…, will feature some of today’s leading scholars and will explore and address the continued relevance of Korzybski and his practical system of general semantics.

The editors are especially interested in papers that draw out connections, points of convergence and/or divergence between Korzybski and particular thinkers, scholarly traditions, and research methodologies. Example topics or chapters include:

• Korzybski and Marshall McLuhan
• Korzybski and Martin Heidegger
• Korzybski and Kenneth Burke
• Korzybski and Transactional Psychology
• Korzybski and Logic
• Korzybski and Stoicism
• Korzybski and Postmodernity

The editors welcome creative and innovative projects and are happy to consider alternative suggestions and proposals that address the continued relevance of Korzybski and General Semantics.

Prospective authors should submit completed papers, extended abstracts, or interesting papers proposals, as well as a copy of current CV to Corey Anton (antonc[at]gvsu.edu) and Lance Strate (strate[at]fordham.edu) by August 31, 2010.

James Madison University Seeking Professor with General Semantics Expertise "Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, & Technical Communication at James Madison University"

James Madison University’s School of Writing, Rhetoric & Technical Communication seeks applications and nominations for a senior faculty position at the rank of professor.

Additional information about the School is available at www.jmu.edu/wrtc.

Duties and Responsibilities: research and scholarly activity in area of specialization; mentor student research, undergraduate and graduate; pursue external funding; strengthen cross-disciplinary relations with other departments and schools at JMU.

Qualifications: Requirements include a doctorate in Linguistics, Rhetoric and Composition, or related field, with demonstrated expertise in psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, general semantics, and with evidence of successful teaching in first-year composition. Additional requirements include demonstrated success at writing grants and securing external funding and evidence of successful curricular and programmatic design.

Preferred qualifications include experience designing and teaching courses at the intersections of rhetoric, writing, technical and scientific communication and linguistics.

Instructions to applicants: Candidates must complete the JOBLINK Application at https://joblink.jmu.edu. In addition, candidates must send a letter of application, C.V., official transcripts, statement of teaching philosophy and/or sample syllabi, and three letters of recommendation to:

Dr. Jim Zimmerman
Chair, WRTC Search Committee
James Madison University
School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication
800 South Main Street, MSC 2103
Harrisonburg, VA 22807

To assure consideration, all materials must be received by April 18, 2010.

IGS Sponsoring A Roundtable Discussion at International Communication Association Conference The Institute of General Semantics will be sponsoring a roundtable discussion at the International Communication Association conference in Singapore. Information is listed below.

IGS members can register for this conference at the ICA member discount even it they are not ICA members because IGS is an Associate of the ICA.

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International Communication Association
60th Annual Conference
Singapore
June 22-26, 2010

@ Suntec Singapore
1 Raffles Blvd., Suntec City, Singapore 039593
http://www.icahdq.org

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Roundtable on General Semantics Today: Challenges and Opportunities

Sponsor: Institute of General Semantics
Chair: Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College

Participants:
Prafulla Kar, Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences
Susan Maushart, University of Western Australia
Pravesh G. Jung, Indian Institute of Technology

General semantics was introduced by Alfred Korzybski over 75 years ago, in response to the horrors of the First World War, as a means to improve the ways in which we understand, evaluate, and act upon our environment, in order to facilitate individual sanity and collective moral and ethical progress. This in turn led to various attempts at institutionalizing the movement, such as the Institute of General Semantics, the International Society for General Semantics (which merged with the IGS in 2004),various local societies, and most recently the Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences in Baroda, India. The introduction of general semantics also resulted in a popular movement that peaked during the mid-twentieth century, giving rise to and influencing a variety of psychotherapies such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming andRational-Emotive Therapy, as well as deconstruction and poststructuralism in Europe and media ecology in North America, general systems theory and Buckminster Fuller's synergetics, the development of computer technology and interfaces (e.g., Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay), literature (e.g., William S. Burroughs, A. E. van Vogt, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert), philosophy, education, economics, finance, and business, and of course the study ofhuman communication. As we examine general semantics today, this panel will consider to what extent does it speak to contemporary problems and concerns? How does general semantics relate to contemporary theory and research in communication and related fields and disciplines? What contributions can general semantics institutions make to scholarship, to individuals outside of academia who are looking for practical solutions to everyday problems, and to our social systems?

