Updated June 23, 2020, to reflect that both events will now be virtual events.

The Institute of General Semantics has announced the 2020 dates for the 68th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and the Two-Day General Semantics Symposium.

The 68th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and dinner will take place on Friday evening, October 9, 2020 at the Princeton Club in New York City. This year, because of the pandemic, IGS will host the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture virtually.

It will be followed on Saturday and Sunday, October 10-11, 2020, with a two-day general semantics symposium at the Princeton Club. The symposium will also be hosted virtually.

The 68th AKML

The 68th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer is to be announced at a later date. For more information on the 68th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, its preceding dinner, and ticketing information, click here.  For a history of the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture Series, click here.

The GS Symposium

The topic for the 2020 general semantics symposium is Language and “Reality” in the 21st Century.  For more information on the 2020 symposium and ticketing information, click here.

Calls for Papers, Presentations & Nominations

Also, the Institute of General Semantics has released a call for papers and presentations for the symposium. The deadline for symposium submissions is September 1, 2020.

In addition, the Institute of General Semantics has released a call for nominations for this year's Hayakawa Book Prize. The deadline for submissions is also September 1, 2020.   For a history of the Hayakawa Book Prize, click here.

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2019

The Institute of General Semantics is sponsoring a two-day general semantics symposium co-sponsored by the New York Society for General Semantics and the Media Ecology Association. The symposium -- titled The Tyranny of Words* -- will be hosted at the Princeton Club in New York City October 12th-13th, 2019. It will follow the 67th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, which will be presented on Friday evening, October 11th, 2019.  * The 2019 symposium title was originally "Communication in the 21st Century." Prior submissions under that title will still be honored. Send papers, proposals, and inquiries by September 1, 2019, to mandklevin [at] aol.com. For more information, contact Martin H. Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, by phone at (212) 729-7973 or by mail at: Martin H. Levinson c/o Institute of General Semantics Attn: 2019 Symposium 72-11 Austin Street #233 Forest Hills, NY 11375

About General Semantics

General semantics is a popular, practical discipline that applies modern scientific thinking toward the solution of personal and professional problems. Through the application of general semantics ideas and principles, general semantics brings about clearer thinking, peaceful interaction, and greater sanity to one's life. General semantics has served as the foundation for numerous approaches to human problems with its unique applications adapted from modern science.

• Click here to read more about general semantics.
• Click here to read about fields that have drawn from the field of general semantics.

The call for papers for the 2017 General Semantics Symposium, which will be held October 28th-29th, 2017, at the Princeton Club in New York City, is now available.

The topic for this year is Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk, a title inspired by the popular book by famed general semantics scholar and past editor of ETC Neil Postman.

Details:

The Institute of General Semantics is sponsoring the 2-day symposium titled Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk co-sponsored by the New York Society for General Semantics and the Media Ecology Association. The symposium will be hosted at the Princeton Club in New York City October 28th-29th, 2017. It will follow the 65th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, which will be presented by Terence P. Moran on Friday evening, October 27th, 2017.

Email papers, proposals, and inquiries on this year’s theme, Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk, by September 15, 2017, to presentations [at] generalsemantics.org and/or mandklevin [at] aol.com.

For more information, contact Martin H. Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, by phone at (212) 729-7973 or by mail at:

Martin H. Levinson
c/o Institute of General Semantics
Attn: 2016 Symposium
72-11 Austin Street #233
Forest Hills, NY 11375

Information on the 65th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, which occurs on October 27th, 2017, at the Princeton Club, can be found here. More information on the 2017 symposium which follows the lecture can be found here.

The following call for papers comes by way of the Media Ecology Association, and we've been asked to share it on the Institute of General Semantics website.

Editor-Elect Calvin Troup invites general submissions to Explorations in Media Ecology (EME), the international journal of the Media Ecology Association.

Media ecology is an interdisciplinary study of media as environments. Media ecologists explore relationships between communication media, human consciousness, and culture in our technological societies. Articles are expected to use rigorous theory and modes of inquiry to develop arguments that further knowledge at intersections of media, consciousness, and culture. Submissions should be exemplary in scholarship, whatever the mode of inquiry, and should offer constructive insights.

EME invites submissions of original scholarly work that builds and extends our knowledge of media ecology and welcomes contributions from a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, fields of study, and modes of inquiry. EME also welcomes work focused on media ecology education and reviews of books and other media. Manuscripts are accepted for publication based on scholarly merit and resonance with the stated purposes of the journal stated above. The journal employs a blind peer-review process. Suggestions for revision address issues of argument, style, and contribution to the area of media ecology. Writing should be clear, aesthetically pleasing, and effective. Style should be gender sensitive. The editor makes final publication decisions. Authors should expect an initial decision within four months; the editor will notify authors of editorial progress.

