報告題目：Language, Culture and Mind--Independence or Interdependence?
報告人：ProfessorChris Sinha,Vera da Silva Sinha
報告時間：5月9日下午15:00—17:00
報告地點：思學樓B107
報告人簡介：
Chris Sinha is Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, with a BA in Developmental Psychology (Sussex) and a PhDcum laude(Utrecht). A globally experienced scholar, he has held full professorships in Brazil, China, and Europe, and served as Head of Psychology at the University of Portsmouth (2002-2005). Former President of the UK and International Cognitive Linguistics Associations, he founded the journalLanguage and Cognitionand sits on multiple editorial boards. His research bridges language, cognition, and culture, integrating cognitive and sociocultural approaches. Author of 3 monographs, 150+ articles, and 5 edited volumes, he co-editedThe Oxford Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution. He organized the 1st and 7th International Conferences onLanguage, Culture, and Mindand remains a key scientific committee member.
Vera da Silva Sinha is a linguist, anthropologist, and social scientist exploring how culture and language shape human cognition. She holds a PhD in Linguistics (University of East Anglia) and Master’s degrees in Anthropology and International Criminal Justice. Her fieldwork with Indigenous communities in Brazil informs her interdisciplinary research on language, identity, worldview, and cultural diversity. She has published over 18 works, includingLanguage, Culture and Identity – Signs of Life(John Benjamins, 2020), and serves as editor for theInternational Journal of Language and Culture. Her innovative studies bridge linguistics, anthropology, and cognition, with recent focus on cultural concepts of time (featured in TEDx 2019 and the podcastAbout Time). She also advances research in ethnomathematics, ecological cognition, and Indigenous education.
報告內容摘要：
This lecture examines the intricate relationship between language, culture, and cognition, questioning whether they operate independently or interdependently. Contrasting classical cognitivist approaches with modern embodied and enactive perspectives, it explores language as both a biocultural niche and social institution, culture as a system of shared meanings and practices, and the mind as shaped by interaction, discourse, and environment. Drawing on theories from Piaget, Vygotsky, and cognitive linguistics, the lecture analyzes tensions between formalist (language as abstract system) and functionalist (language as cultural tool) paradigms, ultimately highlighting how their integration advances our understanding of human cognition and communication.
主辦單位：
西南石油大學人文社科處
西南石油大學外國語學院