Volume 70, Number 1 (January 2013), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics is arriving in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 70:1 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents Preview

• • "A Brief History of the Institute of General Semantics on Its Diamond Jubilee" by Martin H. Levinson
  • "Meta-Indexing the Abstraction of Irony and the Structural Differential" by Terry L. West
  • "Why 'General' Semantics" by Martin H. Levinson
  • "Some Thoughts on Consciousness of Abstracting, Meaning, and Truth" by Milton Dawes
  • "On Errors in Language" by Michael Moore
  • "Language and Politics" by Leonard R. N. Ashley
  • Metaphors in Action:
    "Sophistic Illustrated: Two Couplets for the Years of the Snake" by Peter Zhang
  • "Obituary Notice (Balvant K. Parekh: 1924-2013)" by Prafulla C. Kar
  • Poems:
    "Chronomentrophile" by A. J. Huffman
    "Proporational Verse" by K. J. Hannah
    "Piaget's Sagacity" by K. J. Hannah
    "Another Win: Political Bedfellows" by K. J. Hannah
  • Plus From the Editor, Book Reviews, and Dates and Indexes.

Cover Art

The cover of ETC 70:1 is a mixed media work titled "Fate" by Dan Moran.

• Click here to view more work by Dan Moran.

In Washington, DC, at the 99th Annual Convention of the National Communication Association, the Institute of General Semantics will participate in the preconference sessions.

General Information

The 99th Annual Convention of the National Communication Association
"Connections"

Preconference: November 20, 2013
Conference: November 21-24, 2013

Washington, DC
http://www.natcom.org/convention.aspx?id=3139

 

IGS Panel

Description

PC06: Applied Semantics and Practical Communication across the Disciplines

November 20, 2013
8:00am - 12:00pm

Location: McKinley, Mezzanine Level, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

This preconference session identifies and explores core concepts that span the field of communication and commonly reach across the curriculum of general education. It emphasizes the centrality of discourse and language, and it will provide attendees with resources for thinking about and teaching broad-based theory fundamental courses or communication theory-based courses across disciplines.

It is designed for both graduate students and professors who would like to deepen their command over fundamental communication concepts and theories and/or are seeking to expand their repertoire of teaching resources.

By bringing together communication scholars whose work integrates various fields and disciplines and by asking them to provide vital materials for attendees, this half-day session promises to make connections that reach across all courses within the discipline of communication and/or across multiple disciplines.

• Click here for additional information on the NCA preconferences.

Presenters

Corey Anton, Grand Valley State University
Richard Lanigan, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Adeena Karasick, Fordham University
Mary Lahman, Manchester University
Andrew Smith, Edinboro University
Lance Strate, Fordham University
Edward Tywoniak, Saint Mary’s College of California

The Institute of General Semantics has released Kindle and Nook formats for several of its titles, and we plan on publishing future works in these electronic formats.

Here is the current list of titles available in each format as of November 26, 2012 January 5, 2013 January 6, 2013 February 23, 2013.

Kindle Format

The following titles are available in Kindle format directly from Amazon.

• On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology by Lance Strate
• Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology by Corey Anton
• Think Smart, Talk Smart: How Scientists Think: A Guide to Effective Communication by Allan Laurence Brooks
• Sensible Thinking for Turbulent Times by Martin H. Levinson
• In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa by Gerald Haslam and Janice E. Haslam
• More Sensible Thinking by Martin H. Levinson
• Korzybski And... edited by Corey Anton and Lance Strate
  
• Selections from Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski and edited by Lance Strate

Nook Format

The following titles are available in Nook format directly from Barnes & Noble.

• On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology by Lance Strate
• Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology by Corey Anton
• Think Smart, Talk Smart: How Scientists Think: A Guide to Effective Communication by Allan Laurence Brooks
• Sensible Thinking for Turbulent Times by Martin H. Levinson
• In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa by Gerald Haslam and Janice E. Haslam
• More Sensible Thinking by Martin H. Levinson
• Korzybski And... edited by Corey Anton and Lance Strate
• Selections from Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski and edited by Lance Strate

Traditional Formats

The books above are also available from the IGS Store in softcover and hardcover formats.

• Click here to browse the IGS Store.

Editors Corey Anton and Lance Strate culled sixteen essays for the long-awaited multidisciplinary volume titled Korzybski And..., which is now available in the IGS Store.

