Rome, Italy, September 24-26, 2015 

Department of Philosophy, Communication and Visual Arts

Roma Tre University  

ABOUT PROTOLANG 

The Protolang conference series creates an interdisciplinary platform for scholarly discussion on the origins of symbolic communication distinctive of human beings. The thematic focus of Protolang is on delineating the genetic, anatomical, neuro-cognitive, socio-cultural, semiotic, symbolic and ecological requirements for evolving (proto)language. Sign use, tools, cooperative breeding, pointing, vocalisation, intersubjectivity, bodily mimesis, planning and navigation are among many examples of such possible factors through which hominins have gained a degree of specificity that is not found in other forms of animal communication and cognition. We aim at identifying the proximate and ultimate causes as well as the mechanisms by which these requirements evolved; evaluating the methodologies, research tools and simulation techniques; and enabling extended and vigorous exchange of ideas across disciplinary borders. We invite scholars from A(rcheology) to Z(oology), and all disciplines in between, to contribute data, experimental and theoretical research, and look forward to welcoming you at one of our conferences!

DATE AND LOCATION: 24-26 SEPTEMBER 2015, Rome Tre University, Department of Philosophy, Communication and Visual Arts
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 1 FEBRUARY 2015
WEBSITE: http://protolang.org/
CONTACT:  protolanguage.2015@uniroma3.it

INVITED SPEAKERS: 
Michael C. Corballis (University of Auckland) 
Dan Dediu (Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics) 
Francesco D’Errico (University of Bordeaux) 
Daniel Dor (Tel Aviv University) 
Ian Tattersall (American Museum of Natural History) 
Elisabetta Visalberghi (Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies – CNR Rome)

INVITED SESSIONS:

HOLISTIC APPROACH ONTO MINDS IN OUR CLOSEST RELATIVES: WHAT DO THEY TELL ABOUT EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS OF HUMAN COGNITION?

Organized by Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa (Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University & President of The International Primatological Society)

LANGUAGE ORIGIN SOCIETY (LOS) SPECIAL SESSION 
Organized by Professor Bernard Bichakjian (Radboud University Nijmegen)

ONTOGENY AND LANGUAGE EVOLUTION
Organizers: Andy Lock (Massey University, New Zealand) and Chris Sinha (Hunan University, China)

SUBMISSION

Talks and posters:

Please submit an abstract of 400 words prepared for anonymous review to the EasyChair website:https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=protolang4

Submissions should be suitable for 30 minutes presentation (20 min for presentation and 10 min for discussion).

Symposia:

Please submit a proposal including: (a) Title of the symposium, (b) name and affiliation of the organizers, (c) a general description of the symposium (400 words), (d) abstract of each contributed talk (100-150 words)

Submissions should be suitable for a two-hour session and include 3 to 5 presentations. 
The organizers are responsible for submitting the full symposium program to the EasyChair website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=protolang4. The organizers will also act as chairs of their session.

Note: abstracts of talks, posters and symposia must be submitted in .doc (or .docx) or .txt, no PDF format will be accepted.

IMPORTANT DATES
Submission deadline: 1 February 2015
Notifications of acceptance: 20 March 2015
Early registration deadline: 30 June 2015
Conference: 24-26 September 2015