Please submit articles as Microsoft Word files to the submission portal, accessible through the “Submit” button at http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=214/ (Note: you will need to create a user account). The submission portal will supply places for contact information of the author(s), current institutional affiliation, and prior history of the manuscript. An abstract of 100 words or less and 5-7 suggested keywords will also be required.  Supplementary documents may be uploaded. The manuscript itself should be scrubbed of all identifying information before being uploaded into the portal.

Article formatting and citation should conform to Intellect’s Harvard style, which can be found at http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/MediaManager/File/style%20guide(journals)-1.pdf (or search for Intellect Publishers Harvard house style). Submissions whose references have not been thus formatted may be returned before undergoing the review process. Manuscripts should be 6,500-8,500 words inclusive (text, notes, citations, captions) and double-spaced. If images are integral to the work, please so note in your note to the editor in the submission process. Submissions to EME should not be under review at another journal.

Book review submissions should be entered as such into the submission portal and will be directed to the Book Review Editor, Brian Cogan. Ideas about book reviews can be sent to Dr. Cogan at bcogan@molloy.edu. Pedagogy articles should be 2,500-3,500 words and should be submitted through the portal, which will notify the Pedagogy Editor, Alexander Kuskis. Questions or ideas about pedagogy articles should be sent to Dr. Kuskis at kuskis@gonzaga.edu.

General questions about submissions should be directed to Joshua D. Hill, Editorial Assistant, at hillj5@duq.edu.

First given in 2009, the Institute of General Semantics awards the S. I. Hayakawa Book Prize 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.

Awarded annually by the Institute of General Semantics, its presentation precedes the 64th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture (AKML) at the Princeton Club in New York City held October 21st, 2016.

• Click here for previous winners and more information on the Hayakawa Book Prize.

Competition for the 2016 Hayakawa Book Prize is open to any book published in 2010 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 nominate a book, send a letter of nomination and three copies of the book by August 31, 2016 to:

Martin H. Levinson
c/o Institute of General Semantics
Attn: Hayakawa Prize
72-11 Austin Street #233
Forest Hills, NY 11375

For more information, contact Martin H. Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, by phone at (212) 729-7973 or via email at hayakawaprize (at) generalsemantics.org.

• Click here for more information on the 64th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture.

Call for Papers: "Language in Thought and Action"

A 2-Day Symposium Sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics
October 22-23, 2016

Submission Deadline: August 31, 2015

The Institute of General Semantics is sponsoring the 2-day symposium titled "Language and 'Reality,'" co-sponsored by the New York Society for General Semantics and the Media Ecology Association. The symposium will be hosted at the Princeton Club in New York City October 22-23, 2016.

The symposium will follow the 64th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, which will be presented on Friday evening, October 21st, 2016, by psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist (author of  The Master and His Emissary).

• Click here for more information on the symposium and 64th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture.

Email papers, proposals, and inquiries on this year's theme, "'Language in Thought and Action" by August 31, 2016, to presentations [at] generalsemantics.org and/or mandklevin [at] aol.com.

For more information, contact Martin H. Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, by phone at (212) 729-7973 or by mail at:

Martin H. Levinson
c/o Institute of General Semantics
Attn: 2016 Symposium
72-11 Austin Street #233
Forest Hills, NY 11375

Call for Papers: "Language and 'Reality'"

A 2-Day Symposium Sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics
October 2-4, 2015

Submission Deadline: August 31, 2015

The Institute of General Semantics is sponsoring the 2-day symposium titled "Language and 'Reality,'" co-sponsored by the New York Society for General Semantics and the Media Ecology Association. The symposium will be hosted at the Princeton Club in New York City October 2-4, 2015. It will follow the 63rd Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, which will be presented by Andrew Keen (author of The Internet Is Not the Answer) on Friday evening, October 2nd, 2015.

• Click here for more information on the symposium and 63rd Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture.

Email papers, proposals, and inquiries on this year's theme, "'Language and 'Reality,'" by August 31, 2015, to presentations [at] generalsemantics.org.

