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Day one (Monday, July 24th)

On Monday, the International Semiotic Summer School started off with an opening lecture on metaphors by Martin Švantner of Fakulta humanitních studií Univerzity Karlovy. The University of Turin was represented by the next speaker, Remo Gramigna, who helped the audience delve into the semiotics of visual metaphors.

The program continued with a parallel session packed with comprehensive speeches ranging from thoughts on golems to the analysis of memes and their relation to semiotics.

A day of inspiring talks and lively discussion was then wrapped up by a pair of workshops, where Ondřej Váša explored the topic of black holes, and Yogi Hendlin introduced the field of biosemiotics.

Day two (Tuesday, July 25th)

First up, the brilliant Jordan Zlatev took the stage with a comprehensive lecture on the motivation behind both verbal and pictorial metaphors and metonymies and how they came to be such a prominent part of our lives.

To illustrate his points, the speaker decided to spice things up with a set of cartoons and caricatures addressing infamous current events. Especially the last few images bolstered the spirits of a large part of the audience, resulting in resounding applause.

The main part of the day was again dedicated to a parallel session where participants could choose from a range of up-to-date topics. There was something for everyone, with talks dealing with the relation between metaphors and artificial intelligence, the relevance of digital technologies in connection to reshaping our understanding of signs, or the importance of online advertising.

The pair of workshops for the day would provide the participants with an excuse to avoid an afternoon thunderstorm. More than that, it was a perfect opportunity to either learn about sign typologies in semiology under the guidance of Eugenio Israel Chávez Barreto, or to witness the reconsidering of metaphors through the perspective of cognitive semiotics orchestrated by Alin Olteanu and Aliki Apostolidou. The interactive atmosphere and thought-provoking discussions that followed were something to behold!

Day three (Wednesday, July 26th)

The penultimate day of the International Semiotic Summer School in Prague was opened with a very inspiring talk by Miglena Nikolchina who, above all else, taught us that humour and computer games are not alien to the field of semiotics.

Speaking of aliens, you could hear both about them, cats (who are we to judge if they are not one and the same, right?), health posters, and primary metaphors originally intended for humans, and so much more during the parallel sessions today.

As for more out-of-this-world experience, our workshops provided just that, yet again giving the participants a tough choice to choose from during these afternoon hours. The ever-energetic and free-spirited Ivan Mladenov re-examined creativity through the lasting perspective of Charles S. Peirce in the first session. The other room was dominated by Tyler James Bennett with an enthusiastic writing workshop. Just in case you were not exhausted enough already, you could wrap the day up with a tour of the notable sights of Prague!

Day four (Thursday, July 27th)

Thursday marked the last day of this year's International Semiotic Summer School in Prague.

The keynote speakers for the day were the inspiring Jana Švorcová with her lecture on Conrad Hal Waddington, followed by an eye-opening revisiting of the symbolic turn by Elize Bisanz.

During the parallel session, both rooms were again packed with well delivered talks, surprising topics and discussions. These would surely have gone on until this moment, were it not for the highlight of the day the Charles S. Peirce Young Scholar Award, where Rahul Murdeshwar secured third place. The runner-up is Chiara Schumann, and the absolute winner of this year´s award is Lenka Vojtíšková. Congratulations to all!

Although the summer school lasted for several days, and you´d expect everyone to be exhausted by the end, the closing party which commenced with an evening workshop in shouting the word “schnitzel”, showed just how much good company and a cheerful spirit mean even in an academic environment.

A huge thanks goes out to all the organizers and attendees who made the International Semiotic Summer School in Prague a fine and memorable event. Their participation and enthusiasm are much appreciated. On behalf of Fakulta Humanitních Studií, we wish everyone a safe journey back home, and we hope to see you again soon!

Photo Credit: Ondřej Trojan