• ECOM hosted a talk by Ulrich Stegmann (Philosophy, Aberdeen) on December 12, 4PM: “Animal Signals, Acquisition Conditions and the Explanation of Behavior”. Click herefor more information and an abstract.
• ECOM hosted its 3rd UConn workshop on December 2-3, titled What’s in a Word? The workshop explored the theoretical status of words in connection with issues such as the contrast between words and mere labels, or between one-word sentences and fully compositional sentences; words as expressive of concepts; and words as potential points of entry into language (both in the context of human language acquisition and in the context of trying to teach language to nonhuman animals).Invited speakers included: Elika Bergelson (Psychology, Duke), Laurence R. Horn (Linguistics, Yale), William G. Lycan (Philosophy, UConn), Ruth Millikan (Philosophy, UConn), Letitia Naigles (Psychology, UConn) and Irene Pepperberg (Harvard).

  Visit the workshop webpage by clicking here to find titles and abstracts.

• ECOM hosted a reading group on Berwick and Chomsky’s Why Only Us: Language and Evolution.
• ECOM director Dorit Bar-On represented ECOM at the first Seven Hills Workshop on Mind, Metaphysics, and Ethics, held at College of Holy Cross, Saturday November 5.

• ECOM director Dorit Bar-On represented ECOM as an invited speaker to a symposia on animal communication at the 24th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, held at the University of St Andrews, August 10-13.
• ECOM director Dorit Bar-On finished her year-long fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and has returned to the U.S. to continue ECOM activities this fall semester.

UConn cognitive scientists held a second ECOM reading group on Bermúdez’s Thinking Without Words.

• ECOM hosted its second annual workshop on “Expressive Language: Semantics, Pragmatics, and Origins”. Thanks to everyone who attended and participated, and to the Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences for funding for invited speakers.
• ECOM held a reading group this semester on José Luis Bermúdez’s Thinking Without Words.

• ECOM held a summer reading and workshop group, following up on drafts and topics from the Spring 2015 ECOM graduate seminar.

• ECOM director Dorit Bar-On started a year-long Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin fellowship. Congrats Dorit!
• ECOM member Hanna Gunn attended the International Interdisciplinary Summer School on “The Origins of Human Cooperation” with Michael Tomasello, bringing ECOM to Europe.

• ECOM’s inaugural UConn workshop, “What’s the Point? Pointing and Gestural Communication” was a massive success! Thanks to everyone who attended and participated, and to the UConn Humanities Institute and the UConn Cognitive Science Program for funding.

• Read a UConn The Daily Campus article about Professor Laurie Santos’ recent visit to ECOM to kick off our Spring 2015 Speaker Series! It’s available online here.

• Marc 28-29: Dorit Bar-On participated in a workshop she co-organized with Mitch Green at U Conn on the Evolution of Syntax.  The workshop brought together researchers from linguistics, psychology, and philosophy.
• ECOM student member Thomas Pendlebury has accepted an offer of admission to the graduate program at Harvard University.  Congratulations, Thomas!
• ECOM member Kate Nolfi has accepted a tenure-track position at the University of Vermont.  Congratulations, Kate!

• ECOM is proud to announce its Fall 2014 Speaker Series! Visit our Speaker Series page for a full schedule and readings. Our speaker schedule includes:
  • September 26th – Philippe Schlenker (Cognitive Studies, Institut Jean-Nicod; Linguistics, NYU)
  • November 20th – Diane C. Lillo-Martin (Linguistics, UConn)
  • December 4th – Robert W. Lurz (Philosophy, Brooklyn College)

• ECOM will be co-hosting a reading group with the Language Evolution Reading Group (LERG) on pointing, gesturing and grammaticalization. We will be meeting Friday September 12th, Friday September 26th, Thursday October 9th and Thursday October 24th, Thursday November 6th and Thursday December 20th and Thursday December 4th. Check out the Reading Groups page under the Events menu above for day, time and room, as well as links to the readings.
• ECOM hosted a welcome reception to celebrate its move to UConn on September 5th from 1:30-3:00PM in Oak Hall 106, over light refreshments.

• ECOM has now begun to plan its events for AY 2014-15, including a recurring reading group and speaker series, as well as a workshop in the spring of 2015. Please keep on the lookout for more details about these exciting events!

• As of Summer 2014, ECOM has migrated north as its director, Dorit Bar-On, has accepted a position in the Philosophy Department at the University of Connecticut.  ECOM will be receiving support from the UConn Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and will become part of the UConn Cognitive Science Program as UConn “rises as center for language and cognition”.  ECOM at UConn will begin its speaker series this coming Fall.  Please stay tuned for more news!

• Marc 28-29: Dorit Bar-On participated in a workshop she co-organized with Mitch Green at U Conn on the Evolution of Syntax.  The workshop brought together researchers from linguistics, psychology, and philosophy.
• ECOM student member Thomas Pendlebury has accepted an offer of admission to the graduate program at Harvard University.  Congratulations, Thomas!
• ECOM member Kate Nolfi has accepted a tenure-track position at the University of Vermont.  Congratulations, Kate!

• Conference on Concepts
  NC State’s Logic and Cognitive Science Initiative has organized a conference on Concepts for September 20-21.  For further information, see http://www.ncsu.edu/chass/philo/phil_activities.html.
• Miroslav Losonsky will be replacing Jim Sias (who is now Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Dickinson College) as ECOM’s new coordinator.  Heartfelt thanks to Jim for his work for ECOM in the past three years, and a warm welcome to Miroslav!
• ECOM director Dorit Bar-On has won a fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. The fellowship will be served during the 2015-2016 academic year. Congratulations, Dorit!
• The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, hosted a “Mind, Language, and Logic” workshop on May 30-31, 2013. Participants included ECOM director Dorit Bar-On, ECOM faculty member Bill Lycan, and ECOM student member Mike Deigan (as well as three other members of UNC’s philosophy department: Keith Simmons, Luke Elson, and Wesley Sauret).
• ECOM student member Mike Deigan recently accepted an offer of admission to the graduate program in philosophy at Yale University. He is deferring admission to Yale for two years so that he can complete the B.Phil. program at the University of Oxford. Congratulations, Mike!