Professor Simon Kirby : "The Language Organism : evolution, culture, and what it means to be human"

EdinburghUniversity

Professor Simon Kirby delivered his inaugural lecture entitled "The Language Organism: evolution, culture, and what it means to be human" on 22 March 2011.

For my public Inaugural Lecture, I will be trying to give a broad accessible summary of the importance of some of the recent research in the LEC.

Our species can do something utterly unique in the natural world - a behaviour so transformative that it has reshaped the mechanisms of our own evolution. We are able to take a novel thought and cause another person to share that thought simply by recombining sounds we learned to make as children. Virtually all species communicate, but only humans have this trick called Language.

But where does this unique trait come from? How did it evolve? Why are we the only species that has it? The quest to answer these questions starts in the familiar world of biological evolution. Perhaps we have evolved an "organ" for language, just like other animals have their own specialised biological apparatus. However there is something very peculiar about language that makes such simple answers suspect. In recent years, work pioneered in Edinburgh has demonstrated that language itself is a new kind of evolutionary system -- one we are only just beginning to understand.

In this talk, I will survey the progress made in making sense of this system and what it means for our understanding of language and of ourselves. Along the way we will see how we can study language evolution in the laboratory; what birds and foxes might tell us; and why culture might be changing the way we evolve.

Noam Chomsky - Lectio Magistralis: "The minimalist program and language acquisition"

SISSAschool

On September 17, 2012, Noam Chomsky received a PhD honoris causa in Neuroscience from the hands of Guido Martinelli, the Director of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste. The ceremony started with a laudatio given by Jacques Mehler, cognitive scientist and professor at SISSA. Chomsky held a one-hour lectio magistralis, entitled "The minimalist program and language acquisition", where he summed up his theory.

Professor Noam Chomsky : Language and the Cognitive Science Revolution(s)

CarletonUvideos

Institute of Cognitive Science and the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

The Andrew Brook Distinguished Lecture Series presents: Language and the Cognitive Science Revolution(s)

http://www.chomsky.info/talks/20110408.htm

Dreaming in Different Tongues : Languages and the Way We Think

UCBerkeleyEvents

On the Same Page: Voices of Berkeley keynote event
Moderated by Geoff Nunberg
Panelists: Scholars Lera Boroditsky and Lily Wong Fillmore; author and Cal alumna Maxine Hong Kingston; actor and Cal alumnus John Cho.
http://onthesamepage.berkeley.edu

Ted Cohen - Metaphor and Ambiguity : Two for the Price of One

UChicago

When language presents more than one meaning, sometimes the rules of the language determine both meanings - but sometimes not. When the rules are of no use, imagination is required to make and to understand these linguistic wonders. This session will introduce the topic and invite extended discussion.

Susan Carey : Culture and cognitive development

ceuhungary

Susan Carey is a Harvard psychologist whose work has explored fundamental issues surrounding the nature of the human mind. Carey is the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and is the first woman to receive the Rumelhart Prize. Additionally, Carey is the first recipient awarded the prize for her theoretical contributions to the study of human development.

The selection committee recognized Carey's work for the clarity of insights on deep and foundational questions concerning philosophy of mind and also for her rigorous and elegant experimental methods. Her book Conceptual Change in Childhood (MIT Press, 1985) was highly influential in setting the agenda for research on concepts in both children and adults. Her current research on number concepts and her forthcoming book The Origins of Concepts (to be published by Oxford University Press) have extraordinary reach, spurring advances in cognitive neuroscience, in evolutionary psychology, and in the comparative study of human and nonhuman primates.

Carey received her B.A. from Radcliffe in 1964, and she received a Fullbright Fellowship to London University in 1965. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1971. Carey is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and the British Academy. She has been a member of the Harvard faculty since 2001, and previously taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at New York University.

Noam Chomsky : What is Special About Language?

Arizona

Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist lectured at the University of Arizona on Feb. 7, 2012

Noam Chomsky is an Institute Professor and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked for more than 50 years. Chomsky, who according to The New York Times is "arguably the most important intellectual alive," is credited with revolutionizing the field of linguistics by introducing generative grammar and the concept of a universal grammar, which underlies all human language and is based in the innate structure of language. Beyond linguistics, his work has influenced fields such as cognitive science, philosophy, computer science, mathematics, and psychology.

