ECA summer school

Prior to the ECA 2017 conference, the 1st ECA Summer School will take place at the Università della Svizzera Italiana, from 16 to 19 June 2017.

Topic

The summer school is organized in close connection with the 2nd European Conference on Argumentation in Fribourg. Therefore, the summer school is entirely devoted to argumentation theory. Specifically, emphasis will be put on the theme of the ECA conference, namely “Argumentation and Inference”.

The summer school will introduce PhD students to cutting-edge research in argumentation theory from different theoretical angles. A specific sub-topic will be different interpretations of the notion of “inference” within argumentative discourse and argumentative reasoning. Participants will be invited to reflect on and discuss different approaches to argumentation. The analysis and evaluation of inference, in a logical, pragmatic, and cognitive sense will be also tackled including, but not limited to, insights into the study of argument schemes and fallacies.

Programme of the summer school

The summer school will take place on 16 – 19 June 2017. Guests will get the opportunity to participate in the summer school and afterwards (20 June) will be able to easily travel to Fribourg by train to attend the second edition of the ECA conference.

The summer school is divided into:

  • 2 main classes (8 hours each; each class divided into 2 working days)
    • Frans H. van Eemeren (University of Amsterdam, ILIAS)
    • Jean Goodwin (North Carolina State University)
  • 2 seminars (4 hours each)
    • Fabio Paglieri (ISTC-CNR, Rome)
    • Sara Greco (convenor, USI), Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont (University of Neuchâtel), and the team of the project “Analysing children’s implicit argumentation”

Relevant reading material will be sent to all participants at least 3 weeks before the summer school begins. All classes, seminars, and materials will be in English.

Attendance and active participation in the whole program will ensure 3 ECTS credits.

The detailed programme of the summer school and the course description are now available here [pdf].

Who should participate?

PhD students who work on argumentation, in addition to PhD students who have a particular interest in argumentation and/or use argumentation theory in their work within the fields of discourse analysis, communication, linguistics, psychology and other related disciplines, are invited to take part in the summer school.

Please note that the number of places is limited (25 participants) and that we cannot guarantee that applying for the summer school automatically grants access to it. In principle, applications are evaluated by the Organizing Committee on a first-come first-served basis. All candidates will receive an answer in a reasonably short time. The ECA2017 summer school is open to PhD students in priority but also welcomes Post-Doctoral fellows. The application procedure for both categories of attendees is as follows:

  • Eligible PhD students must send their application, including CV and official proof of PhD status (from supervisor/university) to Sara Greco (sara.greco@usi.ch)
  • Post-docs are required to send their CV and a brief motivation letter to Sara Greco (sara.greco@usi.ch). Post-doc applications will be evaluated by the Organizing Committee.
Practical information

Venue: Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano. Information about how to reach Lugano is available here.

The ECA conference in Fribourg can easily be reached from Lugano by train (4 hours and 19 minutes; several daily connections available from Lugano central station).

Fees:

  • CHF 175 for PhD students who take part in the ECA conference.
  • CHF 250 for PhD students who do not take part in the ECA conference.
  • CHF 100: partial attendance (1 main class + 1 seminar).

Fees include participation in the summer school, a welcome reception, and all materials.

You will find information about accommodation, food and transportation options on the this document [pdf].

Registration

To register and proceed to the payment, please click on the following link (https://secure.usi.ch/sai2017/reg.php) and follow the instructions.

Important:

  • Before paying, please make sure that your application has been approved by the organizing committee (see the conditions above). If in doubt, please contact us (sara.greco@usi.ch).
  • Please note that cancellations are possible until May 15 and are subject to a 50 CHF processing fee. No refunds will be processed after this date. Refund requests must be sent to Emma van Bijnen (emma.van.bijnen@usi.ch).
Organizers
  • Sara Greco, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
  • Steve Oswald, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Fabio Paglieri, ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy
  • Andrea Rocci, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland

Organizing team: Emma van Bijnen and Stefano Giacomelli, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland

Contact

For any inquiries, please contact Emma van Bijnen: emma.van.bijnen@usi.ch.