Interactivist Summer Institute, Lehigh University, July 23-27, 2001

[Robert L. Campbell]

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 at lehigh.edu>
John C. Christopher <jcc at montana.edu>
Wayne Christensen <plwdc at alinga.newcastle.edu.au>
Robert Campbell <campber at clemson.edu>
Georgi Stojanov <geos at cerera.etf.ukim.edu.mk>
Goran Trajkovski <gtrajkovski at 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 at 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