Conference on argumentation in mediation

The annual assembly of the Associazione Ticinese per la Mediazione (ATME), foreseen for June 17, 2009 in Lugano, will be preceded this year by a conference devoted to argumentation in mediation.

See http://www.mediazioneticino.ch/
8. Assemblea ordinaria dei soci ATME
mercoledi 17 giugno 2009 alle ore 17:30
presso il Centro della Mediazioni, via Carducci 4 (Piazza San Rocco), Lugano
17.30C onferenza di Sara Greco Morasso dal titolo: "La mediazione come dialogo ragionevole"
18.30 Assemblea annuale

'Research week' at the University of Neuchâtel

Today I completed a research week that I had the opportunity to live at the Institut de Psychologie et Education of the University of Neuchâtel. I had a beautiful opportunity to discuss with several colleagues and open new possible research paths on argumentation. I am thankful to all of them.

***

During this week, I have also finished teaching my two 2009 courses - "Argumentation et construction des connaissances" and "Argumentation et formation" - together with a group of very active students, whom I would also like to thank.

New publication - GLOBAL LINGUISTICS

A new volume on intercultural communication with some interesting insights on argumentation in the delicate context of intercultural relationships:

Danesi, Marcel / Rocci, Andrea
Global Linguistics
An Introduction
2009. 23 x 15.5 cm. X, 270 pages. 30 fig. 21 tables. Paperback. RRP Euro [D] 34.95 / for USA, Canada, Mexico US$ 39.95.
ISBN 978-3-11-021406-2 Series: Mouton Textbook
MOUTON DE GRUYTER
http://www.degruyter.de/cont/fb/sk/detailEn.cfm?isbn=978-3-11-021406-2

***About this Title (from Mouton De Gruyter's website):
The book provides an introduction to an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that can be called “global linguistics” (GL). GL emerges to tackle the ever-growing phenomenon of intercultural communication (IC) in today’s world of international contacts. The specific aim of GL is to look at the form and contents of dialogues among speakers of different cultural backgrounds who will use a “default language” or koiné (usually English) to interact, in order to detect communication breakdowns at various levels of “depth,” as well as the opportunities for developing sound intercultural communication practice. The book includes an accessible presentation of fundamental questions concerning languages and language use. Among the questions addressed are the universal design features of languages, the connection between language and conceptual systems, how people use language to coordinate their actions and interact in a variety of social contexts, and the place of language in a semiotic view of culture. The volume also addresses how language, context and culture shape the way in which we argue a point and try to persuade other people, and why intercultural argumentation is both necessary and risky.Global Linguistics: An Introduction describes fundamental notions in linguistics and cognate fields and is thus well-suited for use as a textbook in courses dealing with IC in general. At the same time, the book is of general interest to scholars in linguistics and communication studies, as it places particular emphasis on theoretical models such as argumentation theory and conceptual metaphor theory, which are generally not presented in textbooks on language and IC.