COCOA is an informal online seminar for semanticists and those who are semantics-adjacent to talk about causation, especially using causal models. No experience with causal models is required, and students are especially welcome. Write to cocoa dash info symbol services dot cnrs dot fr for links.
Speakers in general should plan about 35-40 minutes for their talk and 15-20 minutes for questions. I’ll send time notifications in the chat. The first question in the question period is reserved for students.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Fall 2024
December 13, 2024, 4pm-6pm Paris time, i.e. one hour later than usual Léa Nash (SFL) Topic: Georgian causatives
Yining Nie (San José) Tagalog causatives
Jan 24: Causal models tutorial
Feb 14, 4pm-6pm Paris time, i.e. one hour later than usual
Michael Franke (Tübingen) Topic: Communicating causal information / Kyle Jerro (Essex) Direct causation and pluractionality in Lubukusu causatives
Mar 14 Michael Everdell (Boston) Topic TBA / Patricia Cabredo Hofherr (SFL) Three causative auxiliaries in Haitian Creole
Apr 11 Clémentine Raffy (Newcastle), Topic: make that in Romance / Fabienne Martin (Utrecht) Topic: TBA
May 16 Diti Bhadra (Minnesota) Topic: TBA
Jun 13 TBA / TBA
PAST EVENTS
Fall 2024
November 29, 2024, 3pm-5pm Paris time RESCHEDULED for the spring
October 11, 2024, 3pm-5pm Paris time, abstracts
Dean McHugh (Amsterdam), Figure and Ground in Conditionals slides
Zhuosi Luo (National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University): Contextual causee interpretation and the elusive nature of agency slides
September 13, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time York Hagmayer (Göttingen) Topic: Psychology of causation RESCHEDULED for the spring
Will Johnston (McGill) Topic: Causation and serialization in Hmong abstract slides
Spring 2024
June 14, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time
Bridget Copley (SFL) – Causal theory as the “B side” of modal theory: the English progressive abstract slides
Mikayla Kelley (Chicago) – Intentional Action, Intention, and Evaluative Priority abstract slides
May 17, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time
Hadil Karawani (Konstanz) Counteridentical advice slides
Tom Wysocki (Göttingen) Topic: Counterfactuals slides
April 5, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time
Elena Soare (SFL) Topic: Supine causatives in Romanian abstract handoutKyle Jerro (Essex) Direct causation and pluractionality in Lubukusu causatives abstract RESCHEDULED for the fall
March 8, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time
Jürgen Bohnemeyer (Buffalo) Using statistical classification to discover cross-linguistic semantic prototypes: The causation domain abstract slides
Julie Goncharov (Göttingen) Subject obviation and self-locating knowledge abstract handout
February 23, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time
Bridget Copley (SFL) Causal model tutorial handout
Dean McHugh (Amsterdam) A dynamic interpretation of structural causal models abstract slides
February 9, 2024 3pm-5pm Paris time
Jonathan F. Kominsky (CEU) What could they be doing? Studying children’s ‘failures’ in counterfactual reasoning tasks abstract
Fall 2023
December 8, 2023 3pm-5pm Paris time
Fabio Del Prete (CLLE) and Giuseppe Spolaore (University of Padua) “Now”, forcing and causality abstract slides
Bridget Copley (SFL) A model is not the territory it represents: Causal models as relativized dynamic perspectives slides
November 17, 2023 3pm – 5pm Paris time
Causative GIVE in LSF and Haitian
Patricia Cabredo (joint work with Adrien Dadone, UMR 7023, CNRS & U Paris 8) handout
Jacqueline Guéron (Sorbonne Nouvelle) Intentions and Goals, Results and Causes handout
September 13 5:00pm Paris time
Zhuosi Luo (Georgetown University): Causality and modality: plural causal instantiations in Teochew abstract
Bridget Copley (SFL CNRS/Paris 8): Modal models vs. causal models: French être en train de abstract
Fall 2022
September 14 05:00 PM Paris time
Sehrang Joo (Princeton Univ.): No privileged link between intentionality and causation: Generalizable effects of agency in language abstract
Tadeg Quillien (Edinburgh), Counterfactuals and the psychology of causal selection abstract
October 12 05:00 PM Paris time
EVENTSTRAVAGANZA! Relating events to causal models (rescheduled from March) abstracts
