Research seminar by Dr Simon Harrison

Event date
Event location
English Department Meeting Room, M8015, Level 8, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre
Research Seminar CityU EN

From ‘body language’ to ‘linguistic bodies’. That’s one small shuffle for terminology, one giant leap for understanding
by Dr Simon Harrison, City University of Hong Kong

Is there such a thing as ‘body language’? Decades of research suggests there is not. Yet ‘body language’ remains globally popular as the go-to term for describing (and assessing) the body’s role in communication. The Body Language Myth is a forthcoming book that aims to introduce empirically grounded ideas from gesture studies, multimodal interaction, and embodied cognitive science into the mainstream conversation. One such idea will be discussed in this talk: linguistic bodies. These bodies help convey discoveries from sign language linguistics, micro-analysis of gestures with speech, and enactive approaches to mind-body-world relations.

Simon Harrison is assistant professor in the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong. He is author of The impulse to gesture: Where language, minds, and bodies intersect (2018) and co-founder of the International Society for Gesture Studies Hong Kong Hub (https://isgshkhub.wixsite.com/home).

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