The Interactivist Summer Institute 2001
July 23-27, 2001
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
GENERAL INFORMATION
(This Call for Participation, along with related information, can
also be viewed at http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2001.html).
It's happening: research threads in multiple fields scattered across
the mind-sciences seem to be converging towards a point where the
classical treatment of representation within the encodingist
framework is felt as an impasse. A rethinking of the methods,
concepts, arguments, facts, etc. is needed and, so it seems, is being
found in the interactivist approach. From research in human
cognition, motivation, and development, through consciousness,
sociality, and language, to artificial intelligence, post-behaviorist
cognitive robotics, and interface design, we are witnessing the
appearance of projects where the assumptions of interactivism are
embraced. More often then not, this is in an implicit manner, so that
at a superficial level those projects (the problems they deal with,
the methods they use) seem to be incommensurable. However,
underneath, one can feel their interactivist gist. The time is right
(and ripe) we felt, to articulate this "irrational" (in Feyerabendian
sense) pressure for change at a programmatic level, and this is what
we want to accomplish with the present workshop. The workshop will be
preceded by a Summer School in Interactivism featuring several
tutorials which are meant to provide the needed theoretical
background, based mainly on Mark Bickhard and his collaborators'
work. The intention is for this Institute to become a traditional
annual meeting where those sharing the core ideas of interactivism
will meet and discuss their work, try to reconstruct its historical
roots, put forward current research in different fields that fits the
interactivist framework, and define research topics for prospective
graduate students. People working in philosophy of mind, linguistics,
social sciences, artificial intelligence, cognitive robotics, and
other fields related to the sciences of mind are invited to send
their statement of interest for participation to the organizers (see
details below).
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Mark Bickhard <mhb0@lehigh.edu>
John C. Christopher <jcc@montana.edu>
Wayne Christensen <plwdc@alinga.newcastle.edu.au>
Robert Campbell <campber@clemson.edu>
Georgi Stojanov <geos@cerera.etf.ukim.edu.mk>
Goran Trajkovski <gtrajkovski@alpha.wvup.wvnet.edu>
MAJOR THEMES
* Foundations of Interactivism
* Naturalism
* Emergence
* Process metaphysics
* Cognition and Representation
* Representation emergent in action systems
* Dissolution of problems of skepticism, error, Chinese room, etc.
* Concepts
* Memory
* Learning
* Heuristic learning
* Metaphor
* Rationality and negative knowledge
* Agents
* Interaction
* Motivation
* Emotions
* Autonomous agents
* Persons
* Development
* Consciousness
* Sociality
* Language
* Ethics
* Social processes and realities
ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC CO-SPONSORS
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
Institute for Interactive Studies
Cognitive Science Program
Humanities Research Center
SS Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia
West Virginia University at Parkersburg
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Participation will be limited to 30 people and by invitation only;
People wishing to participate should submit a short curriculum vitae
and a statement of interest to Interactivist Summer Institute. Please
include e-mail address and/or fax number, if available. Applications
should be received by March 15, 2001. Notification of acceptance will
be provided by April 15, 2001.
The meeting will take place in the conference room The Governor's
Suite, Iaccoca Hall (tentative).
A small number of scholarships for partial financial support will be
provided by the organizers for graduate students or postdocs.
CALL FOR PAPERS
If you are interested in the issues mentioned above and wish to share
your thoughts and research results with like-minded people, please
submit an extended abstract or full paper via email with attached
files (in ASCII, RTF, or Word) to:
Interactivist Summer Institute (interact@lehigh.edu)
Abstracts and papers should be sent taking into account the following format:
1. Major theme of the paper, related to the major themes given above.
2. Paper title.
3. Extended abstract of 500 to 1500 words and/or paper drafts of 2000
to 5000 words, in English.
4. Author or co-authors with names, addresses, telephone number, fax
number and e-mail address.
All abstracts will be refereed by an independent panel of experts.
The judgments of the referees will determine the list of papers to be
presented at the conference.
DEADLINES
Applications: March 15
Submission of papers: March 15
Notification date: April 15
Receipt of registration fee: May 1
On campus housing reservation (see below): June 30
Off campus housing reservation (see below): June 22
CONFERENCE FEES
Standard registration fee: $150
Student registration fee: $100
Checks should be made out to: Interactivist Summer Institute.
Mail to:
Mark H. Bickhard
Interactivist Summer Institute
17 Memorial Drive East
Bethlehem, PA 18015
USA
For wire transfers:
Wire address:
First Union National Bank
Funds Transfer Department
Attention: NC0803
1525 West W.T. Harris Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28288-0803
ABA # 031201467
Account # 2100012444293
Account Name: Lehigh University
For international wires, these additional identification numbers are required:
CHIPS Participant #0509
Swift TID #PNBPUS33
You must include your name and identify that the transfer is for the
Interactivist Summer Institute.
HOUSING
Housing is available both on campus and off campus.
Off campus housing is with Comfort Suites, and is within easy walking
distance of the main Lehigh campus. The rates are $80/night for a
single and $85/night for a double. Please contact:
Comfort Suites
120 W 3rd
Bethlehem, PA 18015
USA
610-882-9700
On campus housing is available both air-conditioned (Trembly Park)
and not air-conditioned (Gamma Phi Beta). For on campus housing,
please fill out and return the Interactivist Summer Institute housing
form. This can be obtained from the Web site as a PDF file or a Word
file.
TRAVEL
The easiest way to get to Bethlehem is to fly into Lehigh Valley
International Airport (known as ABE, from Allentown, Bethlehem,
Easton - LVI is already taken by Las Vegas International Airport).
There are direct flights from Chicago, for example, for those coming
from the west, and also flights from the South (e.g., Atlanta).
Flying into New York, particularly Newark Airport, also works well.
There are buses to Bethlehem from Newark Airport and from the Port
Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. So, from Kennedy or LaGuardia,
you first go the Port Authority, and then get a bus to Bethlehem. The
bus company is:
Trans Bridge Lines
2012 Industrial Drive
Bethlehem
610-868-6001
800-962-9135
The Industrial Drive terminal is the main bus terminal, and taxis are
available to the Lehigh campus.
Lehigh Valley Taxi: 610-867-6000
Quick Service Taxi: 610-434-8132
Airport Taxi Service: 610-231-2000
There is also a South Bethlehem terminal that is within walking
distance of Comfort Suites and of campus (though it would a little
long with luggage), but fewer buses make that stop. Philadelphia
airport is closer than Newark airport, but getting to Bethlehem from
there is harder than from Newark. You get to the Philadelphia bus
station (probably by taxi, though there is a train to downtown
Philadelphia), and then take a bus (Bieber Tours) to Bethlehem: it's
roughly the equivalent in complication of coming through Kennedy
airport
-- Robert L. Campbell Professor, Psychology Brackett Hall 410A Clemson University Clemson, SC 29634-1355 USA phone (864) 656-4986 fax (864) 656-0358 http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/index.html
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