Professor and Chair of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve to Speak at W&J as First in Clarence L. Branton Lecture Series

WASHINGTON, PA (October 18, 2007) -  Mark Turner, institute professor and professor and chair of cognitive science at Case Western Reserve University, will speak at Washington & Jefferson College on October 22 at 4 p.m. at Howard J. Burnett Center's Yost Auditorium.

Turner's lecture, "Blending in Language and Literature, is the first in the new Clarence L. Branton Memorial Lecture series.

Turner notes that modern human beings have language, art, science, religion, refined tool use, advanced music and dance, fashions of dress, and mathematics skills.  Border collies, blue jays, and dolphins do not, suggesting that a spectacular cognitive ability sets humans apart from all other animals.

"Only human beings have what we have, and this discontinuity in life, this perspicuous grand difference, presents us with the most abiding and compelling scientific riddle of all," Turner said. "In this talk, I will explore the ways in which the basic mental operation of 'conceptual integration' reaches an advanced level in human beings, the level of double-scope integration, which provides human beings with a 'literary mind' that made language and literature possible. The principles of double-scope integration will be illustrated with examples from literature and grammar." 

Turner's books include The Artful Mind: Cognitive Science and the Riddle of Human Creativity; The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's Hidden Complexities; The
Literary Mind: The Origins of Thought and Language; Reading Minds: The Study of English in
the Age of Cognitive Science; More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor (with George Lakoff); and Death Is the Mother of Beauty: Mind, Metaphor, Criticism.

The Clarence L. Branton Memorial Lecture Series was established in 2007 by Harriet Branton and children, Mary and Philip, in loving memory of their husband and father, Dr. Clarence L. Branton, W&J professor emeritus of English.  This endowed lecture series has been created to support the College's English Department and its scholarly guest lecture series.

About Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa., is a national liberal arts
college founded in 1781.  Committed to providing each of its students with the highest-quality
undergraduate education available, W&J offers a traditional liberal arts curriculum emphasizing
interdisciplinary study and independent study work.

For more information about W&J, visit www.washjeff.edu, or call 888-926-3529.

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