[Bruce Nevin 2018-08-04_22:12:03 ET]
Looking at the department website for my field (linguistics) I found contacts for a student organization. I am writing to them to invite them to the IAPCT conference and annual meeting. Attendance on the 12th and 13th is free for students. You might do likewise, if you can identify a student organization associated with the department for your field at Northwestern.
As an example, the email I have drafted is as follows:
ConferenceSchedule-20180804.pdf (330 KB)
···
Hello, Anelia and Alex,
I’m writing to you because you are listed as the contacts for the Linguistics Student Association at Northwestern (NULSA). You and other students may be interested in a conference on campus 11-13 October, the conference and annual meeting of the International Association for Perceptual Control Theory (IAPCT). The schedule is attached.
The admission to the conference sessions on the 12th and 13th is free for students.
I realize you may be away during August. If so, I trust that you will catch up to this in your email in September.
What is this conference about? Negative-feedback control is pervasive in the structure and functioning of all living things. All intentional behavior is the means of attaining and maintaining goals despite the interference of unpredictable circumstances and changes in the environment. Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) provides a comprehensive framework for research and applications.
I have written about language and linguistics in the framework of PCT, for example:
Freeing linguistics from computationalism
Part of my presentation will touch on experimental work in phonology. My 2012 presentation at Stanford was on this topic.
Particularly germane to linguistics also is Kent McClelland’s work on collective control. Language and culture are products of and enablers of collective control. PCT promises a solid empirical and mathematical foundation for the pioneering intuitions of Edward Sapir in language and culture.
You can learn more in the ResearchGate project on PCT, the Wikipedia article, and the websites linked there. In the archive at Northwestern there is a major collection of papers and source materials on the history and development of PCT over the past 60 years, which will be open for access on the first day of the conference, 11 October.
I hope to see you and your fellow students at the conference. As I mentioned, there is no charge to students for the conference sessions on the 12th and 13th. Those who wish to attend should please email Alison Powers < iapctconference@gmail.com>, indicating your field of study and whether you would like to purchase lunch.
/Bruce Nevin