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• Language and Thought Online Course

  • Start
    2 Mar 2026
  • End
    13 Mar 2026
  • Location
    Canvas
  • Spaces left
    19

  Register

  Language and Thought

  An Online Course

  March 2-13

  Dr. Mary P. Lahman, Instructor

  The Institute of General Semantics is pleased to sponsor an online asynchronous course on general semantics to be taught by IGS Trustee Mary P. Lahman, Professor Emerita of Communication Studies at Manchester University and author of Awareness and Action. As an asynchronous course, students will be able to engage with the course material and interact from anywhere in the world, and at any time during the 12 day-period. The course is being offered via the Canvas learning management system. 

  Course Description: This course explores the relationship between language and thought, specifically how positions that may seem diverse and incompatible stem from inferences based on limited experience. We discover language behaviors that help us delay responding to automatic thinking and listening habits. By learning to pause, we gain awareness of our perceptions and emotional responses, which can increase our ability to engage in civil discourse about controversial topics. We explore how unexamined language behaviors perpetuate misperceptions of past and present controversies in professional and personal spaces. We determine which language and listening behaviors respect the infinite worth of each person in the interaction.

  An ebook edition of the required text, Lahman, M. P. (2018). Action and Awareness: A Travel Companion, will be provided free of charge.

  The seminar fee is $100 for IGS members, $200 for non-members.
  

  We will try to accommodate everyone interested in attending the seminar, but space will necessarily be limited, so register early to ensure your participation!

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• Discourse, Dialogue, and Democracy II Symposium

  • When
    25 Apr 2026
  •  
    8:45 AM - 6:30 PM

  Join us on Saturday, April 25th for Discourse, Dialogue, and Democracy II: An Online Symposium. As the title indicates, this is a continuation of the in-person Discourse, Democracy, and Dialogue Symposium held in conjunction with the 2025 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in New York City. 

  
  

  Our online symposium is free and open to members and non-members alike, but registration is required. The symposium will be held via Zoom, with the information for signing on to be distributed in advance of the event. Please note that sessions will be recorded for later distribution online.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Discourse,

  Dialogue,

  and Democracy II

  An Online Symposium

  April 25th, 2026

  
  

  Call for Papers and Proposals

  Registration Will Be Opened

  and the

  Program Schedule Will be Made Available

  At a Later Date

  
  

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• General Semantics Seminar

  • Start
    14 Jul 2026
  • End
    17 Jul 2026
  • Location
    Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City
  • Spaces left
    30

  Institute of General Semantics

  In-Person Summer Seminar

  July 14-17

  London, UK

  
  

  Details Will Be Provided and

  Registration Will Be Opened

  At a Future Date

  
  

  The seminar leaders will include six trustees of the Institute of General Semantics:

  Mary P. Lahman, Professor Emerita of Communication Studies at Manchester University and author of Awareness and Action

  Lance Strate, IGS President, Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, and author of Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition, and Concerning Communication: Epic Quests and Lyric Excursions Within the Human Lifeworld. 

  Nora Bateson, President of the International Bateson Institute, Trustee of the Institute of General Semantics, Creator of Warm Data and the Warm Data labs, complexity/systems teacher, filmmaker, artist, and author of Small Arcs of Larger Circles, and Combining.

  Dom Heffer, East Yorkshire-based artist, Trustee of the Institute of General Semantics, Art Editor of the journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics, founding member of Feral Art School, and previously associated with The Estate of Francis Bacon, 2021 Visual Arts Centre, Ferens Art Gallery, Cultural Olympiad 2012, and UK City of Culture 2017.

  Peggy Cassidy, Professor of Communication at Adelphi University, President of the New York Society for General Semantics, editor of Explorations in Media Ecology, and author of Bookends: The Changing Media Environment of American Classrooms and Children, Media, and American History: Printed Poison, Pernicious Stuff, and Other Terrible Temptations.

  Thom Gencarelli, Professor of Communication at Manhattan University, Treasurer of the Institute of General Semantics, and editor of ETC: A Review of General Semantics.

  
  

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• 2026 AKML & Symposium

  • Start
    2 Oct 2026
  • End
    4 Oct 2026
  • Location
    The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park S, New York, NY 10003

  
  

  Registration is Not Yet Open

  and will be for 

  In-Person Attendance ONLY

  All IGS Members in Good Standing Will Receive Instructions on How to Livestream the Event Online Prior to the AKML

  
  

  The 74th Annual 

  Alfred Korzybski

  Memorial Lecture

  and the Symposium on

  Language,

  Listening,

  Literacy,

  and Algorithms

  October 2nd-4th, 2026

  Co-Sponsored by the

  New York Society for General Semantics

  the International Bateson Institute

  the Media Ecology Association

  the Tomkins Institute

  and the 404 Festival of Art and Technology

  featuring

  Ted Chiang

  Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, six Locus awards, and the PEN Malamud  Award. His novella “Story of Your Life” was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). His most recent short story collection, Exhalation (Knopf, 2019), was listed as one of the Top Ten Books of 2019 by The New York Times, and included in President Barack Obama’s 2019 reading list. In 2023, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI.

  The lecture, dinner, and symposium are being held at the historic Players Club in Gramercy Park, Manhattan. 
  

  Registration is free for IGS members and their guests, but all attendees must be registered in advance in order to gain admittance to the club. More information regarding the dinner and symposium schedule will be made available at a later date.

  Please note that as an historic 19th century landmark, the site is not handicap accessible. Dress code is business casual and is strictly enforced, including no sneakers, shorts, ripped jeans, t-shirts).

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