ISGS Newsletter (edition 01, June 2026)
Welcome to the first newsletter from the International Society for Gesture Studies. We are experimenting with this format to find the best way to share news and upcoming events relevant to our ISGS members.
If you would like your news shared in a second newsletter edition later this year, please read the way to contact the ISGS PR Officer, Lauren Gawne. Please also let us know if this newsletter is useful, and what you think about this format for sharing important news from our members.
Save the Date: ISGS 2027 in Hong Kong
The 11th Conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies will take place in Hong Kong from 14-16 December 2027, co-organised by ISGS Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and City University of Hong Kong, with support from Chinese University of Hong Kong.
With “Futures for Gesture” as our conference theme, we will be inviting submissions of panels, papers, and posters that relate with, but need not be limited to, our four sub-strands of “Theory, Practice, Technology, Ecology”.
Confirmed keynotes include:
Prof. Kawai Chui (National Chengchi University, Taipei)
Prof. Wim Pouw (Tilburg University)
Prof. Karen Emmorey (San Diego State University)
Pre-conference workshops are being organised for the day before the conference starts (13 December 2027).
We know December 2027 is a long way away but start planning your contribution now! Call for papers is coming soon!
We look forward to welcoming you in Hong Kong!
ISGS 2027 Conference website: https://events.polyu.edu.hk/isgs2027/home
Email address: isgs2027.hk@polyu.edu.hk
ISGS 2027 Organising Committee
Upcoming events
You can find relevant events organised by ISGS members such as upcoming conferences and events listed on the ISGS website page for Conferences and Workshops. If you would like your conference or event added to the list, please use the details at the end of this newsletter to contact Lauren.
2026
Cognitive Science (CogSci) 2026, July 22-25, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3rd International Multimodal Communication Symposium (MMSYM 2026), 9-11 September, Leuven, Belgium
https://als.asn.au/Conference/2026/masterclass2026 Linguistic Society conference, 1-4 December, Perth, Australia
2027
8th Laughter and Other Non-Verbal Vocalisations Workshop, April 2-3, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Edited Volume: Call for Papers
Multimodal Negation: Meaning, Grammar, Cognition, Culture
This volume will explore multimodal negation from diverse theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspectives, aiming to convene scholars with various backgrounds and perspectives on language, communication, cognition, and culture. Drawing on empirical studies with robust theoretical grounding, the volume will offer a wide-ranging and up-to-date treatment of multimodal negation in research on spoken and signed languages, while also hoping to expand the topic’s scope into related fields and disciplines. The goal is for extensive geographical, linguistic, and cultural representation, as well as to address the actual and potential future applications of the research domain.
We invite 150-word chapter abstracts. Word count does not include the reference list, which should be included and follow APA format.
Please submit your abstract no later than July 31, 2026 by email to the editors at sharriso@cityu.edu.hk. Informal enquiries to this address are welcome too.
Accepted abstracts will be invited to submit full chapters, which will then undergo double-blind peer review in line with the book series’ standard procedures.
Simon Harrison, Silva Ladewig, Suwei Wu (Editors)
See webpage for more detail:https://sites.google.com/view/culturally-widespread-gestures/publications/call-for-papers
Recent Publications
Sign Language Linguistics: Exploring BSL and ASL (Cambridge University Press)Adam Schembri, Jordan Fenlon, Kearsy Cormier, Trevor Johnston
A new introductory book on the linguistics of sign languages. Partly adapted from an existing book on Auslan (Australian Sign Language), it's the first textbook to bring together the linguistics of both British Sign Language and American Sign Language. It assumes no knowledge of any sign language, and includes a link to a website with over 500 video clips of sign examples.
Recent articles
Bauer, Anastasia & Silva H. Ladewig (2026). Recurrent head gestures in signed and spoken language, will be published in Open Linguistics, Special Issue "Gestural elements in signed and spoken languages", edited by Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen & Sandra Debreslioska. DOI: 10.1515/opli-2025-0084
Cienki, A., Avelar, M., & Iriskhanova, O. (2025). Action schemas can account for prototypical and non-prototypical Palm-Up Open Hand gestures. Languages, 10(11): 282. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10110282
Sandoval, R. (2025). The ancient Maya script of hand forms embedded in figural art: A decipherment of numerals signed by the rulers of Altar Q. Transactions of the Philological Society, 123 (2): 350-389
Making Waves, final session
The final meeting of the first season of Making Waves, an online discussion group launched in October 2025 and dedicated to the acquisition of prosody and gesture, will take place on Wednesday, July 1, at 15:00 (CET). Patrick L. Rohrer will give a talk titled “From Speech to Gesture: Theoretical Tensions in the Notion of Prominence”.
Hosts: Mariia Pronina & Rebecca Woods
Zoom link:https://upf-edu.zoom.us/j/96178988270 (Zoom login required)
Event website:https://sites.google.com/view/making-waves-group.
Meet the ISGS Board
Alan Cienki, President, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Naomi Sweller, Vice President, Macquarie University
Marianne Gullberg, Immediate Past President, Lund University
Gerardo Ortega, Secretary General, University of Birmingham
Elizabeth Wakefield, Treasurer, Loyola University Chicago
Lauren Gawne, Public Relations Officer, La Trobe University
Ruth Breckinridge Church, Editor Journal Gesture, Northeastern Illinois University
Oliver Le Guen, Editor Journal Gesture, CIESAS
Institutional profiles for Board members are linked on the ISGS website.
Do you have news for a future edition?
You can add announcements for the next International Society for Gesture Studies newsletter via this Google Form, or you can email PR Officer Lauren Gawne (l.gawne at latrobe.edu.au). You can also contact Lauren with feedback.
Image at top of page: Hong Kong Harbour Night 2019, Benh LIEU SONG via Wikimedia Commons