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A presentation given by a distinguished individual on a topic of interest to the field of general semantics

The Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture Series

AKML Speakers

Since 1952, the Institute of General Semantics has sponsored the annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture (AKML), a presentation given by a distinguished individual on a topic of interest to the field of general semantics.  View Archive | Upcoming Lecture Series

History

In 1952, two years after founder Alfred Korzbyski’s sudden death, Institute of General Semantics Director M. Kendig initiated an annual program to remember Korzybski and celebrate the continuation of his goals for human development and progress.

This program became known as the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture Series, or “AKML.” Kendig viewed this series as a means not only to remember Korzybski, but also to celebrate the contributions of those whose work is scientifically oriented and promotes what Korzybski termed “time-binding,” the unique human ability to build on the achievements of others through the use of symbols and languages.

Prestige

An impressive lineup of speakers has added significant prestige to the AKML, which over the years has featured prominent authors, scientists, psychologists, educators, and individuals from varied backgrounds.

A few of the more recognizable names include Abraham Maslow, Buckminster Fuller, Albert Ellis, Steve Allen, Leonard Shlain, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Lou Marinoff, Ellen Langer, J. Allan Hobson, Robert Carneiro, James Van Allen, Karl H. Pribram, Deborah Tannen, Sherry Turkle, and others.


Upcoming events

    • 1 May 2024
    • 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
    • The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park S, New York, NY 10003
    Register

    The Institute of General Semantics

    and

    The New York Society for General Semantics

    Are Proud to Present a Screening of

    Man on a Mission

    A Film By

    Dina Bruno Ciborowski

    and

    Robert Albrecht


    Man on a Mission (2023) tells the remarkable story of Carmine Tabone whose lifelong mission was to explore the innovative uses of the arts and play in the education and socialization of children. As we entered more deeply into the electronic revolution, Tabone uncovered multiple ways in which the arts and play could be used as media to motivate the development of oral communication, literacy, and social interaction. The video focuses primarily on Tabone’s work as founder and director of a day camp in Jersey City where he and his staff of artists and educators created an oral environment as a means of counter-balancing the power and prestige of electronic media.

    Tabone’s approach to education—part theory, part praxis—can be appreciated as a practical application of ideas postulated by both Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman who understood the critical need for counter-environments in the electronic age.

    Engaging, hopeful, and joyous… What a force. All so impressive. The unmitigated joy, happiness, and outstanding creative expression on the faces of the children not to mention the spillover into their lives was a revelation. I found myself singing, swinging my arms, and dancing to the infectiousness of it all.

         —Teri McLuhan, author and filmmaker

    The film is the epitome of Postman's call for loving resistance fighters.

         —Lance Strate, IGS President & Professor of Communication & Media Studies, Fordham University

    I can honestly say that I use Educational Arts strategies every day. It helps my children become deeper thinkers, it helps them identify with characters and situations in stories, it increases their comprehension. The writing pieces that follow, the judgement pieces we can do, all enhance our curriculum’s focus.

         —Danielle Chiaro (Jersey City Middle School Teacher)

    A Q&A session featuring Robert Albrecht and Carmine Tabone will follow the screening.

    About the Directors:

    Robert Albrecht is the current President of the Media Ecology Association and served briefly at Arts Editor of ETC. Albrecht began his work with Carmine Tabone and the Educational Arts Team/Camp Liberty at the same time he began his doctoral work in Media Ecology at New York University with Neil Postman. “Neil’s ideas obviously influenced my work with children and the arts just as my work with Carmine influenced all my subsequent media ecology scholarship.” For 40 years, Albrecht worked as a musician and workshop leader in Jersey City schools and at the Camp. He is also the author of numerous children’s plays that were produced on stage at Camp Liberty. Along with Mr. Tabone, Albrecht is the author of The Arts and Play as Educational Media in the Digital Age (2020), winner of the Media Ecology Association’s prestigious Susanne Langer Award.

    Dina Bruno Ciborowski began her professional life doing improvisation theater in New York City but came to the realization that her background with improv, acting games and role play could be used more profitably to work magic in the primary school classroom. Suddenly students who were bored and detached from schooling were engaged and active participants in the learning experience. Over the past two decades, her creative work with children in Jersey City has included supervising a teen arts program, the co-creation of a number of plays, skits and puppet shows, and continued work with the art and drama techniques that act as powerful tools cultivating literacy, teaching life lessons and supporting social and emotional learning. Dina died in October of 2023 shortly after completing this film. She is missed by everyone who knew her smile, laughter, dedication and insight.

    Registration is free. All attendees must be registered in order to gain admittance to the club. This includes any guests you might want to bring with you.

    The program will take place in the Dining Hall on the 1st floor of the club. Please note that, as an historic 19th century landmark, the site is not handicap accessible. Dress code is business casual and is strictly enforced, including no sneakers, shorts, ripped jeans, t-shirts).

Past events

4 Mar 2024 Language and Thought Online Course
15 Feb 2024 Michelle Shocked & bluerace In Concert
12 Dec 2023 "I Feel, Therefore I Am": Reviewing the Thought and Work of Silvan Tomkins
22 Nov 2023 The Calculus as A Psychological Tool
27 Oct 2023 AKML and Symposium
16 Oct 2023 So You Want to Change the World? A Hitchhiker's Guide to Subversive Thinking
18 Sep 2023 Comprehending & Minimizing Interpersonal Conflict: An Adaptation of Laing, Philipson, & Lee’s Interpersonal Perception Method
7 Aug 2023 Language and Thought Online Course
19 Jun 2023 General Semantics Seminar
25 May 2023 Some Perspective on the Perspective of Communication and Media Revolutions
29 Apr 2023 Ecologies of Mind, Media, and Meaning 2 Symposium
25 Apr 2023 Film Screening: The Frontier Gandhi
26 Mar 2023 General Semantics and Epistemics: The Science-Art of Innovating
21 Feb 2023 EmpathyA is not EmpathyB is not EmpathyC
31 Jan 2023 What is Warm Data?
12 Dec 2022 Metaphors and Definitions: A General Semantics Look at the Language of Pain, Addiction, and the Opioid Epidemic
11 Nov 2022 Challenging Some Common-Sense Notions About Language
28 Oct 2022 The Issue of Is: A Commentary on the Case Against the Verb “To Be”
7 Oct 2022 AKML and Symposium
29 Sep 2022 How to Improve Your Thinking and Communicating Ability Using General Semantics
21 Sep 2022 The Map is Not the Territory
25 Jun 2022 Science, Sanity, and the Semantic Environment II: An Online Symposium
6 Apr 2022 Totem and Taboo in Contemporary Talk
1 Oct 2021 AKML and Symposium

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