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The University of New Mexico

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Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920
cgonzal@unm.edu

Feb. 12, 3007

Cultural Studies Colloquium Spring Lecture Series Begins Feb. 21

The first installment in the Cultural Studies Colloquium Spring Lecture Series features “Literary Imagination – Cognitive Insights,” by Thomas Wägenbaur, International University, Bruchsal, Germany, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at noon in the Ortega Hall Reading Room, located on the 3rd floor.

Literary imagination has always been a topic in literature -- especially in autobiographies -- and has produced an array of cognitive insights that now come to be confirmed or refuted by the cognitive sciences. This talk sorts through a number of critical issues: perceptual and conceptual blending, storage and recall, decoupled cognition, intentionality and more that are prominent both in literature and cognitive science. These issues will be discussed in terms of historic and contemporary debates that attempt to explain elements of literary imagination. Since texts in cognitive science are not easily accessible, this will also serve as an introduction into the growing field of Cognitive Literary Criticism.

The Cultural Studies Colloquium is sponsored by the International Studies Institute, The Office of International Programs and Studies, the Department of Psychology and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.


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