For more information, contact Martin H. Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, by phone at (212) 729-7973 or by mail at:

Martin H. Levinson
c/o Institute of General Semantics
Attn: 2015 Symposium
72-11 Austin Street #233
Forest Hills, NY 11375

Submissions Open for the 2015 S. I. Hayakawa Book Prize

First given in 2009, the Institute of General Semantics awards the S. I. Hayakawa Book Prize 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. Awarded annually by the Institute of General Semantics, its presentation precedes the  63rd Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture (AKML) at the Princeton Club in New York City held October 2nd, 2015.

• Click here for previous winners and more information on the Hayakawa Book Prize.

Competition for the 2015 Hayakawa Book Prize is open to any book published in 2010 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 nominate a book, send a letter of nomination and three copies of the book by August 31, 2015 to:

Martin H. Levinson
c/o Institute of General Semantics
Attn: Hayakawa Prize
72-11 Austin Street #233
Forest Hills, NY 11375

For more information, contact Martin H. Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, by phone at (212) 729-7973 or via email at hayakawaprize (at) generalsemantics.org.

• Click here for more information on the 63rd Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture.

First awarded in 2014, the Sanford I. Berman Award for Excellence in Teaching General Semantics goes to individuals for outstanding use of general semantics formulations in educational settings, and includes a cash award of $1,000. Awarded annually by the Institute of General Semantics, its presentation precedes the year’s Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture.

Criteria for Submission (Self-Nominations Welcome)

Applicants for the Sanford I. Berman Award should submit, NO LATER THAN July 15th, a single package containing all of the following:

__ (1) a statement of nomination, 200-400 words. It should include how the candidate became familiar with general semantics and the contexts in which the person employs GS.
__ (2) a current curriculum vitae
__ (3) a course syllabus (or other comparable items) that shows evidence of teaching general semantics, including supplementary teaching materials employing GS ideas.
__ (4) and, finally, if and when possible, a video recording or web link from a class or public presentation (at least 10 minutes).

More about the award can be found at our Website: http://www.generalsemantics.org/berman-award

Applicants should send all inquires or completed submission packages to:

Corey Anton
Berman Award Director
Vice-President, Institute of General Semantics
School of Communications
1 Campus Drive, 210 LSH
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI 49401-9403
Email: antonc [at] gvsu.edu

The Institute of General Semantics, an affiliated association of the Eastern Communication Association, invites the submission of competitive papers, thematic program/panel proposals, or any innovative programming alternatives (e.g., roundtables, symposia, debates, open community forums, etc.) for inclusion at the 106th annual convention of the ECA.

Please note that, as an affiliated association of the ECA, the IGS is automatically granted one panel on the ECA conference program.

The 2015 convention theme, "Deliberation: Philadelphia," reflects both the rich, political history of the "city of brotherly love" and the history of the discipline of communication, with its roots in the portion of the liberal arts trivium that is rhetoric, but also its connection to the other two components of the trivium, grammar and logic. For general semanticists the theme reflects the ways in which the lessons and principles of general semantics are, in great part, intended to help us achieve, with our deliberations, positive and mutually beneficial ends.

In keeping with the convention theme, we ask that you consider papers or panel and program ideas that explore the issues and questions of deliberation – including the processes and outcomes of, and dysfunctions in deliberation, and especially the ways in which general semantics contributes to both our understanding of deliberation and the successes of our deliberations in action.

General information about the convention and the 2015 Call for Papers can be found at http://associationdatabase.com/aws/ECA/pt/sp/p_Home_Page.

In order to receive full consideration, completed papers and/or program/panel proposals must be received by October 15, 2014.

Submissions must be sent via e-mail, with attachment(s) in MS Word format, to the 2015 Program Planner: Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College - thom.gencarelli (at) manhattan.edu

Program/panel submissions must include:

1. A thematic title for the program/panel.
2. The name of the Chair, and Respondent (if any). The Program Planner will not provide a panel with a Chair.
3. The names, institutional affiliations, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all participants.
4. Titles and abstracts for each paper or presentation.
5. Program copy (no more than a 75-word description) as it should appear in the final program.
6. A detailed rationale for the program/panel.

In addition, all submitted papers or program/panel submissions must include the following statement of professional responsibility: "In submitting the attached proposal, I/We recognize that this submission is considered a professional responsibility. I/We agree to present this program/panel if it is accepted. I/We further recognize that all who attend and present at ECA's annual meeting must register and pay required fees."

Programs/panels submitted without this statement will not be programmed.

For any additional information regarding this CFP, please contact the Institute of General Semantics Program Planner:

Thom Gencarelli
Communication Department
Manhattan College
4513 Manhattan College Parkway
Riverdale, NY 10471

718-862-7490
718-862-3846 (FAX)
thom.gencarelli (at) manhattan.edu