CFP: ISSC 2018: Logics of Image - Visual Learning, Logic and Philosophy of Form in East and West

The use of visual forms and visualization as techniques of learning has received great attention in modern research and scholarship given the technological advancements, such as multi-media presentations, dynamic or adaptive educational software and tools for drawing and making 3D models. Educators are very often making use of pictorial representations, geometric interpretations and other visual techniques to present and explore abstract ideas and their relationships and simulate unrepeatable or unexperienced phenomena of the real, micro- or macro-worlds or past historical events. Their practice is not limited to technological innovations, for since ancient times in all cultures and civilizations the use of pictorial representations, visual discourse and performance has served as ways to communicate knowledge, information, visions and insights from human internal and external worlds.

The methods of visual learning are not limited to the classroom, the virtual museum or lab. Artists are notoriously sparing of words, preferring to let the image convey meanings, i.e. "speak by itself." The translation of musical structures into visual imageries has been used to describe the works of certain musicians. It has also been argued that visual reasoning is a widely used tool used in creating all kinds of artifacts. Those who frequently employ visual reasoning, notably architects, designers, engineers, and certain mathematicians, conceive and manipulate objects in the "mind's eye" before putting them on paper. Having done this, the paper or computer versions can be manipulated by metaphorically “building” the object on paper (or computer) before building it physically. For instance, Nicola Tesla claimed that the first alternating current motor he built ran perfectly because he had visualized and “run” models of it in his mind before building the prototype. Furthermore, patterns conceived initially in purely abstract form, was much later turned out to have a “pre-image” in nature.

Other communication media have been evolved into two- or three- dimensional visual and interactive experiences. A classical game, such as chess with its system of different symbols and constant switching from 2D to 3D dimensions has been used to facilitate the development of visual way of thinking. Playing chess makes children smarter, and helps them become thinkers that are more critical, better problem solvers, and more independent decision makers.

The development of iconicity in the Digital World was initially conceived as a means to have a universal language, i.e. a visual (iconic) language, when creating and interpreting media. Nevertheless, the fundamental gap remains today: symbols conform to speech, while images conform to vision. Which are the logics of image and vision? How images, symmetric, asymmetric or dissymmetric patterns are related with visual reasoning, creativity, cognitive architectures and aesthetic values? How images and visual patterns are perceived, interpreted and studied in different cultures in the East and West?

The conference is expected to develop a dialogue between the East and West on the significance of visual imageries in cognition, learning and education, in science, and the arts. Academics from a variety of disciplines and expertise, philosophers and professional artists, scientists, education specialists and teaching practitioners will gather to the picturesque town of Kolymbari, Crete, Greece from 11-18 August 2018 to debate and suggest novel approaches and interpretations on these long-standing interdisciplinary issues.

In line with the congress rationale, original contributions are solicited in topics of interest including, but not limited to, the following:

Logics and Philosophies of Form: East and West

•         Word vs. Image in Science, Philosophy and the Arts
•         Sign vs. Image: Representation of Information and Conveyance of Meaning
•         Pictures vs. Propositions
•         Form vs. Structure
•         Intuition, Imagination and Human Creativity
•         Visual Languages and the Logic of Forms
•         Visual Philosophy
•         Visual Semiotics
•         Visual Rhetoric
•         Semantics of Line Drawings
•         Semiotics of Photography, Cinema, and the Arts

The Role of Visualization in Education: East and West

•         The Formation of Visual Language in Education: East and West
•         Interpreting Sign and Symbol in Education
•         Enhancing Learning with Visualization Techniques
•         Applications of Visual Technologies in the Classroom
•         Visualization, Technology Tools and Active Learning
•         Visual and Creative Thinking and Learning
•         Visual Thinking Strategies and Problem Solving
•         Spatial Reasoning
•         Interactive Visualization
•         Visualization and Gamification of e-Learning
•         Visual Perception Problems in Learners with AD/HD, Autism and other Learning Difficulties

Image and Form in Arts and Culture: East and West

•         Knowing vs. seeing in Western and non-Western Cultures
•         Forms vs. Katachi
•         The Status of Image in Society, Culture and Religion
•       Image and Sound
•         Iconicity and Symmetry in the Arts and the Digital World
•         Visual Imageries, Symmetric Configurations and Formal Patterns in Music and Artistic Creativity
•         Form and Style in Photography and the New Media
•         Images and Symmetric Patterns in non-Western Cultures
•         Geometry in Islamic Art
•         Image and Vision in Sacred Science and Religious Art
•         Form and Symmetry in Architecture
•         Art and Mathematics
•         Computer Art

Visualization in Mathematics, Computer Science, AI, and the Sciences

•         Visualization of Information
•         Visual Mathematics
•         Imagination, Visualization and Understanding in Mathematical Demonstration
•         ICT Tools and Techniques for Visualizing Concepts in School Mathematics and Computer Science
•         Visualization in STEM Education
•         Possible Worlds, Impossible Worlds, Utopic Visions
•         Semiotic Metaphors in Mathematics
•         Image Spaces and Conceptual Blending
•         The Role of Diagrams in Pupils’ Construction of Meaning in Geometry
•         Computer Vision and Image Understanding
•         Visualization Methods in Architecture Education using 3D Virtual Models
•         Visualization Methods for Decision Making Support
•       Image, Imagination and Evidence in Legal Processes.

Symmetries and Visual Patterns in Nature

•         Symmetric Patterns in Nature and the Cosmos
•         Metaphors and Visions of the Cosmos
•         Visualizations of the Universe
•         Visualizations of Space and Time
•         Visualizations of the Human Body