Construction of Meaning Workshop

The Construction of Meaning Workshop provides a forum for addressing developments in the treatment of meaning in linguistic theory. 

It sponsors presentations of ongoing student and faculty work, lectures by invited speakers, and an annual SemFest, a conference showcasing local research on semantics and pragmatics.

Workshop Events

The Construction of Meaning Workshop organizes weekly meetings throughout the academic year. Please see the Upcoming Events list in the box below for details of upcoming meetings with external speakers.

Annual SemFest

The yearly Sem(antics)Fest is intended to promote discussion and collaboration among all those in the Stanford community interested in the semantics and pragmatics of natural language, as well as their interface with other modules of grammar.  It includes contributions from members of the Department of Linguistics with interests in semantics and pragmatics, as well as from members of the Stanford University community who share these interests.

The first SemFest was organized in 2000 by David Beaver and Stefan Kaufmann as part of the activities of a Stanford Humanities Center Graduate Research Workshop, The Construction of Meaning.  A volume of the same name collecting papers from the first SemFest was published by CSLI in 2002. The 10th and  20th anniversary SemFests were two-day events which included many alumni of previous SemFests.

Mailing List

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Past Events

February
28
Date
Wed February 28th 2024, 4:30pm - 5:50pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Greenberg Room (Room 126)
Speaker
Ryan M. Nefdt
February
21
Date
Wed February 21st 2024, 3:30pm - 4:50pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Greenberg Room (Room 126)
Speaker
Christine Bartels
February
7
Date
Wed February 7th 2024, 3:30pm - 4:50pm
Location:
Online
Speaker
Valentine Hacquard
January
17
Date
Wed January 17th 2024, 3:30pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Greenberg Room (Room 126)
Speaker
Pranav Anand, Natasha Korotkova
December
5
Date
Tue December 5th 2023, 3:30pm - 4:50pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Room 048
Speaker
Justin Royer
October
24
Date
Tue October 24th 2023, 3:30pm - 4:50pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Room 048
Speaker
Shiao Wei Tham
October
10
Date
Tue October 10th 2023, 3:30pm - 4:50pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Room 048
Speaker
Rebecca Cover
May
4
Date
Thu May 4th 2023, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Greenberg Room (Room 126)
Speaker
Ashwini Deo
May
3
Date
Wed May 3rd 2023, 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Location:
Margaret Jacks Hall, Greenberg Room (Room 126)
Speaker
Manfred Krifka
October
15