Tuesday, July 29, 2008

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM JUST ONE WAY K-STATE'S DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY COLLABORATING WITH KEY PHILOSOPHICAL CENTER IN LATVIA

MANHATTAN -- An international symposium is among the ways Kansas State University and the K-State department of philosophy are collaborating with a noted center for philosophy in Northern Europe.

For the second consecutive year, K-State is co-sponsoring, and the K-State department of philosophy is co-organizing, the International Symposium on Cognition, Logic and Communication, Aug. 27-30, at the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia.

Along with K-State, partners in sponsoring the scholarly symposium include the University of Latvia and its Center for the Cognitive Sciences and Semantics, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the Bertrand Russell Society and the History of Early Analytical Philosophy Society.

K-State's involvement in the activities of the Center for Cognitive Sciences and Semantics at the University of Latvia came about when Sandra Lapointe, assistant professor of philosophy at K-State, was asked to join its board of directors.

"I saw the potential for K-State. I was co-organizing the 2007 international symposium and got the K-State department of philosophy involved right away as a co-sponsor," Lapointe said. "A memorandum of understanding was signed between K-State and the University of Latvia later that year, and K-State's philosophy department is now an official partner of the Center for Cognitive Sciences and Semantics."

The center is the most important of its kind for the study of cognitive sciences and semantics in the Baltic area, according to Lapointe.

"Through this exclusive collaboration, K-State's department of philosophy is positioning itself at the heart of one of Europe's emerging intellectual centers," she said. "In return, the K-State department of philosophy's expertise in the field of analytical philosophy as a whole is a major asset for the Center for Cognitive Sciences and Semantics."

The theme of this year's symposium is "200 Years of Analytical Philosophy." It will feature several internationally renowned scholars from Canada, Europe and the U.S., including K-State's Marcelo Sabates, associate professor and head of the department of philosophy, and Lapointe.

"The symposium is already one of the most important recurring philosophical events of its kind," Lapointe said. "Its aim each year is to gather the greatest specialists on our given topic to stimulate research in the related areas of knowledge."

The symposium will open with a public lecture by Peter Simons, a Fellow of the British Academy and a professor of philosophy at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. A noted British philosopher, Simons' work extends to all major fields of philosophy. He is the author of several books and scholarly articles on the history of early analytical philosophy. His lecture will be "Analytic Philosophy: What It Has Been, What It Should Be, And Why It's The Best." More information on the symposium is available at http://www.k-state.edu/200years

K-State's involvement with the University of Latvia doesn't just include the symposium.

"We have already had a faculty exchange and more of these exchanges are being encouraged," Lapointe said. "We also are currently setting up an international graduate school in Riga, which we hope to launch next year."

In addition, K-State and the University of Latvia are partners in the publication of the Baltic International Yearbook for Cognition, Logic and Communication, which includes the proceedings of the symposium.

"The yearbook used to be published by the University of Latvia Press; it is now published by New Prairie Press, K-State's digital library, on an Open Journal System platform," Lapointe said. "The yearbook has become part of the Public Knowledge Project. Our aim is to bring it to be one of the most significant thematic publications in the field. It already includes, at any rate, contributions by the most prominent specialists."

Planning for the fifth annual International Symposium on Cognition, Logic and Communication in 2009 also is under way with further K-State connections. Douglas Patterson, associate professor of philosophy at K-State, is the symposium's co-organizer. The event's theme will be "Meaning, Understanding and Knowledge."