The Institute of General Semantics (IGS) is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1938 by

Alfred Korzybski Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (, ; July 3, 1879 – March 1, 1950) was a Polish-American independent scholar who developed a field called general semantics, which he viewed as both distinct from, and more encompassing than, the field of s ...

, to support research and publication on the topic of

general semantics General semantics is concerned with how events translate to perceptions, how they are further modified by the names and labels we apply to them, and how we might gain a measure of control over our own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral respons ...

. The Institute publishes Korzybski's writings, including the seminal text ''Science & Sanity'', and books by other authors who have studied or taught general semantics, such as Robert Pula, Irving J. Lee,

Wendell Johnson Wendell Johnson (April 16, 1906 – August 29, 1965) was an American psychologist, author and was a proponent of general semantics (or GS). He was born in Roxbury, Kansas and died in Iowa City, Iowa where most of his life's work was based. The W ...

, and Stuart Chase. Every year since 1952, it has sponsored the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture, with presenters from a broad range of disciplines, from science to medicine to entertainment, including names like actor

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

, psychologist

Albert Ellis Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and was certi ...

, scientist and visionary R. Buckminster Fuller, linguist

Allen Walker Read Allen Walker Read (June 2, 1906 – October 16, 2002) was an American etymologist and lexicographer. Born in Minnesota, he spent much of his career as a professor at Columbia University in New York. Read's work ''Classic American Graffiti'' is w ...

, and philosopher

F. S. C. Northrop Filmer Stuart Cuckow Northrop (November 27, 1893 in Janesville, Wisconsin – July 22, 1992 in Exeter, New Hampshire) was an American legal philosopher and influential comparative philosopher. After receiving a B.A. from Beloit College in 19 ...

. The Institute offers periodic seminars, workshops and conferences and is headquartered in New York City. The IGS is closely affiliated with GS groups around the globe, including the Australian General Semantics Society. The Institute of General Semantics publishes: * ''ETC: A Review of General Semantics'', a quarterly journal printed since 1943, distributed to IGS members and subscribed to by over 350 libraries around the world. * Numerous books, CDs and DVDs on general semantics.

Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture

The Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture (AKML) series was begun in 1952. It is an annual event sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics in honor of

. Each year the Institute invites some prominent scholar or otherwise notable individual to give the lecture. Lecturers have included inventor R. Buckminster Fuller, physicist James A. Van Allen, entertainer

, Gregory Bateson,

Neil Postman Neil Postman (March 8, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic, who eschewed digital technology, including personal computers, mobile devices, and cruise control in cars, and was critical o ...

and

Ashley Montagu Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu (June 28, 1905November 26, 1999) — born Israel Ehrenberg — was a British-American anthropologist who popularized the study of topics such as race and gender and their relation to politics and development. He ...

. The only person to give the lecture more than once was surgeon Russell Meyers, in 1958 and 1985.

Lecturers

*1952:

William Vogt William Vogt (15 May 1902 – 11 July 1968) was an American ecologist and ornithologist, with a strong interest in both the carrying capacity and population control. He was the author of best-seller ''Road to Survival'' (1948), National Direc ...

and

*1953: F. J. Roethlisberger *1954:

*1955: R. Buckminster Fuller *1956:

Clyde Kluckhohn Clyde Kluckhohn (; January 11, 1905 in Le Mars, Iowa – July 28, 1960 near Santa Fe, New Mexico), was an American anthropologist and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo and his contributions to the ...

*1957: Abraham Maslow *1958: Russell Meyers *1959: Symposium with Charles M. Pomerat, William J. Fry, and James A. Van Allen *1960: Warren S. McCulloch *1961: Robert R. Blake *1962: Harold G. Cassidy *1963:

Henri Laborit Henri Laborit (21 November 1914 – 18 May 1995) was a French surgeon, neurobiologist, writer and philosopher. In 1952, Laborit was instrumental in the development of the drug chlorpromazine, published his findings, and convinced three psychiatri ...

*1964: Joost A. M. Meerloo *1965: Henry Lee Smith Jr. *1966: Alvin M. Weinberg *1967: J. Bronowski *1968: Alastair M. Taylor *1969:

Lancelot Law Whyte Lancelot Law Whyte (4 November 1896 – 14 September 1972) was a Scottish philosopher, theoretical physicist, historian of science and financier. Early life and career Lancelot Law Whyte, the son of Dr. Alexander Whyte, was born in Edinburgh, Sco ...

*1970: Gregory Bateson *1971:

Henry Margenau Henry Margenau (April 30, 1901 – February 8, 1997) was a German-American physicist, and philosopher of science. Biography Early life Born in Bielefeld, Germany, Margenau obtained his bachelor's degree from Midland Lutheran College, Nebraska befo ...

