To be opponent at Juan Mendoza-Collazos´ ph.d. defence

I will be the opponent at Juan Mendoza-Collazos´ ph.d. defence of the thesis "Agency and Artefacts: A cognitive semiotic exploration of design", which is to take place at Lund university, in Lund, Sweden, on December 17th 2022. More info and link to the ph.d. thesis here.

Program for Center for Cognitive Semiotics concluding symposium

As reported earlier, on December 17th  2015 I presented my commentary "Biosemiotisk synvinkel på CCS" [Biosemiotic perspective on Center for Cognitive Semiotics] during the symposium "Hur människan blev ett så annorlunda djur" [How the human species became such a different animal] at Lund University/the Pufendorf institute. Here is the program of the symposium - see also below.

Commentary given; cognitive semiotics symposium attended

On Thursday December 17th I presented my commentary "Biosemiotisk synvinkel på CCS" [Biosemiotic perspective on Center for Cognitive Semiotics] during the symposium "Hur människan blev ett så annorlunda djur" [How the human species became such a different animal] at Lund University, or more specifically at the Pufendorf institute. I also took part in the concluding discussions.

The symposium was attended by some 30 people.

Commentary scheduled for December 17th (Centre for Cognitive Semiotics)

On December 17th, at Lund University, Sweden, I will be one of the invited commentators at the concluding symposium of the Centre for Cognitive Semiotics (CCS), "Hur människan blev ett så annorlunda djur" [How the human became such a different animal]. My commentary, entitled ”Biosemiotisk synvinkel på CCS” (Biosemiotic perspective on CCS), has been scheduled for 14.15-14.30. Other commentators include Frederik Stjernfelt and Sören Brier, among others.

To be commentator at concluding symposium for Lund University´s Centre for cognitive semiotics

I´ve agreed to be one of the commentators at the concluding symposium for Centre for cognitive semiotics, which will take place December 17th at Lund University, Sweden. The symposium language will be Swedish (cf. Seminars).

17/12: All-day symposium, summarizing the program "Centre for Cognitive Semiotics" (2009-2014) Pufendorf institute (Note: In Swedish)

Lecture given in Lund, at Centre for Cognitive Semiotics

This Thursday I presented "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt" in the research seminar at Lund University's Centre for cognitive semiotics (2 hours). Some 10-12 people were present.

Abstract for Lund guest lecture: "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt"

This, below, is my abstract for the forthcoming guest lecture (October 24th) in the research seminar of Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University. The abstract also appears on their webpage.

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The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt

Morten Tønnessen, Associate professor in philosophy at University of Stavanger

In this lecture I will outline the three first stages – namely the embryonic, fetal and infant stage – of the lifespan of our subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens in Umwelt terms. Umwelt transitions, defined as lasting, systematic changes within the life cycle of a being from one typical appearance of its Umwelt to another (Tønnessen 2009), will be identified. Comparison will be made with the general, shared Umwelt of mammals (Mammalia). This enables us to pinpoint some uniquely human developmental traits.

In terms of the tripartite Umwelt model (Tønnessen 2011), the lecture will cover the early development of the core Umwelt and the mediated Umwelt, and the initial emergence of a conceptual Umwelt. The designated phase(s) of human development envelops the gradual emergence of various senses, the emergence and fine-tuning of Umwelt objects, early phases of human individuation, and early sociality.

Birth, the individuation event per se, arguably represents the most significant of all Umwelt transitions at the organismic level. But by that point the more-than-human Umwelt gradually becoming human has already developed for some nine months. What – if anything – is it like to be an embryo? And what is it like to be a fetus? And an infant? When and how does subjectivity first make its appearance in the life of a human being?

In the womb, the Umwelt of the embryo and later the fetus is intimately tied to that of the mother. Which, then, is the most useful term in this analysis – communication (between the two), or auto-communication (within the whole that is the pregnant woman)? To a large extent the same can be said about the infant Umwelt – the mother-and-child (and perhaps the mother-and-father-and-child) Umwelt assemblage is an ecosystem of sorts. The mother is the progeny’s first landscape, and the mother’s body (or rather body-landscape) represents Earth, nature, as first perceived. Human sociality, on its side, emerges gradually, starting in the fetal stage, perhaps when the voices from beyond our first landscape are first heard and engaged with. We start interacting with others long before we become aware of who we are.

References

Tønnessen, Morten 2009. Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change. Biosemiotics 2 (1): 47-64.

Tønnessen, Morten 2011. Umwelt Transition and Uexküllian Phenomenology – An Ecosemiotic Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management (= Dissertationes Semioticae Universitatis Tartuensis 16). Doctoral dissertation. Tartu: Tartu University Press. 232 pp. Extensive introduction available online (http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/handle/10062/19250/tonnessen_morten.pdf?sequence=1).

Lund guest lecture announced online

My upcoming guest lecture in Lund, Sweden, has been announced on the webpage of Lund University's Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, in their overview of this autumn's research seminar:

24/10 - Morten Tønnessen (University of Stavanger) - The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt

See also:

Guest lecture at Centre for Cognitive Semitics, Lund, scheduled for October 24th (June 2013)

Guest lecture at Centre for Cognitive Semitics, Lund, scheduled for October 24th

I have been invited, and accepted, to give a lecture in the research seminar of Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, Lund, Sweden. On Thursday October 24th at 1-3 pm I will present (and have discussed) my paper "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt".

See also:

Abstract for NASS VIII: "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt" 

Ontogeny of early human Umwelt paper presented