New Perspectives on the Semantics-Pragmatics Distinction (VU Amsterdam)

New Perspectives on the Semantics–Pragmatics Distinction

Date: 25-Jun-2026 - 26-Jun-2026
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Contact: Tamara Dobler
Contact Email: [email protected]

Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics; General Linguistics; Philosophy of Language; Pragmatics; Semantics

This two-day workshop brings together an international line-up of female researchers working at the intersection of philosophy, theoretical linguistics, computational linguistics, logic, formal semantics and pragmatics, psychology, and political and social science. The event explores diverse perspectives on the semantics–pragmatics distinction, highlighting how interdisciplinary approaches can advance our understanding of meaning, context, and interpretation.

The workshop highlights the contributions of women in fields where female representation remains limited, offering visible role models for students and early-career researchers.

Invited Speakers:
- Craige Roberts (Ohio State University), “Dynamic pragmatics: Out of the wastebasket” (keynote)
- Robyn Carston (UCL), “Polysemy, polysemy* and polysemy** (keynote)
- Martina Wiltschko (ICREA, Universitat Pompeu Fabra), “Look! It's semantics. It's pragmatics. It's the syntactic spine!”
- Elin McCready (ICREA / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), "Conventionality and Ideology”,
- Catarina Dutilh Novaes and Celine Henne (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), "Conceptual disagreement, pragmatics first”
- Maria Aloni (University of Amsterdam), “Nothing is Logical”
- Lotte Hogeweg (Radboud University), “Gradient meaning categories in controversial language”
- Kata Naszádi (University of Amsterdam), “When Contextual Inference Fails: Testing pragmatic adaptation in humans and large language models”
- Lea Krause (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), TBA
- Tamara Dobler (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), “The semantics-pragmatics distinction and core cognition” .

Practical Information:
The workshop is in-person only. Attendance is free of charge, but registration is mandatory as places are limited. To register, please email Tamara Dobler at [email protected]
Venue: Vrije University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Organisers:
Tamara Dobler (Department of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Lea Krause (Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)