IGS Sponsoring Two Events at the Eastern Communication Association Convention The Institute of General Semantics will be sponsoring two programs at the Eastern Communication Association convention in Baltimore, Maryland. Information is listed below.

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Eastern Communication Association
101st Annual Convention
Baltimore, MD
April 22-25, 2010

@ Hyatt Regency on the Inner Harbor
300 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21202
http://ecasite.org

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Thursday, April 22, 2010
2.4.05 / 2:45 – 4:00 p.m.
Competitive Papers in General Semantics

This panel features competitively-selected papers from the Institute of General Semantics, an affiliate organization of the ECA for this year.

Sponsor: Institute of General Semantics
Chair: Lance Strate, Fordham University
Respondent: Bill Petkanas, Western Connecticut State University

“Let Them Eat Yellow Cake: The Consequences of General Semantics Violations in Public Affairs”(*)
Mark Hickson, III, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Larry Powell, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“Farewell to Dad: Two Brothers Eulogize Senator Ted Kennedy”
Stephanie Gibson, University of Baltimore

“Reacting to Reactions: Systemic Implications of September 11 to the Body and to the Body Politic: Electronic Media and Patterns of Production and Consumption”
Donna Flayhan, SUNY New Paltz

(*)Top Paper

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Saturday, April 24, 2010
4.6.01 / 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
Focus on the Future: The Chart is Not the Course You Travel

This panel features a roundtable discussion about the future of general semantics as a discipline and field of study.

Sponsor: Focus on the Future / Institute of General Semantics
Chair: Lance Strate, Fordham University

Mary Alexander, Marist College
Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College
Stephanie Gibson, University of Baltimore
Martin Levinson, Institute of General Semantics
Bill Petkanas, Western Connecticut State University

Recent Changes to the IGS Website You may have noticed of late that we've been making some changes to the IGS website.

As a result of a usability study of the IGS website performed by students of David Walczyk of Pratt Institute, we have seen some things we could do to improve our website. Of note, we added to the front page a box for Upcoming Events. We've also added a profile of our latest publication, along with a link to its Table of Contents.

Things come and go, and the General Semantics Discussion Forums had a nice life. While we have just closed the General Semantics Discussion Forums, we have archived the content and put it in the General Semantics Learning Center. We've also reorganized the Learning Center a bit, folding in some of the information that was under About Us and putting it in its more appropriate place.

We've also added a News tab to the navigation bar so you don't have to hunt around to find out about news (like this!). With that also came a reorganization of the navigation bar as a whole, bringing our publications and Learning Center more to the forefront and letting information about IGS fall more to the side.

We'd like to hear from you if you have feedback on the IGS website. If you do, please use the box in the righthand column to email the webmaster, or simply click here to email the webmaster.

E-Prime Profiled in The Guardian Writer Oliver Burkeman celebrates and discusses D. David Bourland, Jr., and his famous contribution to general semantics, E-Prime ("English without be-verbs"), in an article in the January 16, 2010, edition of UK's The Guardian.

Have a read:

"This column will change your life: To be or not to be…"

IGS Board Elects Three New Trustees In recent months, the Board of Trustees of the Institute of General Semantics elected three new trustees: Corey Anton, Thom Gencarelli, and Ben Hauck.

Corey Anton, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Grand Valley State University, is author of Selfhood and Authenticity (SUNY Press) and of the forthcoming book, Sources of Significance: Worldly Rejuvenation and Neo-Stoic Heroism (Purdue University Press). He is a Fellow of the International Communicology Institute, and he serves on the Board of Directors for the Media Ecology Association. He enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and juggling.

Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D. (NYU, 1993), is the Chair of the Communication Department at Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY. Thom was hired by Manhattan to create its Communication department after spending 14 years on the full-time faculty at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, four years at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, and seven years on the part-time faculty of the M.A. program in Media Studies at The New School in NYC. Thom is currently the Vice President of the Media Ecology Association, a Past President of the New York State Communication Association, and a two-time Past President of the New Jersey Communication Association. Thom's scholarship focuses on the areas of media literacy/media education, media ecology, and popular media and culture (with an emphasis on popular music). An example of his scholarship bridging the fields of media literacy and media ecology is his article, "The Missing Years: Neil Postman and 'The New English Book Series," published in Explorations in Media Ecology, Volume 5, Issue 1, in 2006. He is currently at work on a book about cognitive development and language acquisition. In addition, Thom is a songwriter and musician, and his debut CD with his ensemble bluerace was released in June 2009. (The group is presently at work on their follow up release.) Thom lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, with his wife Alison, and their two sons Miles and Griffin.

Ben Hauck is an actor who has recently stood in for Jason Bateman in the upcoming film with Jennifer Aniston The Baster and for Peter Facinelli on the second season of the Showtime seriocomedy with Edie Falco Nurse Jackie. He is a long-time student of general semantics, and his essays on the subject have been published in ETC: A Review of General Semantics and the General Semantics Bulletin. Ben has led classes and meetings on general semantics for the New York Society for General Semantics, for which he sits on its Board of Directors. He is also webmaster for both the New York Society for General Semantics and the Institute of General Semantics, updating their websites and moderating online discussions. Living in NYC, Ben enjoys running in Central Park, and he recently completed the Philadelphia Marathon (3:07:32). He plans to complete his fourth NYC Marathon in 2010 and run his first Boston Marathon in 2011. (http://www.benhauck.com)

IGS Sponsors Media Ethics Magazine The Institute of General Semantics is now listed as one of the sponsors of Media Ethics Magazine.

As part of the arrangement, IGS was able to name two individuals to the Media Ethics Editorial Board. IGS Trustees Corey Anton and Thom Gencarelli are now Contributing Editors for the magazine.

Interestingly, one of the articles currently listed on the homepage of Media Ethics online is "Two-Valued Orientation-Mirror Opposite of Aristotle's Golden Mean" by Paulette D. Kilmer. In her essay, Kilmer draws on S.I. Hayakawa's book Language in Thought and Action.

Call for Nominations for the 2010 Institute of General Semantics Samuel I. Hayakawa Book Prize Competition for the Hayakawa Book Prize is open to any book published in 2005 or later on topics and themes of direct relevance to the discipline of general semantics, including:

• time-binding
• abstraction
• language
• symbols
• meaning
• communication
• media
• perception
• consciousness
• epistemology
• scientific method
• etc.

To enter, send a letter of nomination and four copies of the book to Executive Director, Institute of General Semantics, 3000 A Landers Street, Fort Worth, TX 76107 by March 31, 2010. (Please note that this is a new mailing address for IGS.)

For more information, contact Lance Strate, Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics, via e-mail at executivedirector [at] generalsemantics.org, or by telephone at (718) 817-4864.

The winner will receive a cash award of $1,000.

International Conference Roundup At Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus from September 11-13, 2009, a large number of attendees listened to over 70 presenters at the international general semantics conference titled Across the Generations: Legacies of Hope and Meaning. Below is a roundup of the large-scale event:

• Fordham University's website contains a story about 57th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer Mary Catherine Bateson's lecture. Click here to read the article.



• For the article, Janet Faller Sassi captured photographs from the AKML. Click here to view her photos.



• Where We Live, the Connecticut NPR radio show, aired a pretaped segment with 57th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer Mary Catherine Bateson, previewing her AKML. Here's the link to the page on the segment.



• Fordham University student Mariusz Han, SJ, photographed many presenters at the conference. Click here to see his photographs along with captions.



• Also, photographer Robert Barry Francos documented the conference in photos. For three galleries of Robert Barry Francos's photos, click here and here and here.



• Aaron DeNu's Facebook page is still up from the conference. Click here to check it out. You will need to be a Facebook member to see it.

Check this news item later for future updates to the roundup.

Photos from Media Conversations VI In New York City from June 4-6, 2009, IGS co-sponsored Media Conversations VI: An International Conference on Youth, Media, and Education.

Fordham University student Mariusz Han, SJ, photographed many presenters at the conference. Click here to see his photographs along with captions from Media Conversations VI.

IGS Has a New Address The address for the Institute of General Semantics has changed!

