Sound Talking: an interdisciplinary workshop on 'language describing sound / sound emulating language'

Friday 3 November 2017, London Science Museum

Info and registration here

Sound Talking is a one-day event at the London Science Museum that seeks to explore the complex relationships between language and sound, both historically and in the present day. It aims to identify the perspectives and methodologies of current research in the ever-widening field of sound studies, and to locate productive interactions between disciplines. Bringing together audio engineers, psychiatrists, linguists, musicologists, and historians of literature and medicine, we will be asking questions about sound as a point of linguistic engagement. We will consider the terminology used to discuss sound, the invention of words that capture sonic experience, and the use and manipulation of sound to emulate linguistic descriptions. Talks will address singing voice research, the history of onomatopoeias, new music production tools, auditory neuroscience, sounds in literature, and the sounds of the insane asylum.

Speakers: - Ian Rawes (London Sound Survey) - Melissa Dickson (University of Oxford) - Jonathan Andrews (Newcastle University) - Maria Chait (UCL Ear Institute) - David Howard (Royal Holloway University of London) - Brecht De Man (Queen Mary University of London) - Mandy Parnell (Black Saloon Studios) - Trevor Cox (Salford University)

For more information, see here, or contact the workshop chairs: Melissa Dickson and Brecht De Man

CFP - Synergy and contradiction: How picturebooks and picture books work

Cambridge Research and Teaching Centre for Children's Literature

University of Cambridge, UK
September 6-8, 2018

The aesthetic aspects of storytelling through word and image have been studied extensively in the past thirty-odd years. In 1982, the Swedish scholar Kristin Hallberg launched the concept of iconotext that has been widely employed in discussing the phenomenon. Perry Nodelman's Words about Pictures (1988) was a landmark that placed the subject firmly within children's literature research. The first international conference wholly devoted to the art form was held in Stockholm in 1998, featuring, among others, Jane Doonan and William Moebius. An international network was established in 2007, running biennial conferences and workshops. Dozens of monographs and edited volumes have been published, the most recent More Words about Pictures (2017), edited by Perry Nodelman, Naomi Hamer and Mavis Reimer, and The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks (2017), edited by Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer.

And yet there is no universal consensus about the object of inquiry, starting with the controversy of spelling. While most scholars agree that the interaction of words and images is essential, there is no clear agreement on the difference between illustrated books and picture book/picturebooks, nor on the differences and similarities between picture books/picturebooks and comics, nor on the relationship between printed and digital texts.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary since the publication of Words about Pictures and to explore the recent development in picture book/picturebook theories, Cambridge Research and Teaching Centre for Children's Literature invites paper proposals on any aspect of theoretical approaches to picture books/picturebooks as an art form. We are particularly interested in new approaches that go beyond statements that picture books/picturebooks depend on the combination of the verbal and the visual. We also welcome authors, illustrators, publishers and translators. Possible topics include, but are not restricted to:

• Picture book/picturebook as an art form and a material object 
• Picture books/picturebooks and other word/image-driven texts (e.g. illustrated books, picture dictionaries, concept books, artist books)
• Metalanguage for discussing picture books/picturebooks: coming to terms
• Theory vs. culture: how trustworthy are the semiotic generalizations of books like Words about Pictures or How Picturebooks Work in relationship to picture books/picturebooks produced in different times, places, cultures? Is there a universal language of picture books/picturebooks?
• Picture book/picturebook design: creators' perspective
• Is there anything beyond words and images? Picture books/picturebooks without words? Picture books/picturebooks without pictures?
• Looking at words, seeing pictures (e.g. implications of fonts, intraiconic texts, etc)
• Young readers' engagement with word/image storytelling: do words and pictures invite different kinds of relationships between texts and readers?
• How have adjacent areas of research benefited from picture book/picturebook theory, for instance, digital literature, comics, graphic novels and games?
• Translation and transmediation

We will not consider proposals on content-focused topics.

Confirmed jousters are Perry Nodelman and Maria Nikolajeva.

Deadline: January 8, 2018. 300-word (or any size image) proposals for a 20-minute paper should be sent, together with a 100-word bio, to mn351@cam.ac.uk. We also encourage panel and round-table proposals. Early indication of interest would be helpful in arranging affordable accommodation. Further inquiries to mn351@cam.ac.uk.

Please note that this conference is not a part of the Picturebook Network series

Talk - Medical Etymology: The Language of Medicine

The Cambridge Medical Humanities Society is excited to announce its first talk of the term. Join us at 6pm on Friday 4th November in the Main Lecture Theatre in St John's College for wine, soft drinks and snacks. The talk will start at 6.30pm. Further details can be found on our Facebook event and in the blurb below.

Ever wondered what a crab has to do with oncology? What bile has to do with depression? Where the word testis comes from? Or what the movie 'The Hangover' should really be called? Unlikely. Find out the answers to these useless questions and many more at our latest talk entitled 'The Language of Medicine'. If you've ever wanted to impress your consultant with a casual knowledge of Latin and Greek, this is the talk for you. We will cover a brief history of medical language, a cheat's guide to working out the origins of medical terms, and a selection of weird and wonderful medical etymologies, for lifelong use in pub quizzes, or awkward ward rounds.

As William Osler said 'The young doctor should look about early for an avocation, a pastime, that will take him away from patients, pills, and potions…' Let this be your avocation.

Alexandra Caulfield has degrees in Classics and Medicine, and is known for being overenthusiastic about medical etymology.

Talk - John Wallis (1616-1703), a mathematical journey through books

Pop-up talk in Cambridge University Library Rare Books Room, Thursday 25 August, 13:00-13:20

Dr Louisiane Ferlier (Digital Project Manager, The Royal Society)

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of John Wallis's birth, this talk will explore the variety of his contribution to mathematics, linguistics and philosophy by showcasing some of Wallis's books in the UL collections since the 18th century.

Rare Books Room (glassed-off area). Space limited. RSVP to Sophie Defrance (sd260@cam.ac.uk) appreciated. Library members only; to join, see www.lib.cam.ac.uk/using-library/joining-library.

Aeon magazine article - 'Absolute English'

Science once communicated in a polyglot of tongues, but now English rules alone. How did this happen – and at what cost? Michael Gordin investigates here.