Assoc ProfessorFred Cummins

PhD (Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Joint Major) Indiana University, 1997. Lecturer, UCD, since 1999. Group leader, Media Lab Europe, 2000-2004. My primary object of study is joint speech (see jointspeech.ucd.ie for more), which may be approached from many directions. I am interested in how voice (and eyes and bodies) conspire to enable us to create shared worlds, how languaging extends beyond the narrow concerns of linguistics to include all our bodily interactions. Empirically, I study joint speech in prayer, protest, among sports fans, in educational settings, and beyond. This raises theoretical issues that go to the heart of human experience, which I approach from a Mind-and-Life perspective. I am increasingly drawn to the study of ritual and to some basic questions in consensual negotiation of knowledge claims.