Please direct correspondence to IGS at our new business office address:

Institute of General Semantics
3000 A Landers Street
Fort Worth, TX 76107

The phone and fax numbers will remain the same:

(817) 922-9950 (Phone)
(817) 922-9903 (Fax)

Summary of Paris Introductory Workshop on General Semantics A report from Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer, Secretary General of IGS and organizer of "A Friendly Introductory Workshop on General Semantics" held on October 3rd in Paris, France:

In the Irish Cultural Center, Latin Quarter, the magnificent and restored building of the 17th/18th century, we spent an afternoon introduction to General Semantics comprising diverse exercises (sometimes quite violent!) to grasp the major principles of GS:

• the map/territory relationships
  
• consciousness of abstracting, levels of abstractions, verbal/non-verbal
  
• relationships and antagonism between mathematics and natural languages
  

The twenty participants came from diverse horizons, and as usual in my past experience, some felt frustrated they couldn't get it "all" done in one afternoon...

To be continued in future workshops then!

 

A big thank-you to the people who supported the event.

Korzysbki's "The Role of Language in the Perceptual Processes" is avalaible in French as Science & Sanity has not been translated yet...

"A Friendly Introductory Workshop on General Semantics" - Paris, France - October 3, 2009 IGS Secretary Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer will be hosting "A Friendly Introductory Workshop on General Semantics" at the Irish Cultural Center in Paris, France, on Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 2:30pm-6:30pm. Below are the specific details.

 Note: For the annoucement in French, click here.

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"A Friendly Introductory Workshop on
General Semantics"

By Miss Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer
Secretary General of the Institute of General Semantics

Saturday October 3rd, 2009
from 14h00 to 18h30 (2pm-6:30pm)

Irish Cultural Center
5 Irish Street, 75005 Paris
FRANCE

Free participation, subject to the number of available places.

Registration required by email fax or phone!
biard [at] hotmail.com
06 17 72 39 20 (Phone)
01 45 03 55 19 (Fax)
Please indicate very clearly your name, surname and address.

This psycholinguistic approach essentially starts with exercises to illustrate the hypotheses, assumptions, prejudices, etc., implied that we convey through our culture and our language, our environment, education, situations, etc.

We can draw extremely positive applications in business and daily life.

This is not the smartest nor the strongest who necessarily succeed, but also the ones who fit to the situations and makes choices. But how to choose where our habits of thought lead us to restrict the information instead of distinguishing, telling apart?

Today's society tends to create false problems and stressful situations. In reframing the events and information, general semantics can de-dramatize, to increase development opportunities and relax.

Claude Saudes, former student of the Institute of General Semantics:

"When the premise of this new approach had been made, I found unexpectedly that they were [...] the basis of a non-Aristotelian system which I called the modus operandi 'General Semantics': [...]

The mathematical theory of types made me aware of new kinds of linguistic confusion that so far, except a few mathematicians, almost nobody paid attention to.

Awareness and analysis of these problems led me to discover the following: the principles of different levels of abstraction, the multi-ordinal terms, the words over / under defined, the second order reactions (the thinking about thinking, doubt of doubt, fear of being afraid, etc..), the thalamo-cortical interaction, the circular nature of human knowledge, etc.. ;

These factors can be considered as generalizing the theory of mathematical types. The degree to which we are 'conscious of abstracting' including, among others what we said above, becomes a key issue in how we evaluate and therefore somewhat largely affect how we 'perceive'.

From a preview of The Role of Language in the Perceptual Process, by Alfred Korzybski, Second Edition, 1966:

Several personalities have inspired, have used and / or developed the ideas of General Semantics: Henri Laborit, Gaston Bachelard, Paul Watzlawick, Boris Vian, Edward T. Hall, Gregory Bateson, etc.. The General Semantics has been and is taught in the U.S. Army, as well as in schools of journalism, communication, or psychology.

Hayakawa Prize 2009 The Institute of General Semantics is pleased to announce that its judges have selected The Hidden Side of Babel: Unveiling Cognition, Intelligence and Sense by Laura Bertone (Buenos Aries: Evolución, 2006) as the winner of its inaugural Samuel I. Hayakawa Book Prize.