Noam Chomsky has received numerous awards, including the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, the Helmholtz Medal, the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award, and the Ben Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science. Since the 1960s, Chomsky has been an influential social analyst and critic. He has published numerous books on U.S. foreign and domestic policies, international politics, the media and related subjects. His writings are among the most quoted in today's world.

TEDxRainier - Dr. Patricia Kuhl

TEDxTalks

Dr. Pat Kuhl gets to the root of how we communicate and learn by uncovering how early exposure to language alters the brain. Her research on early language and brain development, and how young children learn, has implications across multiple areas -- critical periods in child development, bilingual education and reading readiness, developmental disabilities involving language, and research on computer understanding of speech.

At the University of Washington, Dr. Kuhl is the Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Learning, Co-Director of the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, Director of the University of Washington's National Science Foundation Science of Learning Center, and Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences. In 1997, she presented at President and Mrs. Clinton's Conference on "Early Learning and the Brain." In 2001, she returned to present at President and Mrs. Bush's White House Summit on "Early Cognitive Development: Ready to Read, Ready to Learn." In her co-authored book, The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains, and How Children Learn, Dr. Kuhl reviews what is now known about children's minds and how they learn, as well as how babies recognize, understand and take part in the building of their own brains.

TEDxRainier is an independently produced TED event held in Seattle Washington.

Politics of Language: George Lakoff

George Lakoff makes plain how the words used by politicians translate to the public's support for various political issues. Language matters - especially when it comes to politics.

A founder of the field of cognitive science, Lakoff takes an in-depth look at the ways in which our brains understand politics, breaking down the politics of language.

George Lakoff "The Brain and Its Politics"

UOregon

George Lakoff is the co-founder of the Rockridge Institute, a think tank for progressive politics and public policies. His talk surveys basic findings about what human reason is really like and shows why this matters in politics. Over the past 30 years, Lakoff posits, cognitive and brain sciences have shown that human reason --instead of being conscious and logical — takes place mostly below the level of consciousness and is much more interesting and complex than was once believed.

Science Bulletins: Language in the Brain

AMNHorg

Why is it that humans can speak but chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, cannot? The human brain is uniquely wired to produce language. Untangling this wiring is a major frontier of brain research. Peer into the mental machinery behind language with this feature video, which visits a brain-scanning laboratory, Columbia Universitys Program for Imaging and Cognitive Sciences, or PICS. Columbia neuroscientist Joy Hirsch and New York University psychologist Gary Marcus explain what researchers have learned about how our brain tackles language—and whats left to learn.

The Making of a Mind

Arizona

On March 23, 2010, Dr. LouAnn Gerken, Professor, Psychology and Director, Cognitive Science, presented "The Making of a Mind" as the fourth public lecture in the University of Arizona College of Science's Mind and Brain Lecture Series.

We're all born with a brain, but when does our brain begin to construct a model of the world a mind? Research now suggests that infants not only absorb a remarkable amount of information about the physical and social world, they also use this information much like scientists to make guesses about the structure of that world. By creating tentative models of different aspects of the world based on very small amounts of data, infants use their developing models to predict the behavior of objects, people and the world around them.

4. El peso de la crítica para contrarrestar el poder / El pes de la crítica per contrarestar el poder / The weight of criticism to counteract power

http://www.upf.edu/upfradio/2010/discursosdelcaos.htm

Entrevista a Ruth Wodak / An interview with Ruth Wodak

Versión en castellano:      1ª parte         -       2ª parte 

        English version:       1st part         -       2nd part 

En esta cuarta emisión de Discursos del Caos entrevistamos a Ruth Wodak, especialista austriaca en Análisis Crítico del Discurso (ACD). La profesora Wodak nos comenta algunos temas fundamentales, a nivel teórico y aplicado, sobre esta postura de investigación dentro de los Estudios del Discurso; por ejemplo, qué significa ser crítico en el ACD, qué significado tiene para la sociedad, qué líneas de trabajo persigue y qué falta por indagar. Ruth Wodak, asimismo, nos explica sobre algunos de sus estudios en torno al racismo, la xenofobia, y el discurso político en Europa.

