Landscape in Language: A Transdisciplinary Workshop

风景是人类体验的基本组成部分。然而，直到最近，对人类环境的这些较大部分的研究在各学科之间一直是支离破碎的，往往被附加到对更接近环境的研究中。该奖项支持一个跨学科的研讨会，该研讨会将汇集一系列关于风景如何用语言表现的观点，以及这揭示了人与土地的关系。研讨会参与者将讨论几个关键问题。地理特征的界定、分类和命名是否存在跨文化和跨语言的差异？语言之间有哪些相似之处，差异又有多大？是否可以利用地貌表示法所表达的另类世界观来制作具有文化特色的适当的地理信息系统(GIS)？研讨会将讨论这些问题和相关问题，并将有来自不同学科的大约20多名学者参加：人类学家、地理学家、信息科学家、语言学家、哲学家等。研讨会将建立在“民族生理学”研究项目(David Mark、Andrew Turk和David Stea)与荷兰奈梅亨马克斯·普朗克心理语言学研究所(MPI)的研究人员(Stephen Levinson、Niclas Burenhult等人)之间的长期合作的基础上，后者是语言和思维跨文化差异研究的领先中心。MPI语言和认知组的研究人员最近在不同的地理位置用9种语言完成了一系列关于景观术语(和地名)的案例研究。来自这两个群体的研究人员组成了研讨会组织委员会。其余被邀请的参与者来自其他机构和学科，他们被挑选出来是为了赞扬MPI和“民族生理学”参与者的长处。为了确保“新鲜血液”和另类观点的存在，其余参与者将从响应公开参与呼吁的研究人员中挑选出来。研讨会将把标准的论文陈述和讨论与实地经验结合起来。实地考察将为理论和原则的讨论奠定基础。会议的大部分时间将在亚利桑那州切利峡谷入海口纳瓦霍保留地的钦勒举行。该计划还将包括在纳瓦霍民族首府Window Rock的半天，我们计划在那里让研讨会参与者与负责地理信息系统或文化保护的部落官员会面。在讲习班的其他会议上，与会者将总结他们最近的工作并讨论研究主题，包括：景观术语的语义；地名(地名)的作用和构成；地理学；概念框架(本体论)；与土著制图和地理信息系统的关系。讨论的目的是就研究问题和优先事项达成共识。这包括但不限于：跨语言比较景观术语和概念的本体论；可能影响语言社区通过和使用的术语和概念的性质的因素；文化的精神方面与景观术语和地名的关系；研究方法，特别是实地方法；以及对研究的伦理层面及其对参与研究的土著社区的潜在价值的讨论。研讨会的成果将包括研究语言、文化和景观之间关系的优先研究事项。我们期待在研讨会期间对这一重要研究主题提出新的见解，并启动新的研究计划，以促进人们对风景的概念化和交流的知识。讲习班的成果还应改善计算机化土著地理信息系统和绘图系统的理论基础。讲习班还将促进记录和保存与景观有关的特定领域的语言和文化的方法。来自几个学科的早期职业学者的参与以及研讨会出版物(很可能是某一期刊的特刊)也将产生更广泛的影响。在招聘职业生涯早期参与者时，将强调多样性。举办关于纳瓦霍保留地的大部分研讨会将有助于当地经济，并为美洲原住民学生和其他人提供参加研讨会的机会。

The landscape is a fundamental component of the human experience. Yet until recently, the study of these larger parts of the human environment has been fragmented among the disciplines and often has been appended to studies of more proximate environments. This award supports a transdisciplinary workshop that will bring together a range of perspectives on how landscape is represented in language, and what this reveals about the relationships of people to the land. Workshop participants will address several key questions. Are there cross-cultural and cross-linguistic variations in the delimitation, classification, and naming of geographic features? What are the similarities across languages, and how great are the differences? Can alternative world-views, as expressed in representations of landforms, be utilized to produce appropriate culturally-specific Geographic Information Systems (GIS)? The workshop will discuss these and related questions and involve about two dozen scholars from a range of disciplines: anthropologists, geographers, information scientists, linguists, philosophers, and others. The workshop will build on the long-term collaboration between the 'Ethnophysiography' research project (David Mark, Andrew Turk and David Stea) and researchers at the Max Planck Institution (MPI) for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen (Netherlands) (Stephen Levinson, Niclas Burenhult, and others), a leading center for research on cross-cultural variations in language and thought. Researchers in the MPI's Language and Cognition Group have recently concluded a set of case studies of landscape terms (and place names) in nine languages in a wide variety of geographic locations. Researchers from those two groups constitute the workshop organizing committee. The remaining invited participants are from other institutions and disciplines, selected to compliment the strengths of the MPI and 'Ethnophysiography' participants. To ensure the presence of 'new blood' and alternative perspectives, the remaining participants will be selected from researchers who respond to an open call for participation. The workshop will combine standard paper presentations and discussion sessions with field experiences. The field trips will provide grounding for the discussions of theory and principles. The majority of the meeting will be held at Chinle, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation, at the mouth of Canyon de Chelly. The program also will include a half day in Window Rock, capital of the Navajo Nation, where we plan for workshop participants to meet with tribal officials with responsibilities related to GIS or to cultural preservation. At the workshop's other sessions, participants will summarize their recent work and discuss research themes, including: semantics of landscape terms; the role and construction of geographic names (toponyms); topophilia; conceptual frameworks (ontologies); and relations to indigenous mapping and GIS. Discussion sessions will aim to reach consensus on research issues and priorities. These should include, but not be limited to: ontologies for comparing landscape terms and concepts cross-linguistically; factors that may influence the nature of terms and concepts adopted and used by a speech community; relationships of spiritual aspects of culture to landscape terms and toponyms; research methods, especially field methods; and discussion of ethical dimensions of the research, and its potential value to the indigenous communities involved in the research. Outcomes of the workshop will include research priorities for the study of the relationships between language, culture, and landscape. We expect new insights on this important research topic to arise during the workshop and to activate new research programs that will advance knowledge of how people conceptualize and communicate about the landscape. Workshop outcomes also should improve the theoretical basis for computerized Indigenous GIS and mapping systems. The workshop also will contribute to methods for documenting and preserving domain-specific language and culture related to landscape. Broader impact also will result from the participation of early career scholars from several disciplines, and from workshop publications (likely a special issue of a journal). Diversity will be emphasized in the recruitment of the early-career participants. Holding the majority of the workshop on the Navajo Reservation will contribute to the local economy and provide opportunities for native-American students and others to participate in the workshop.