The Hayakawa Book Prize goes to the most outstanding work published in the past five years on topics of direct relevance to the discipline of general semantics, and includes a cash award of $1,000. The Hidden Side of Babel was chosen by judges Martin Levinson, Jacqueline Rudig, and Lance Strate, from a highly competitive field of ten finalists.

Dr. Bertone is a Visiting Professor at the Masters’ Program of Translation and Interpretation at the University of Buenos Aires, and the Director of the consulting firm EVOLUCIÓN, devoted to improving communication processes and to organizing educational seminars and events. A native of Argentina, she worked in Paris as an AIIC professional conference interpreter for twenty years, and holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Paris VIII University.

The Hayakawa Prize will be presented to Laura Bertone at the "Across the Generations: Legacies of Hope and Meaning" conference on September 11-13, 2009, at Fordham University in New York City, where she will be one of the featured speakers.

International Conference Updates As IGS prepares for its 2009 international conference titled "Across the Generations: Legacies of Hope and Meaning," we have some new information to share:

• Where We Live, the Connecticut NPR radio show, is airing a pretaped segment with 57th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer Mary Catherine Bateson, previewing her AKML. Here's the link to the page on the segment. Updated 9/9/2009
  
  
• As of August 16, 2009, we have released a tentative schedule of events for the conference. Click here to read the latest version of the tentative schedule. Updated 9/3/2009
  
  We have also released a list of selected biographies of presenters at the conference. Click here to read the list. Updated 9/3/2009



• Over the summer, we have added new co-sponsors to the event, which should expand the attendance for the event as well as increase the Institute's profile and connectivity. In addition to the New York Society of General Semantics, the Media Ecology Association, the Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, the Lifwynn Foundation for Social Research, and Fordham University, we have added as co-sponsors for the international conference the Taos Institute, the Buckminster Fuller Institute, and the Viewpoints Research Institute.



• The international conference is listed on the United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations website. Click here to see the listing.



• The international conference is also listed on the Neuroanthropology website. Click here to see the listing. Item added 8/23/2009



• The Buckminster Fuller Institute lists the international conference on the frontpage of its website. Have a look by clicking here. Item added 9/9/2009



• The Buckminster Fuller Institute lists the international conference on the frontpage of its website. Have a look by clicking here. BFI also twice ran items about the international conference, which you can read here and here. Item added 9/9/2009



• Of course, co-sponsor Fordham University lists the international conference on its website here. Item added 9/9/2009



• Aaron DeNu set up a page on Facebook about the conference. Click here to check it out. You will need to be a Facebook member to see it. Item added 8/25/2009

Check the IGS website frequently for updates on the international conference. Also, be sure to register!

(updated August 19, 2009)
(updated August 22, 2009)
(updated August 23, 2009)
(updated August 25, 2009)
(updated August 30, 2009)
(updated September 3, 2009)
(updated September 9, 2009)

Call for Papers: 2009 International Conference IGS recently issued a call for papers for its 2009 international conference titled "Across the Generations: Legacies of Hope and Meaning."

Read the Call for Papers >>

UPDATE!
The deadline for submission has been extended. Feel free to send your submission up until the soft deadline of July 31, 2009.

(updated July 15, 2009)

A New Logo for the IGS
IGS recently made efforts toward revising its logo. Read an article by Lance Strate on the new logo for IGS by clicking here.

You can also access the article in the IGS Online Library under the topic "History of the Organizations and Discipline."

IGS Co-Sponsoring Media Conversations VI 2009 The Institute of General Semantics is co-sponsoring Media Conversations VI 2009: An International Conference on Youth, Media, and Education, this coming June 4-6, 2009. Other co-sponsors include Pratt Institute, Fordham University, The Media Ecology Association, and The Players Club.

Participants include IGS Executive Director Lance Strate, IGS President Martin H. Levinson, IGS Trustee Thom Gencarelli, ETC Editor Bill Petkanas, 2006 AKML speaker Renee Hobbs, and Alan Hayakawa, son of S. I. Hayakawa and co-author of the fifth edition of Language in Thought and Action.