Presenters: Stefan Kaufmann, UConn (handout); Elitzur Bar Asher-Siegal, HUJ, and Prerna Nadathur, Ohio State Univ. (slides); Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8) (slides)
November 9 05:00 PM Paris time
Camil Staps (Leiden Univ. and Radboud Univ.) & Johan Rooryck (cOAlition S and Leiden Univ.) – Space in the causal chain: The perspective from French and Biblical Hebrew abstract
Eleonore Neufeld, Univ. Illinois Urbana-Champaign / UMass Amherst, Engineering Social Concepts: Feasibility and Causal Models abstract
Spring 2022
Jan 26, 2022 05:00 PM Paris time
Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8) – Intro to causal models for language
Feb 9, 2022 05:00 PM Paris time
Kelsey Sasaki, Oxford – Topic: causal inferences in narrative
Linda Badan (Ghent University) and Marta Donazzan (Univ. Nantes/LLING) – Topic: The multi-purpose causative verb(s) of Mandarin Chinese
MARCH MEETING POSTPONED
Topic: Relating events to causal models
Presenters: Stefan Kaufmann, UConn ; Elitzur Bar Asher-Siegal, HUJ, and Prerna Nadathur, Konstanz; Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8)
Apr 6, 2022 05:00 PM Paris time
Tobias Gerstenberg, Stanford University: A counterfactual simulation model of causal judgment: A novel approach to understanding causal verbs / slides
Daniel Altshuler, Oxford University: Cause/Effect vs. Effect/Cause / slides
May 11, 2022 05:00 PM Paris time
Bridget Copley & Clémentine Raffy, SFL (Paris 8/CNRS): Intentionally with would-be preventers / slides
Semra Kizilkaya, Universität zu Köln: Natural forces as causers in Turkish (slides)
May 23 and/or 24: hybrid event? to be rescheduled
Jun 8, 2022 05:00 PM Paris time
Andrew Mackenzie, Univ. of Kansas: Catalytic conversion : Effects of partial cause on argument structure
Shaun Nichols, Cornell University & David Rose, Stanford University: Cause and burn in development
TUESDAY June 28, 2022 2:00pm Paris time (NOTE DIFFERENT TIME AND DAY) – hybrid meeting INALCO room 4.15
2:00-2:45 Bridget Copley (SFL) & Alda Mari (IJN) – Forbid is not order not abstract
2:45-3:30 Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal (HUJ) – Causal models: What do they represent? abstract
3:30-4:00 break
4:00-4:45 Prerna Nadathur (Konstanz/Ohio State) – Causation and the logic of ability abstract
Fall 2021
Sep 8, 2021 05:00 PM Paris time
Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8) – A few words on possible causal model representations for serial verbs
Jack Duff, UCSC – Composing associated motion in Santiago Laxopa Zapotec
Leila Glass, Georgia Tech – Why does CAUSE prefer negative-sentiment objects?
Oct 13, 2021 05:00 PM Paris time
Jordan Chark (ZAS) – A causality puzzle in the domain of Finnish necessity modals
Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8) – Functions, causal models, and language
Nov 10, 2021 05:00 PM Paris time
Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8) – A brief intro to forces
Olga Kagan, Ben-Gurion Univ. of the Negev – Change versus force in the Finnish case system
Bridget Copley, SFL (CNRS/Paris 8) – From force dynamics to causal models
Dec 8, 2021 05:00 PM Paris time
Robert Henderson, Univ. of Arizona – Topic: “if not for” counterfactuals
Zahra Mirrazi, UMass – Strength of counterfactuality: A view from Farsi (handout)
The COCOA come-as-you-are online workshop, 3 and 10 June 2021
3 June 2021
19:00 – 19:45 Causal model tutorial with student question time (handout)
Bridget Copley (SFL (CNRS/Paris 8)
19:45 – 20:30 Two notions of causal sufficiency (handout)
Rebekah Baglini (Aarhus University) and Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
20:30 – 21:15 Which possible alternative worlds matter? (related paper)
Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Noa Bassel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and York Hagmayer (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
21:15 – 22:00 Wonder room open for conversation
10 June 2021
19:00 – 19:45 Modeling progress towards completion: causal models and the imperfective paradox (slides)
Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Prerna Nadathur (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
19:45 – 20:30 The Russian perfective and maximality of causal influences (paper)
Bridget Copley (SFL (CNRS/Paris 8)) and Olga Kagan (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
20:30 – 21:15 Tools for non-triviality (slides)
Bridget Copley (SFL (CNRS/Paris 8))
21:15 – 22:00 Wonder room open for conversation