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Curriculum vitae
(last updated 5/29/10)

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Neil Cohn
neilcohn@emaki.net
www.emaki.net

Tufts University
Department of Psychology
The Psychology Building
490 Boston Ave.
Medford, MA 02155

Research Interests:
Visual language, multimodality, syntax and grammar, cognitive/conceptual semantics, event structure, Peircean semiotics, linguistic relativity, application of visual language in education

Education:
Grad Student. Tufts University. Psychology Department. (Advisors: Ray Jackendoff, Gina Kuperberg, Phil Holcomb)
M.A. 2005. University of Chicago. Social Sciences (multidisciplinary)
B.A. with Honors. 2002. University of California, Berkeley. Asian Studies: Japan and Buddhism
  • Spring 2001. Tsuru Bunka Daigaku (Tsuru University). Tsuru, Japan. (Exchange Student)

Publications:

Books (Author/Illustrator):
Meditations: 1999-2002. BookSurge Publishing. 2006.
We the People: A Call to Take Back America. with Thom Hartmann (author). Oregon: Coreway Media. 2004.
Early Writings on Visual Language. Carlsbad CA: Emaki Productions. 2003.

Books (Illustrations and/or Graphics Consultant):
Meaning and the Lexicon. by Ray Jackendoff. London: Oxford. 2010.
Elementary Japanese: Volume One. by Yoko Hasegawa. Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing. 2005.

Essays/articles:

"Extra! Extra! Semantics in Comics!" Journal of Pragmatics. In press.
"The Limits of Time and Transitions." Studies in Comics 1 (1):127-147. 2010.
"Japanese Visual Language." In Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. Ed. Toni Johnson-Woods. Continuum Books. pp. 187-203. 2010.
"Razbijanje definicije 'stripa'" [Un-Defining “Comics”]. Translated into Croatian by Monika Bregovic. Zarez. 247 (8). 2009.
"A Visual Lexicon." Public Journal of Semiotics. Vol. 1 (1). pp. 53-84. 2007.
"Un-Defining 'Comics.'" International Journal of Comic Art, Vol. 7 (2). pp. 236-248. 2005.
Periodic columnist for www.comixpedia.com:
  "Comic Theory 101: Loopy framing." March 2007.
 
"Comic Theory 101: Visual Poetry." November 2006.
 
"Comic Theory 101: Seeing Rhymes." June 2006.
 "Comic Theory 101: Too Many Twos." March 2006.
 "Comic Theory 101: Passing Judgment." January 2006.
  "Comic Theory 101: In place of another." October 2005.
  "Reframing 'Comics.'" July 2005.
  "Interactive Comics?" February 2005.
  • "Fight the Comic Aristocracy." Part 1. Part 2. October 2004.
  "Art versus Language." July 2004.
  "Comics’ Identity Crisis." April 2004.
  "Dissolving Comics’ Boundaries." January 2004.
"Methods of the Enlightened." Aya-Com-Text, Vol. 1. Tsuru-shi, Japan. March 2004. Pp. i-vii.
"A Time Frame of Mind." Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, No. 31. Berkeley, CA. Spring 2003. Pp. 1-34 (Chosen “Best Essay”)

Speaking and Teaching:

Invited Speaking:
"Foundations for a Visual Language Grammar." Workshop on Computational Models of Narrative. MIT. October 9, 2009.
"What is 'Visual Language'?" Psychology Department Brown Bag Lunch. Dartmouth University. October 22, 2009.
"What is 'Visual Language'?" Visual Thinking Lecture Series. University of Toronto. May 14, 2009.
"Visual Language." Graphic Novel Writing Class. Emerson University. February 10, 2009. (Guest Lecture)
"Visual Language." Comics and Social Commentary Class, Benjamin Franklin Instutite of Technology. October 1, 2008. (Guest Lecture)
"Japanese Visual Language" [In Japanese].Showa Boston. Tufts University. September 3, 2008.
"What is 'Visual Language'?" Visual and Iconic Languages Conference. San Diego, CA. July 22, 2008 (Keynote)
"Visual Language: What 'Comics' Can Tell Us about the Mind." VizThink 08.San Francisco, CA. January 26-29, 2008 (Facilitator)
"Foundations for a Natural Visual Language Grammar." Visual and Iconic Languages Conference. University of New Mexico. August 2, 2007 (Keynote)
"The Visual Language of Comics." CAST Inc. Wakefield, MA. March 14, 2007
"Visual Language." Center for Cartoon Studies. White River Junction, VT. October 26, 2006
"Visual Language." Museum of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles, CA. September 5, 2004
Art 98: "The Craft of Comics." UC Berkeley. Fall 2002, Spring 2002, 2003 (Guest lecturer).