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Media Conversations VI
An International Conference on Youth, Media, and Education

June 4-6, 2009
New York, New York

Co-sponsored by
Pratt Institute
Fordham University
The Players Club
Media Ecology Association
Institute of General Semantics

http://www.mediaeco.com/moc09

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Thursday, June 4th
Pratt Institute
144 West 14th St., 2nd. floor

5.30-6.30pm - Multimedia Presentation
Thus Spoke the Spectacle
Eric Goodman and Mike Stevens

6.30-8.00pm - Welcome and Screening
'The Bungled and the Botched' : The Necessity of Psychological Sustainability
David Walczyk, Pratt Institute
Followed by ...
The Manhattan Premiere of the film Consuming Kids (67 minutes)

8.00-9.30pm - Keynote Address
Introduced by
Tula Gianini, Dean, Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science
Teaching media literacy in our schools: why it is so easy to do badly and so hard to do well"
Tom DeZengotita, Dalton School/New York University/Harper's Magazine

Friday Morning and Afternoon, June 5th
Pratt Institute
144 West 14th St., 2nd. floor

10:00am-12:00pm - Panel Discussion
Media Education and the Future of Journalism
Cynthia Walker, Saint Peter's College (moderator)
Donna Halper, Lesley University
Alan Hayakawa, Patriot News
Neil Hickey, Columbia Journalism Review
Beth Knobel, Fordham University
Alex Wright, New York Times

1.00-3:00pm - Panel Discussion
Childhood and Media
Jessica Hochman, Pratt Institute (moderator)
Gretchen Hams-Caserotti, Darien Public Library
Twila Liggett, Marymount Manhattan College
Ed Miller, Alliance for Childhood
Mary Rothschild, Healthy Media Choices
Rosemarie Truglio, Sesame Workshop

3:30-5:30pm - Panel Discussion
New Media Literacies
Paul Guzzardo, Urban Designer and Media Activist (moderator)
Thomas Gillespie, Quinnipiac University
Peter Gutierrez, Curriculum Developer; NCTE Commission on Media
Alex Quinn, Games for Change
David Walczyk, Pratt Institute

Friday Evening, June 5th
The Players Club
16 Gramercy Park South
(Note: E. 20th St. btw Park Ave. South & 3rd Ave. is renamed Gramercy Park South)

7:30-9:30pm - Panel Discussion
Heroes and Role Models in Movies and Other Media
Meir Ribalow, Fordham University (moderator)
Maria Cooper Janis, Filmmaker
Susan McGregor, Friend's Way
Lee Pfeiffer, Cinema Retro
Victor Slezak, Actor
Lance Strate, Fordham University

Saturday, June 6th
Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus
McMahon Hall Lounge
155 West 60th St. (btw Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.)

10.00-12.00pm - Panel Discussion
Media Education in the Global Village
Ron L. Jacobson, Fordham University (moderator)
Mary Bosco Amakwe, Seton Hall University
Paul Mihailidis, Hofstra University
Holly Morganelli, Pratt Institute
Jordi Torrent, Media Literacy Education Project, UN-Alliance of Civilizations & Duende Pictures

1.00-3.00pm - Screening and Discussion
The LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Project)
Katherine Fry, Brooklyn College/The LAMP
D.C. Vito, The LAMP

3:30-5:30pm - Panel Discussion
Mapping the Media
Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College (moderator)
Renee Hobbs, Temple University
Dan Latorre, Scholastic Magazines
Martin Levinson, Institute of General Semantics
Bill Petkanas, Western Connecticut State University

(updated May 31, 2009)

2009 General Semantics Educators Survey Inspired by the efforts of past IGS board members Mary Morain, David F. Maas, and Peter Christopher, among others, we are endeavoring to build an up-to-date list of educators who teach general semantics classes, or incorporate aspects of general semantics into their courses.

If you are an educator currently including GS in your teaching, please visit http://www.generalsemantics.org/2009survey to participate in a brief survey and help IGS update and expand our database!