About the Book

In this volume, Corey Anton and Lance Strate have carefully crafted a collection of comparisons of Korzybski's thoughts to other key philosophers and their ideas. Media, semiotics, imagination, rational thought, cultural studies, and cyberculture are only a sample of the many stimulating topics that come to life in this book ... With freshness and vision, this edited collection takes us on a thought-provoking journey connecting us to the essence of Korzybski's contribution. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.

- Karen Lollar Ph.D.
Chair, Communication Arts and Sciences Metropolitan State University of Denver
Author of The Talk Within: Its Central Role in Communication (2012)

The collection of essays contained within this book represent a gallant and exquisite attempt to backtrack, as well as to sidetrack and track ahead, and show how Alfred Korzybski's enterprise is indeed aligned not only with various strains and traditions in academic thought and scholarship, but with the work of a host of significant theorists from across the disciplines. As such Corey Anton, Lance Strate, and their contributors have done a great service to Korzybski's legacy, and to the continuation and expansion of general semantics as both an applied and a theoretical system. They have positioned Korzybski and his work as a locus, rather than an outlier.

- Thom Gencarelli
Manhattan College

Corey Anton and Lance Strate have assembled a "wild variety" of 16 erudite essays demonstrating the past, present and continuing influence and relevance of Korzybskian general semantics. Academic specialists from diverse fields explore the "connections, intersections, and divergences" between general semantics and assorted topics ranging from phenomenology to psychotherapy to philosophy; from Heinlein to Hayakawa to Heidegger; from matters of time and temporality to the nature of human happiness. Korzybski And... is a collection not to be missed, an example of time-binding at its finest.

- Jacqueline Rudig
IGS Past Vice-President

Click here to purchase Korzybski And... in the IGS Store.

About the Editors

Corey Anton is Professor of Communication Studies at Grand Valley State University and author of dozens of scholarly papers and book chapters, as well as author of the book Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology (2011). His research spans the fields of existential phenomenology, media ecology, semiotics, communicology, the philosophy of communication, and multidisciplinary communication theory.

Lance Strate is Professor of Communication and Media Studies and Director of the Professional Studies in New Media program at Fordham University.  He is the author of On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology as well as editor of a number of books on media ecology.

Purchase the Book

Click here to purchase Korzybski And... in the IGS Store.

Martin H. Levinson is back with the follow-up to his book Sensible Thinking for Turbulent Times.  Titled More Sensible Thinking, the book is now available in the IGS Store.

About the Book

In these times of rapid change and constant upheaval, can we learn to think and communicate more effectively-at home, in school, on the job, and as citizens of the larger world?

This book (like its predecessor Sensible Thinking for Turbulent Times), which is based on the formulations of general semantics, says yes, yes, and yes!

Topics in it include practical ways to improve your thinking ability, emotional self-management, understanding of the media, and analysis of important social issues.

Click here to purchase More Sensible Thinking in the IGS Store.

About the Author

Martin H. Levinson, Ph.D., is the President of the Institute of General Semantics and the author of numerous articles and several books on general semantics and other subjects. His previous book is Brooklyn Boomer: Growing Up in the Fifties (2011).

Purchase the Book

Click here to purchase More Sensible Thinking in the IGS Store.

Volume 69, Number 4 (October 2012), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics is arriving in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 69:4 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents Preview

• "General Semantics, Science, and Medicine: A Quality Approach" by Richard Fiordo
• "Who's the Mother" by Bill Haase
• "Indexing the Religious Beliefs of America's Founders" by Martin H. Levinson
• "Fascism as a Semantic Void into the Meta-Narrative of Rational Modernity" by Alessandro Saluppo
• Two Poems:
  "Foreclosure" by Peter E. Murphy
  "Good Grief" by Peter E. Murphy
• "One God" by Ed Tywoniak and Frances Tywoniak
• "Objectivity--Does It Exist?" by Mark S. Tucker
• "Advanced Thinking: Mathematics, General Semantics ... Ways to Improve Relationships" by Milton Dawes
• "Formal Cause, Poiesis, Rhetoric: A Dialogue" by Eric McLuhan and Peter Zhang
• "Bindings and Becomings: Korzybski, Deleuze, and Ecological Thinking" by Peter Zhang and Eric Jenkins
• Metaphors in Action:
  "Two Generation Gaps" by Raymond Gozzi, Jr.
• Probes:
  "Philosophy How?" by Peter Zhang
• Plus From the Editor, Book Reviews, and Dates and Indexes.

Cover Art

The cover of ETC 69:4 is a photograph titled "Sincere Plastic Advertising" by Jeremy Wolff.

