Agenda

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland
25 – 30 August 2024

Writing and Cognition
in Interdisciplinary Perspective

Call for Papers

Writing is one of the key early markers of human civilization, and it has been around for more than 5,000 years. This 5-day international conference will bring together neuroscientists and experts on ancient writing systems with the goal of adding a historical dimension to neuroscience and, for ancient world studies, opening up objective criteria for measuring the efficiency of writing.
The conference aims to foster exchange between scholars active in different fields. To facilitate this dialogue, the conference will combine traditional talks with discussion panels. We invite talks on topics related to:

1. aspects of script usage from different perspectives
2. neuroanatomical networks and writing-related pathologies
3. relationship between writing and language
4. visual form and eye coordination in reading as constituent factors of writing
5. cognitive load and the role of behaviors in reading
6. materiality and spatial arrangement of writing
7. interaction between mind, body and the material technologies of writing
8. role of the visual system and object recognition in writing

The conference proceedings will be published.

Paper Length: 20 minutes (plus 10 minutes Q&A)
Languages: English, German, Italian, French
Submission Deadline: 29th February 2024

As space is limited, please send your paper title and abstract of no more than 250 words to asconaconf2024@gmail.com.
Selection results will be communicated by 15th March 2024.

Invited Keynote Speakers
• Laurent Cohen, Paris
• Haleli Harel, Jerusalem
• Olivier Morin, CNRS / ENS-PSL
• Lambros Malafouris, Oxford
• Pippa Steele, Cambridge

Invited Workshop Leaders
• Andréas Stauder, Paris
• Aleksandra Eberhard-Moscicka, Bern

Special Feature
• Experiment: eye movement behavior (saccades) in reading ancient texts

Organization
• Annick Payne, Bern and Venice
• René Müri, Bern
• Karenleigh A. Overmann, Colorado