Conferences:
"The Grammar of 'Comics.'" PCA/ACA National Conference. Boston, MA. April 5, 2007 ("Theories on Comics" Panel chair)
  • Winner of the M. Thomas Inge Award for Comics Scholarship
"Towards a Visual Language Grammar." 5th Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature. Krakov, Poland. March 17-19, 2005
"Bimodality of Language." Scottish Word and Image Group. University of Dundee. Dundee, Scotland. May 8, 2004
Frequent speaker at the Comic Arts Conference. San Diego, CA:
  • "Action Starring Narrative and Events ." July 23, 2009
  • "Japanese Visual Language ." July 25, 2008
 
• "Navigating Comics." July 27, 2007
 
• "Comics and Education." July 26, 2007
  • "The Secret of Sequence." July 21, 2006
 
• "The Visual Language of Comics." July 15, 2005
  • "A Force of Change." July 14, 2005
  • "The Union of Text and Image." July 24, 2004
  • "Defining Comics, Again!?" Group panel. July 22, 2004
  • "Beyond Panel Transitions: A New Look at Sequentiality." July 18, 2003
  • "Introduction to Visual Language." August 1, 2002

Teaching (Class Instructor):
How Language Works. Summer 2010. Tufts University: Osher Lifetime Learning Center (Instructor)
Comics and the Mind
. Fall 2009. Tufts University: Osher Lifetime Learning Center (Instructor)
Visual Linguistics of Comics
(Psyc 196-02). Spring 2009. Tufts University (Instructor)
"Comic Book Design" Class. Fall 2002-Spring 2003. Longfellow Arts Middle School: Extended Day Program. Berkeley, CA.

Teaching (Teacher's Assistant, including lectures):
Biological Foundations of Language. Spring 2008, 2010 (unofficial). Tufts University
Syntactic Theory
(Phil 112/Psyc 151). Spring 2007, 2010. Tufts University
Introduction to Linguistics (Phil 91). Fall 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. Tufts University


Graduate Institute for Teachers
.
Tufts University. Summer 2007.

Research and Consulting:
CAST, Universal Design for Learning. 2005
  • National Advisory Board Member for "Composition Initiative."
  • Created graphic works on photosynthesis for "Multimedia" project.
Research assistant for Christopher Johnson, University of Chicago, Summer 2005.
  • Searched child language data for grammatical constructions.


 

Other: Martial Arts Training

Soo Bahk Do, Moo Duk Kwan Federation

1993-Present. Fourth Dan (Black Belt), Sa Bom (Certified Master Instructor). Instructor: Ted Mason Sa Bom Nim, Oceanside, CA.
  2007-present: Instructing the Tufts Soo Bahk Do Club.

Tai Chi
1999-2003
. Guang Ping Yang Tai Chi. Instructor: Sifu Jarl Forsman, Berkeley, CA
2004-2005. Tai Chi Tao Club at University of Chicago
  2008-present: Instructing the Tufts Tai Chi mini-course

Other
1999-2000.
Aikido. Instructors: Kayla Feder Sensei, Berkeley, CA.; Tetsutaka Sugawara Sensei, Machida, Japan.
2001. Shorinji Kempo. Club at Tsuru University, Tsuru, Japan
2002-2003. Instructor at Longfellow Arts Middle School: Extended Day Program. Berkeley, CA.
2005-2006. Instructor at Rising Phoenix Martial Arts at Quads Gym. Chicago, IL.


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