• Click here to view more work by Jeremy Wolff.

After many years of stellar service, Bill Petkanas has stepped down from his position as editor of the journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics, published by the Institute of General Semantics.

Ed Tywoniak, Associate Professor of Communication and Chair of the department of Communication at Saint Mary's College, will be replacing him starting with the January 2013 issue.

• Click here to order recent issues of ETC: A Review of General Semantics.
• Click here to learn more about ETC: A Review of General Semantics.

Volume 69, Number 3 (July 2012), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics will be out soon in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 69:3 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents Preview

• "Pivotal Terms in Media Ecology: A Dialogue" by Eric McLuhan and Peter Zhang
• "Two Assignments Introducing Studetns to Mapping Problems" by Tim Lyons
• "The Meaning of Freedom: Āzādi, Alas!" by K. Narayana Chandran
• "Advanced Thinking: Mathematics, General Semantics ... Ways to Improve Relationships" by Milton Dawes
• "The Challenges of Denotative and Connotative Meaning for Second-Language Learners" by Youssif Zaghwani Omar
• Metaphors in Action:
  "Robots and Love" by Raymond Gozzi, Jr.
• Probes:
  "Numerotherapy and Its Metamessage" by Peter Zhang
• Plus Book Reviews.

Cover Art

The cover of ETC 69:3 is a work titled "The Faculties" by Dom Heffer.

• Click here to view more art by Dom Heffer.

The Drug Problem: A New View Using the General Semantics Approach, Martin Levinson's 2002 book that brings the advantages of general semantics to the drug abuse problem is now available as a PDF ebook for download from the IGS Store.

About the Book

Current approaches to the drug problem are not working and almost everyone agrees that more effective solutions are needed. This comprehensive volume offers a dynamic new approach to understanding and solving the drug problem. This text applies the techniques and formulations of general semantics to investigate and make recommendations about various aspects of drug abuse. General semantics, a process problem-solving approach based on the primacy of the scientific method and importance of language as a shaper of thoughts and perceptions, has a proven record of success in problem-solving across a wide variety of disciplines and fields.

Topics examined include American drug history and policy, the legalization issue, drugs and creativity, treatment, and prevention. A chronological overview of drug-taking in human history and a resource guide are provided. One chapter offers an in-depth description of an effective drug abuse prevention model and a program using the model.

Click here to purchase The Drug Problem PDF in the IGS Store.

About the Author

Martin H. Levinson, PhD, is the president of the Institute of General Semantics and vice president of the New York Society for General Semantics.  He is the author of numerous articles and several books on general semantics and other subjects.  His latest book is Brooklyn Boomer Growing up in the Fifties (2011).

 

Purchase the Book

Click here to purchase The Drug Problem PDF in the IGS Store. Click here to purchase the hardcover version from Amazon.

Volume 69, Number 2 (April 2012), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics will be out soon in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 69:2 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents Preview

• "The Place of the Other" by Gary Gumpert and Susan J. Drucker
• "Reflections on Writing in the Twenty-First Century and GS Strategies for Teaching It" by Philip Vasallo
• "Teaching Writing through General Semantics and General Semantics through Writing: A Stylistic Approach" by Richard Fiordo
• "A Difference That Makes a Difference" by Bruce Kodish
• "A General Semantics Analysis of the RMS Titanic Disaster" by Martin H. Levinson
• "The Language of Scam Spams: Linguistic Features of 'Nigerian Fraud' E-mails" by Deborah Schaffer
• "Hidden Divinities" by Michael Moore
• "The Rhetorical-Theatrical Sensibility as Equipment for Living" by Peter Zhang, Yi Z, and Xi Yang
• "What Is True, and What Is Real, Providing the Non-Aristotelian Tools to Orient You" by Gary M. Jaron
• "Meaning in Silence as the Quaker Tradition" by Michael H. Plugh
• "Plausible Quotations and Reverse Credibility in Online Vernacular Communities" by Quentin J. Schultze and Randall L. Bytwerk
• Metaphors in Action:
  "Is the Computer a Communist?" by Raymond Gozzi, Jr.
• "Probes: Chiasmus as a Mode of Probing of the Lord and Man" by Peter Zhang
• Plus Book Reviews and Dates & Indexes.

Cover Art

The cover of ETC 69:2 is a work titled "Jerusalem Stone" by Kyle Perler.

• Click here to view more art by Kyle Perler.