*1972:

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...

*1973: Panel with J. Samuel Bois, Elton S. Carter, and Walter Probert *1974: Kenneth G. Johnson and

*1975: Harley C. Shands *1976: Roger W. Wescott *1977: Ben Bova *1978: Elwood Murray *1979: Don Fabun *1980:

Barbara Morgan Barbara Radding Morgan (born November 28, 1951) is an American teacher and a former NASA astronaut. She participated in the Teacher in Space program as backup to Christa McAuliffe for the 1986 ill-fated STS-51-L mission of the Space Shuttle ...

*1981:

Thomas Sebeok Thomas Albert Sebeok ( hu, Sebők Tamás, ; 1920–2001) was a Hungarian-born American polymath,Cobley, Paul; Deely, John; Kull, Kalevi; Petrilli, Susan (eds.) (2011). Semiotics Continues to Astonish: Thomas A. Sebeok and the Doctrine of Signs'. ...

*1982: Robert R. Blake and Jane Srygley Mouton *1983:

*1984: Karl H. Pribram *1985: Russell Meyers *1986: George F. F. Lombard *1987: Richard W. Paul *1988:

Jerome Bruner Jerome Seymour Bruner (October 1, 1915 – June 5, 2016) was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to human cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory in educational psychology. Bruner was a senior research fellow at ...

*1989: William V. Haney *1990: Warren M. Robbins *1991:

*1992:

*1993: William Lutz *1994: Lotfi A. Zadeh *1995: Nicholas Johnson *1996:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi (, hu, Csíkszentmihályi Mihály Róbert, ; 29 September 1934 – 20 October 2021) was a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognized and named the psychological concept of "flow", a highly focused mental ...

*1997:

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

*1998: Theodore R. Sizer *1999: Ellen J. Langer *2000: Robert P. Pula *2001:

Lou Marinoff Lou Marinoff is a Canadian-born academic, author, and Commonwealth Scholar. He is Professor of Philosophy and Asian Studies at The City College of New York and founding President of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Educati ...

*2002: J. Allan Hobson *2003: Sanford I. Berman *2005:

Robert L. Carneiro Robert Leonard Carneiro (June 4, 1927 – June 24, 2020) was an American anthropologist and curator of the American Museum of Natural History. His Circumscription Theory explains how early political states may have formed as a result of intera ...

*2006:

Renee Hobbs Renee Hobbs is an American scholar and educator who works in the field of media literacy education. She is Professor of Communication Studies at the Harrington School of Communication and Media and founder of the Media Education Lab at the Univers ...

*2007: Leonard Shlain *2008:

Douglas Rushkoff Douglas Mark Rushkoff (born February 18, 1961) is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture and his advocacy of open sourc ...

*2009:

Mary Catherine Bateson Mary Catherine Bateson (December 8, 1939 – January 2, 2021) was an American writer and cultural anthropologist. The daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, Bateson was a noted author in her field with many published monographs. ...

*2010:

Deborah Tannen Deborah Frances Tannen (born June 7, 1945) is an American author and professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Best known as the author of ''You Just Don't Understand'', she has been a McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at ...

*2011:

Sherry Turkle Sherry Turkle (born June 18, 1948) is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained an BA in social studies and later a PhD in sociology and perso ...

*2012: Shawn Lawrence Otto *2013: Terrence W. Deacon *2014: Jack El-Hai *2015:

Andrew Keen Andrew Keen (born c. 1960Saracevic, Alan T. (15 October 2006)Debate 2.0 / Weighing the merits of the new Webocracy.''San Francisco Chronicle'' ("Age: 46")) is a British-American entrepreneur and author. He is particularly known for his view tha ...

*2016:

Iain McGilchrist Iain McGilchrist (born 1953) is a psychiatrist, writer, and former Oxford literary scholar. McGilchrist came to prominence after the publication of his book ''The Master and His Emissary'', subtitled ''The Divided Brain and the Making of the Wes ...

*2017: Terry Moran *2018: Lance Strate *2019:

Nadine Strossen Nadine Strossen (born August 18, 1950) is an American civil liberties activist who was president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from February 1991 to October 2008. A liberal feminist, she was the first woman to ever lead the ACLU. A ...

*2020:

Siva Vaidhyanathan Siva Vaidhyanathan (born 1966) is a cultural historian and media scholar, and the Robertson professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. Vaidhyanathan is a permanent columnist at The Guardian and Slate; he is also a frequent contrib ...

(planned)

References

External links

Australian General Semantics Society The Institute of General Semantics
{{Authority control General semantics 1938 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1938 501(c)(3) organizations Non-profit organizations based in New York (state)

Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture

Lecturers

See also

References

External links