IGS Represented at Three Annual Meetings The Institute of General Semantics was represented as an affiliate organization at the Eastern Communication Association's 100th annual meeting in Philadelphia, April 22-26, 2009, with a program session featuring ETC Editor Bill Petkanas, Associate Editor Mary Alexander, and IGS Executive Director, Lance Strate, while Mary Purcell, a graduate student at Fordham University, staffed an IGS table at the conference's exhibit hall, to the delight of many teachers and students of communication.

Our presence was also felt at the 13th annual conference of the New Jersey Communication Association, held at Kean University in Union, NJ, on March 31, 2009, where a panel on general semantics featured Thom Gencarelli, a member of the IGS Board of Trustees; Janet Sternberg, who is on the New York Society for General Semantics Board of Directors as well as being the new president of the Media Ecology Association; Don Swanson, Chair of the Communication Department at Monmouth University, and Lance Strate.

Look for IGS next at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association in Chicago, May 20-25.

UPDATE: Replacement Issues of ETC A replacement copy of the October 2008 issue of ETC (Vol. 65, No. 4) has been mailed out.

We tried a new printer for this issue, and the result was the printing and distribution, without our approval, of an issue of poor quality. The second printing, while reflecting significant improvement over the first, is still not up to the high standards we have set for the journal.

Consequently, we will be returning to our previous printer for all future issues. The next issue (Vol. 66, No. 1), cover dated January 2009, will be in print by the end of May, and ETC editor Bill Petkanas plans to be back on schedule by the end of the summer.

Alfred Korzybski Mentioned in the New York Times Magazine Writer William Safire is no stranger to general semantics. The author of the "On Language" column for the New York Times Magazine for decades, in his April 12, 2009 entry (p. 14) makes reference to Alfred Korzybski in discussing the new secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano's use of the euphemism man-caused disaster in place of terrorism.

Noting that "Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan commented: 'Ah. Well, this is only a nuance, but her use of language is a man-caused disaster,'" Safire went on to remark that, "Noonan makes an excellent point of light: a word is not the thing itself. (That was the message of the general semanticist Alfred Korzybski, famous for 'a map is not the territory.') Renaming terrorism 'man-caused disaster' does not begin to deal with the real thing that is terrorism."

Politics aside, we salute Bill Safire for his consciousness of abstracting!

Read the essay online >>

Replacement Issues of ETC Forthcoming Due to a printer's error, a substandard printing of the October issue of ETC: A Review of General Semantics (Vol. 64, No. 4) has been mailed out to members and subscribers. A new printing is underway and replacement issues of appropriate quality will be mailed out as soon as possible.

There is nothing wrong with the content of the first printing, so please feel free to pass the extra copy on to someone who might be interested in learning more about general semantics and joining the Institute of General Semantics.

Upcoming General Semantics Bulletin Double Issue A special double issue of the General Semantics Bulletin for 2007/2008 (Vol. 74/75) will be distributed in March April May June, and will include the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lectures delivered by Douglas Rushkoff last year, and Leonard Shlain in 2007, and 24 additional symposium papers from the last two years authored by Terence P. Moran, Tom de Zengotita, David Berreby, Marleen Barr, Kathleen Sweeney, John C. Wright, Tyler Volk, Bruce Kodish, Frank Dance, Lance Strate, Devkumar Trivedi, Milton Dawes, Allen Flagg, Vanessa Biard-Shaffer, Eva Berger, Eric Goodman, Janet Sternberg, Stephanie Bennett, Robert Blechman, Mary Bosco Amakwe, Jessica Crowell, Phil Ardery, Ben Hauck, Frank Gastner, and Renée Cherow-O'Leary.

(updated April 3, 2009) (updated May 4, 2009)
(updated June 6, 2009)

IGS Co-Hosts the 56th AKML and a Two-Day Symposium On November 14, 2008, IGS hosted the 56th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture at the Princeton Club in NYC. Douglas Rushkoff gave the AKML.

On November 15-16, 2008, IGS followed with a two-day symposium at Fordham University titled "Creating the Future: Conscious Time-Binding for a Better Tomorrow."

To read the program for the event, click here.

UPDATES (as of 11/26/2008)

Freelance photographer Robert Barry Francos took photos of many of the speakers at the weekend's events. View photos from the big weekend by clicking here.

Listen to Douglas Rushkoff's lecture by downloading the .mp3 file here. (Download an alternate version here.) You can also stream his lecture here.

