MIĘDZYNARODOWA KONFERENCJA

LANGUAGE AS SOCIAL COORDINATION: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE

Warsaw, 16-18 September 2010

The conference emphasizes the biological nature of language,
underscoring its coordinative function. The aim of the conference is
to 1) show continuity of natural language with other informational
systems in biology; 2) show that language arises from and is crucial
for human co-action.

Taking an evolutionary and comparative perspective, will draw
attention to the kinds of social coordination that arise without
(human-like) language, and that contribute to the background used by
(and present in) linguistic communication. By so doing, it will be
easier to appreciate the qualitatively different types of
co-ordination that are specific to humans and language-dependent.
The evolutionary perspective will help with coming to view language
as a natural phenomenon, continuous with other "informational"
systems at various levels of biological organization, that serve not
only vertical (inter-generational) transmission of structure but
also horizontal coordination both within and between organisms.

INVITED SPEAKERS:

* John Collier, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
* Terrence Deacon, University of California at Berkeley
* Merlin Donald, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
* Don Favareau, National University of Singapore
* Carol Fowler, Haskins Laboratories, Yale University and University
of Connecticut
* Bruno Galantucci, Yeshiva University
* Don Ross, University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of
Cape Town
* Colwyn Trevarthen, University of Edinburgh

CALL FOR PAPERS

We welcome papers from biology, linguistics, psychology,
communication science, philosophy, anthropology in a joint effort to
provide a theoretical ground for such a view of language, and - even
more importantly - to provide empirical data clarifying the
mechanisms of language functioning and emergence.


For more information please visit our webpage: http://www.psych.uw.edu.pl/lasc


Abstract notification: May 28th, 2010

Early Registration: May 28th - August 15th, 2010

Late Registration: After August 15th, 2010