Congratulations to the recipients of the Institute's 2024 prizes and awards!

The Samuel I. Hayakawa Book Prize for the most outstanding work published in the past five years on topics of direct relevance to the discipline of general semantics (the prize includes a cash award of $1,000) to Marcy Axelrod for How We Choose to Show Up: Nature’s Playbook for Creating a Meaningful Life and the World We Want.

The Christine L. Nystrom Prize awarded to a student currently enrolled in a masters or doctoral level graduate program for outstanding scholarship in the form of a paper on the topic of symbols and meaning (the winning entry will be published in the IGS journal, ETC: A Review of General Semantics, and receive a cash prize of $500) to Kristen Haldeman for “Unveiling the MOOC Mosaic: Navigating Self-Paced Learning Landscapes”.

The Sanford I. Berman Award for Excellence in Teaching General Semantics granted to individuals for outstanding use of general semantics formulations in educational settings on any level to Lance Strate in recognition of continuing excellence in teaching general semantics.

The Marjorie Kendig Award for Outstanding Translation to Orli Berger Kadim for her work in translating Martin Levinson's Practical Fairytales from English to Hebrew and Laura Trujillo’s Formal Cause in Marshall McLuhan’s Thinking from Spanish to English.

The J. Talbot Winchell Award to IGS Secretary and Trustee in Eva Berger In Recognition of her Indispensable Contributions, Accomplishments and Time-Binding Efforts in Service to the Field of General Semantics.

We are pleased to report that our 2024 summer seminar that was held on July 25th to July 27th in London, England, was a smashing success! Taking place in the October Gallery in the Bloomsbury section of town, the seminar was led by Mary P. Lahman, Lance Strate, Dom Heffer, Peggy Cassidy, and Nora Bateson, with twenty participants taking the course. The theme was Navigating the Now: A Guide to Recognizing What is Going On, and the course served as an introduction to general semantics, while also incorporating some innovative topics and exercises. Here now are some photos taken during the 3-day seminar:

The seminar also incorporated a warm data session led by Nora Bateson:

And an art workshop led by Dom Heffer, where participants could get creative in producing their own variations on Alfred Korzybski's Structural Differential:

And we will end this post with the group photo taken at the conclusion of the seminar:

As mentioned in a previous post, the IGS sponsored a session at the annual meeting of the Media Ecology Association hosted by Daemon University in Amherst, New York on June 6th to 9th in conjunction with the publication last year of the sixth edition of Alfred Korzybski's magnum opus, Science and Sanity. The program featured IGS Trustees Corey Anton, Susan Drucker, Thom Gencarelli, Lance Strate, and Laura Trujillo-Liñán taking part in a roundtable discussion.

We are pleased to report that this session was recorded on video, and uploaded to YouTube, where you can watch it on the IGS YouTube Channel (and why not subscribe if you haven't done so already?). Or right here:

The 2024 meeting of the International Communication Association took place in Gold Coast, Australia. As an affiliate of the ICA, the IGS sponsored a session entitled, "Science and Sanity at 90: Korzybski’s Classic Work Reconsidered," which featured IGS President Lance Strate, IGS Treasurer and ETC Editor Thom Gencarelli, IGS Trustee Laura Trujillo-Liñán, and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology doctoral candidate Renée Peterson. Here are some images from that session:

While they were visiting Australia, our trustees were able to record an episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the IGS, at a local radio station in Gold Coast, courtesy of Renée Peterson. Here are some images from that visit:

The IGS was well-represented at the recent annual meeting of the Media Ecology Association hosted by Daemon University in Amherst, New York on June 6th to 9th. One of the highlights was the keynote address delivered by IGS Vice-President Corey Anton, "Humanity, Time-Binding, Wealth, and Superabundance":

Another highlight was the roundtable discussion on the new edition of Science and Sanity, featuring Corey Anton, Susan Drucker, Thom Gencarelli, Lance Strate, and Laura Trujillo-Liñán:

Also participating in this year's MEA meeting was former ETC Editor Bill Petkanas:

During the convention, Susan Drucker recorded interviews with Lance Strate and Thom Gencarelli on the history of the Media Ecology Association:

And see also our post: 3 MEA Awards Go To IGS Trustees. We'll leave you now with a few more photos from the event:

IGS President Lance Strate gave a plenary address entitled, "Representations of Reality: Korzybski's Structural Differential, Plato's Cave, and the Shield of Perseus," via Zoom for the To the World Through Languages conference held in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 16th-17th. 

Below are some photos taken at the event, and a thank you note from the organizers:

Our May 1st in-person event, a film screening of Man on a Mission, was a great success, and well received by all in attendance. Below are some photos from the question and answer session that followed the screening, featuring filmmaker Robert Albrecht (r.) and the subject of the film, Carmine Tabone (l.).

The fourth issue of 2023, ETC: A Review of General Semantics Vol. 80 No. 4, is finally in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 80:4 from the IGS Store.

Table Of Contents

Special Issue: General Semantics and Politics

Guest Editor: Corey Anton

Letter from the Editor

Corey Anton, "Setting the Stage"

Corey Anton, "Politics and General Semantics: Humanity, Time-Binding, Wealth, and Superabundance"

Martin H. Levinson, "General Semantics and Constructive Political Discourse"

Etai Eshet and Eva Berger, "Hashtag this: #FreePalestine, Political Positions, and Social Media Trends"

Jermaine Martinez, "Korzybski and Chantal Mouffe: General Semantics Contribution to Agonism"

Joshua Clements, "An Ounce of Prevention: General Semantics and Conspiracy Theories"

Thomas A. Fish, "Excerpt from Press Conference with Government Official"

Roy F. Fox, "Music, 'Jokes,' and Race

Book Reviews"; Martin H. Levinson, Book Reviews

The third issue of 2023, ETC: A Review of General Semantics Vol. 80 No. 3, is in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 80:3 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor

Christopher W. Mayer, "The Truth Is Not Out There: Korzybskian Themes in the Work of Richard Rorty"

Lance Strate, "The And"

Tiffany Petricini, "ChatGPT: Everything to Everyone all at Once"

Stephen Roxborough, "years ago (in galaxies far far away)"

Martin H. Levinson, "Dating Antisemitism: A Case Study"

Milton Dawes, "A Few Words About my Use of “Meta”"

John Rullo. "Artificial Love"

Eleni Chatzi, "The Buried History Within the Buried History"

Xristos Xousos, "The Crystal Gazer"

Martin H. Levinson, "Dating America’s Response to Alcohol: An Historical Overview"

Heather M. Crandall, "Civil Communication"

Jack Conley, Estafania Orjuela Parre, and Ashwin Vaidya, "A Semantic Guide for the Climate Perplexed"

David Miller, "Blend (for Sandy Bull)"

Joseph N. Agostino. "Institutionalization and Family Relationships of the Elderly"

Stan Kozikowski, "Othello’s Semantics of Body, Mind and Soul: America’s Racist Presidents, Devalued Higher Education, and Debased Priesthood"

Mary Lahman, "Practice Language Behaviors that Engage Others in Civil Discourse"

Josh Dold and Mary Lahman, "Action Plan: Non-Identity"

Wendy Mushenye and Mary Lahman, "Action Plan: Non-Identity"

Mary Lahman, "Moving Action Plans to Case Studies"

Samantha Campbell and Mary Lahman, "Traffic Stop Miscommunication: A Case Study"

Hope Gebhart, Adrianna Shires, and Mary Lahman, "A 'Free' Lesson in General Semantics"

Martin H. Levinson, Book Reviews