Read press and blogs from the event at the following locations:

• Douglas Rushkoff's account of "the biggest honor [he's] had as a public speaker" - Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
  
• New York Press's Brian Heater's account of the AKML - New York Press
  
• IGS Executive Director Lance Strate's account of the weekend - Lance Strate's Blog Time Passing (Entry 1)
  
• IGS Executive Director Lance Strate's corrigenda from the AKML - Lance Strate's Blog Time Passing (Entry 2)
  
• Photographer Robert Barry Francos's account of the weekend and accounts of Neil Postman - FFanzeen: Rock 'n' Roll With Integrity (Entry 1)
  
• Selected photos by Robert Barry Francos from the event - FFanzeen: Rock 'n' Roll With Integrity (Entry 2)
  

IGS Announces Inauguration of the Samuel I. Hayakawa Book Prize Competition for the Hayakawa Book Prize is open to any book published in 2004 or later on topics and themes of direct relevance to the discipline of general semantics, including time-binding, abstraction, language, symbols, meaning, communication, media, perception, consciousness, epistemology, scientific method, etc.

To enter, send a letter of nomination and four copies of the book to Executive Director, Institute of General Semantics, 2260 College Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76110 by March 1, 2009.

For more information, contact Lance Strate, Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics, via e-mail executivedirector (at) generalsemantics.org, or by telephone at (718) 817-4864.

The winner will receive a cash award of $1,000.

IGS Featured on Connecticut Public Radio On November 11, 2008, Executive Director Lance Strate, ETC Editor-in-Chief Bill Petkanas, and Douglas Rushkoff were guests on the radio show Where We Live on WNPR.

To listen to an archived version of the hour-long show, plus to read the teaser for the episode, please visit:

http://www.cpbn.org/program/where-we-live/episode/general-semantics

Bill Petkanas Appointed As ETC Editor The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Petkanas BA, PhD to the position of Editor of ETC: A Review of General Semantics, effective July 15, 2008.

Bill Petkanas is Professor and Chair of Communication, and Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut. His interest in general semantics started as an undergraduate when he took a course in GS and continued through graduate school. He studied with Neil Postman at NYU, and received a PhD in Media Ecology. He teaches a course in GS at WCSU called "Language & Communication" where he hopes to help others discover the study of symbols and meaning making and the practical benefits of understanding how we use language and how language uses us. He contributes to spreading the word about GS at academic conferences and writing about language and meaning making, including "Art, Life. and Reality: General Semantics and Definitions" in the September, 2001 issue of ETC.

Lance Strate Appointed As Executive Director The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Lance Strate BA, MA, PhD to the position of Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics, effective March 15, 2008.

Dr. Strate, Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City, is internationally recognized for his intellectual leadership in the discipline of communication. He is one of the founders, and the current President of the Media Ecology Association, and also Past President of the New York State Communication Association. Lance has also been involved with the IGS as writer and lecturer, as well as long-time member of the IGS.

Dr. Strate has published and edited many books and numerous articles on the study of Media Ecology, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication, play a leading role in human affairs and sociocultural phenomenon. His research in media environments includes the study of new technologies and digital media, including online communications and telephony, and the ensuing impact on language and symbolic communication.

Dr. Strate will continue his work at Fordham University while helping to further the mission of the Institute of General Semantics through his participation in a wide range of leadership duties, including program and membership development, fiscal administration, and the oversight of day-to-day operations of the Institute. In the spirit of time-binding, please join us in a warm welcome as Lance begins the work of IGS Executive Director.

IGS in India Thanks to underwriting from IGS member Mr. B.K. Parekh, Chairman of Pidilite Industries Ltd, two seasoned General Semantics instructors, Andrea Johnson and Steve Stockdale, recently returned from an 18-day trip to India to introduce General Semantics. They gave seminars and workshops at seven different venues in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Anand, and Vadodara, to a total audience of about 350 individuals.

Read an English translation of an original Gujarati language news article from November 6, 2007

Read an account of one presentation as printed in the daily newspaper DNA (Daily News & Analysis), the November 20, 2007, edition

For photos from the visit, click here.