This year we will follow a topical format, with 1-2 topics per quarter. Like last year, the seminar will feature interactive discussion, local experts and researchers from other universities, and (of course) free donuts, bagels and juice.
This Fall the featured topic will be SYMBOLIC DEVELOPMENT. Like
last year, speakers will come from diverse intellectual traditions and
will address a range of developmental phenomena within the topic.
This quarter these will probably include social precursors to language,
symbolic competence across primate species, diversity of symbolic communication
across cultures, symbol use and representational competence, the relation
between syntactic and semantic development, language acquisition and cognitive
development, language in children with diverse medical and linguistic backgrounds,
learning to read, and others. Also like last year, the speaker
will present for the first hour (11-noon), after which an interactive
discussion hour will ensue.
The organizers for the seminar are Mike Cole (mcole@weber.ucsd.edu)
and Gedeon Deak (deak@cogsci.ucsd.edu); Kristin Tomlinson
(ktomlins@ucsd.edu) is the graduate coordinator. Contact Kristin
with questions!
In addition, unlike last year the series will feature activities to develop our fledgling Center for Human Development, and simultaneously provide valuable vita-building experience for seminar participants on the early end of their professional careers (e.g. grad students; postdocs). Specifically, we will occasionally discuss and plan a training grant proposal for the Center, to be submitted to one or more major funding agencies. Because this proposal will directly involve and benefit students and postdocs doing research with Center faculty affiliates (see http://chd.ucsd.edu/chdfaculty.html), we plan to develop the proposal in conjunction with students and postdocs who get involved with the Center through the Friday seminar. Throughout the year, we will designate certain days to discuss and conceptualize the training grant. On those days, in lieu of readings chosen by a speaker, students enrolled in the course will either read papers on grant-getting and professional development, or classic papers in language and symbolic development.
The success of this seminar depends on YOU. This means graduate
students and postdocs with interests in Human Development (ANY topic or
discipline!) are expected and urged to participate regularly.
It also means that affiliated faculty should encourage their trainees to
participate. We
also hope and expect more faculty to come at least semi-regularly this
year; all participating faculty learned a lot from some good presentations
last
year. This is a great opportunity for intellectual and professional
development; we know everyone is busy, but this meeting is worth attending.
*********************************************************
Michael Cole, Ph.D
mcole@weber.ucsd.edu
Gedeon Deak, Ph.D.