Following the MEA convention and IGS summer seminar (see our last two posts), IGS Trustees Peggy Cassidy, Thom Gencarelli, Lance Strate, and Laura Trujillo-Liñán travelled to Denver, Colorado for the annual International Communication Association convention. As an affiliate of the ICA, the IGS organized a panel discussion devoted to the continuing relevance of Alfred Korzybski. Here are some photos from the program:

The ICA had a special photo booth set up for participants, and our IGSers took the opportunity to have a little fun:

And even in Denver there are reminders that the map is not the...

 

The IGS held its 3rd summer seminar in recent years immediately following the 2025 Media Ecology Association convention (see our previous post), at Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City. The seminar was taught by IGS Trustees Mary P. Lahman, Lance Strate, Peggy Cassidy, and Thom Gencarelli, with additional support from Laura Trujillo-Liñán, and participation from Gina  Valenti, IGS Fellow TC McLuhan, and New York Society for General Semantics Vice-President Terry Manzella. Here are some scenes from the 3-day learning experience:

 

The Institute of General Semantics was well-represented at the 26th annual Media Ecology Association convention, organized by IGS Trustee and MEA Vice-President Laura Trujillo-Liñán. The meeting featured an opening plenary session entitled Why General Semantics? with IGS Trustees Peggy Cassidy, Susan Drucker, Thom Gencarelli, Lance Strate, and Laura Trujillo-Liñán.

Also participating in the MEA meeting was IGS Trustee Gina Valenti, seen here on the pre-conference tour of the pyramids at Teotihuacan. IGS Trustee Mary P. Lahman also attended the convention.

Three IGS Fellows participated in the 2025 MEA convention in featured roles, including former Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturers Deborah Tannen and Lera Boroditsky, and author and filmmaker TC McLuhan.

Above, Deborah Tannen delivers her keynote. Below, Lera Boroditsky during Tannen's Q&A.

Below, Lera Boroditsky delivers her keynote.

TC McLuhan was also on hand to showcase her feature length documentary, The Frontier Gandhi, and answer questions about the film.

At the MEA's Awards Ceremony held during its banquet dinner at the Soumaya Museum, IGS Trustee Laura Trujillo-Liñán received the MEA's 2025 Louis Forsdale Award for Outstanding Educator, 

IGS Trustee Peggy Cassidy received the MEA's 2025 Edmund S. Carpenter Award for Career Achievement in Editing,

IGS Fellow Lera Boroditsky received the MEA's 2025 Walter J. Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship,

and IGS Fellow Deborah Tannen received the MEA's 2025 Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.

It was truly a night to remember, and an unforgettable conference!

On May 15th, IGS Vice-President Corey Anton gave a talk via Zoom on "Literacy and Meta-Cognition: Exploring Some Connections" on a plenary session for the International Scientific and Practical Conference “AD ORBEM PER LINGUAS. TO THE WORLD THROUGH LANGUAGES” which took place at Kyiv National Linguistic University in Ukraine. The Organizing Committee expressed their appreciation for his participation and looks forward to deepening academic cooperation between Kyiv National Linguistic University and the Institute of General Semantics.

The thirty-third episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our May 2025 podcast features five of our IGS Trustees on the state of higher education in the United States today. The conversation is led by IGS President Lance Strate who teaches at Fordham University, and includes IGS Vice-President Corey Anton of Grand Valley State University, IGS Treasurer Thom Gencarelli of Manhattan University, and IGS Trustees Peggy Cassidy of Adelphi University and Susan Drucker of Hofstra University. Their freewheeling roundtable touches on a variety of topics, including the difficulties that students are facing, the challenges brought on by technological advances including AI, issues regarding administrators and financial problems, and the dangers of a hostile political environment.

You can access Episode 33 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The videos from our Gary Gumpert Memorial and Marshall McLuhan Screening, held on April 29, 2025, are now available for viewing on the IGS YouTube channel. They can be screened individually or via a single playlist over on YouTube or right here:

The videos from our Communication, Consciousness, & Culture 2 Online Symposium, held on April 19, 2025, are now available for viewing on the IGS YouTube channel. They can be screened individually or via a single playlist over on YouTube or right here:

The thirty-second episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our April 2025 podcast features the return of author, financier, and IGS Trustee Christopher Mayer to discuss the current economic situation in the United States with IGS President Lance Strate. Their dialogue emphasizes how general semantics can help us to understand financial concepts such as the trade deficit, tariffs, inflation, and even money itself.

You can access Episode 32 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The thirty-first episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our March 2025 podcast features the return of author, scholar, and critic Marleen Barr to discuss her recently published anthology entitled, Jewish Women Science Fiction Writers Create Future Females, with IGS President Lance Strate.

You can access Episode 31 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The thirtieth episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our February 2025 podcast features IGS President Lance Strate interviewing Gabriel Kennedy, aka Prop Anon, the author of Chapel Perilous: The Life and Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson. 

You can access Episode 30 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below: