The conference celebrates the tenth anniversary of the ISGS. Established in 2002, the ISGS is an international organization that gathers scholars interested in gesture and bodily communicative behaviour, different approaches to sign language, and communication in non-human species. Through its biennial conference series the ISGS constitutes a meeting place for researchers approaching the study of bodily communication from a range of different perspectives.

The theme of the fifth conference of ISGS is The Communicative Body in Development. Development is to be understood broadly as any change, typical or atypical, in bodily communicative behaviour across the lifespan, synchronically or diachronically, onto- and phylogenetically, and across species. The conference also welcomes all topics on bodily communication, studied in all settings, and from all theoretical and disciplinary perspectives.

Plenary speakers (confirmed):

• Jana Iverson, University of Pittsburgh
• Spencer Kelly, Colgate University
• Stefan Kopp, Bielefeld University
• Lorenza Mondada, University of Basel
• Wendy Sandler, University of Haifa

Call for Papers, etc.

• Papers will be 30 minutes; 20 minutes for presentation and 10 for discussion.
• Thematic panels are welcome and encouraged. The thematic panels should focus on a well-defined research topic. Each panel will be allocated 2 hours, which should include opening and closing remarks, individual papers, discussants (if included) and general discussion.
• Posters are intended as a format for reports on work in progress.

Important dates:

• January 31, 2012: deadline for all submissions
• March 31, 2012: notification of acceptance
• July 24-27, 2012: conference, starting in the morning July 24, closing in the afternoon on July 27.

Local committee:

• Marianne Gullberg
• Elisabeth Engberg - Pedersen
• Maria Graziano
• Mats Andrén
• Agneta Gulz
• Elainie Madsen
• Sandra Debreslioska
• Maja Petersson