En aquesta quarta emissió de Discursos del Caos entrevistem a Ruth Wodak, especialista austríaca en Anàlisi Crític del Discurs (ACD). La professora Wodak ens comenta alguns temes fonamentals, a nivell teòric i aplicat, sobre aquesta postura de recerca dins dels Estudis del Discurs, per exemple, què significa ser crític en el ACD, quin significat té per a la societat, quines línies de treball persegueix i què falta per indagar. Ruth Wodak, així mateix, ens explica sobre alguns dels seus estudis sobre el racisme, la xenofòbia, i el discurs polític a Europa.

In this fourth edition of Discursos del Caos we interview Ruth Wodak, Austrian specialist in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Professor Wodak tells us some fundamental issues, in theoric and applied terms, about this posture of research within Discourse Studies, for example, what it means to be critical in the CDA, what does it mean for society, what lines of work are pursued and what remains to inquire. Ruth Wodak also explains about some of their studies on racism, xenophobia, and political discourse in Europe.
Fonte: http://www.upf.edu/upfradio/2010/discursosdelcaos.html

We Need Majority Rule in CA! By George Lakoff

We Need Majority Rule in CA! By George Lakoff from Jon Stiffler on Vimeo.

At the Santa Rosa Democratic Club meeting on 1/27/10, we watched Obama's State of the Union address, then listened to Norman Solomon and George Lakoff speak their minds. Following the presentations, I asked Solomon and Lakoff to present a concise statement of what they had to say to the audience of over 200 Northern California progressives. Here is a sample of Lakoff's discussions with folks and his statement as to what we should be doing to help straighten out the political mess that California is in presently.

Susan Carey: Culture and cognitive development

Susan Carey is a Harvard psychologist whose work has explored fundamental issues surrounding the nature of the human mind. Carey is the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and is the first woman to receive the Rumelhart Prize. Additionally, Carey is the first recipient awarded the prize for her theoretical contributions to the study of human development.

The selection committee recognized Carey's work for the clarity of insights on deep and foundational questions concerning philosophy of mind and also for her rigorous and elegant experimental methods. Her book Conceptual Change in Childhood (MIT Press, 1985) was highly influential in setting the agenda for research on concepts in both children and adults. Her current research on number concepts and her forthcoming book The Origins of Concepts (to be published by Oxford University Press) have extraordinary reach, spurring advances in cognitive neuroscience, in evolutionary psychology, and in the comparative study of human and nonhuman primates.

Carey received her B.A. from Radcliffe in 1964, and she received a Fullbright Fellowship to London University in 1965. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1971. Carey is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and the British Academy. She has been a member of the Harvard faculty since 2001, and previously taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at New York University.

The Authors@Google program was pleased to welcome author and professor George Lakoff to Google's New York office to discuss his new book, "The Political Mind".

George Lakoff is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Rockridge Institute, a think tank in Berkeley, CA. He is author of "Don't Think of an Elephant!", "Moral Politics", "Whose Freedom?", and coauthor of "Thinking Points: A Progressive's Handbook", as well as many books and articles on cognitive science and linguistics. In this talk Professor Lakoff speaks about his latest work The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain. In "What's the Matter with Kansas?", Thomas Frank pointed out that a great number of Americans actually vote against their own interests. In "The Political Mind", George Lakoff explains why.

George Lakoff speaking at McNally Robinson
Lakoff discusses his new book, The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain.

Influential linguist and political Activist Noam Chomsky discusses the properties, design and theories of language in this Hitchcock lecture presented at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley presents the The Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Lecture series, featuring linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky. Chomsky examines biolinguistics - the study of relations between physiology and speech.

Why are humans the only species to have language? Is there something special about our brains? Are there genes that have evolved for language? In this talk, Jeff Elman, UCSD professor of cognitive science and co-director of the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, discusses some of the exciting new research that helps us understand what it is about human language that is so different from other animals' communication systems, and what about our biology might make language possible.