I’m coordinator of Semiofest’s series of informal online “sessions.” These events are intended not only to share best practices among, but to nurture collegiality and friendship within the global semio community.

Coming up on September 15th (at 2 pm UK time)…

SEMIOTICS (IN, OF & ON) THE BODY

Recent innovations in biosemiotics and the intersection between semiotics and cognition have shown how we need to pay attention to meaning that is literally incarnated in our bodies. Our speakers will discuss memory in our bodies (and how this affects our thoughts, behaviour and language), the representation of bodies in consumer brand imagery, and finally, how we write meanings onto our bodies via the complex symbolism of tattoos.

Get tickets (suggested donations only) at the link above.

Our sessionists:

• JAMIN PELKEY is Professor of Languages, Literatures & Cultures at Toronto Metropolitan University, President of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Semiotica, journal of the IASS-AIS. His research explores issues of embodiment and meaning drawing on insights from semiotics, cognitive linguistics, historical linguistics, linguistic anthropology and years of fieldwork in China. His books include Semiotics of X and a four-volume major reference work Bloomsbury Semiotics.

• AUDREY BARTIS is an image & body semiologist, consultant, writer, and researcher. For over twenty years, she has consulted on brand strategy, creative direction, and strategic planning to major global brands (e.g., Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Pernod-Ricard, L’Oréal, Michelin, Nina Ricci). She has taught Branding and Semiotics in Design and Management schools in France and elsewhere. As of January 2024 she is a professor of Design Theory at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

• CHRIS MARTIN is a Professor of Social Sciences at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada, and the author of the book The Social Semiotics of Tattoos: Skin and Self, published by Bloomsbury as part of the Advances in Semiotics series. His research articles and cultural insights have appeared in publications from Oxford University Press, Cambridge Scholars Press, CBC, and the Public Journal of Semiotics. He is a proud father of two girls and an avid guitar player.

Session host: Chris Arning

SEMIOFEST SESSIONS: R/D/E | BINARIES | SEMIOTICS & UX | BODY SEMIOTICS | AI & SEMIOTICS | SEMIOTICS & CINEMA | FICTIONAL DECODERS | ON COLOUR | & more.

Also see these international semio series: COVID CODES | SEMIO OBJECTS | MAKING SENSE | COLOR CODEX | DECODER | CASE FILE