Cognition and the Media

International Conference

Sponsored by AIA (Italian Association for English Studies), Aston Stylistics Research Centre (Aston University - Birmingham) and CenTras (Centre for Translation Studies @UCL - UK)

Pescara, 30-31 October 2025

Venue: Museo delle Genti d’Abruzzo

Call for Papers

We are pleased to announce the International Conference on Cognition and the Media, a multidisciplinary event bringing together scholars from media studies, cognitive science, translation studies, linguistics, psychology, and related fields.

Drawing inspiration from the work of scholars such as Gilles Fauconnier, George Lakoff, Ronald W. Langacker and Mark Turner (cognitive linguistics), as well as more recent contributions by Giuseppe Balirano (digital and social media, multimodality, and multimodal stylistics), Jorge Díaz-Cintas (screen and digital media, cybersubtitling and cyberdubbing), Yves Gambier (translation, cognition, and media accessibility) and Marcello Giovanelli (stylistics, cognitive studies, and the public humanities), the conference seeks to explore the dynamic relationship between cognitive processes and media forms — including film, television, digital platforms, games, and social media — with a particular emphasis on translation and audiovisual practices. We aim to foster dialogue on how media influence, shape, and are shaped by cognitive mechanisms such as perception, attention, memory, emotion, and narrative comprehension, especially in contexts involving multilingualism, accessibility, and intersemiotic mediation.

At the heart of this conference is a key question: How do media shape and reflect the ways we think, feel, and communicate—especially across languages and cultures? In an era of saturated information, real-time interaction, and constant cross-linguistic exchange, cognition is at the centre of how media function and how meaning moves across borders. As cognitive science deepens our understanding of how we perceive, process, interpret and memorise information, it raises critical questions for media scholars, translators, and communication experts.

We invite papers that explore the dynamic intersection of cognition and media from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Submissions may address (but are not limited to):   

Cognitive theories of media consumption and production
Media influence on perception, attention, memory, and emotion
Narrative cognition in journalism, film, and digital storytelling
Multilingual media processing and translation reception
Cognitive approaches to subtitling, dubbing, and voiceover
The role of cognitive load in audiovisual translation
Cognitive models of narrative and storytelling in media
Eye-tracking and neurocognitive studies in translation research
Emotion and affect in digital storytelling
The cognitive impact of multilingual media environments
Translating culture, humour, and emotion across media
Neurological and psychological studies of translation and media reception
Perception of Time, Technology and Media in the Imagined 19th Century
“Steam-powered” Media: Print, Telecommunication, and Information Manipulation
Historical cognition and media technologies (e.g., clocks, automatons, memory devices)
Artificial Memory in Alternative Worlds
 

Submission Guidelines:

Please send a 300-word abstract and a short bio (max. 100 words) to cognition.media2025@unich.it by 22nd September 2025. Accepted papers will be allotted 20 minutes for presentation, followed by Q&A. Selected papers will be considered for publication in an edited volume with an international publisher.

Deadline for submissions: 22nd September 2025 

Notification of acceptance: 30th September 2025 

Registration fee deadline: 4th October 2025 

Conference fee: 200 EUR (standard) / 150 EUR (PhD student) by 4th October 2025

PayPal Payment: paypal.me/C0nference

Keynote Speakers:

Giuseppe Balirano (University of Naples L’Orientale - ITALY)

Charlotte Bosseaux (Edinburgh University - SCOTLAND)

Jorge Díaz-Cintas (University College London - UK)

Yves Gambier (University of Turku - FINLAND)

Marcello Giovanelli (Aston University – Birmingham - UK)

Luc van Doorslaer (University of Tartu - ESTONIA)

Convenors:

Eleonora Sasso (“G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara - ITALY)

Marcello Giovanelli (Aston University – Birmingham UK)

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Esterino ADAMI (University of Turin - ITALY)

Giuseppe BALIRANO (University of Naples L’Orientale - ITALY)

Charlotte BOSSEAUX (Edinburgh University - SCOTLAND - UK)

Mariaconcetta COSTANTINI (“G. d'Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara - ITALY)

Jorge DÍAZ-CINTAS (University College London - UK)

Yves GAMBIER (Turku University - FINLAND)

Marcello GIOVANELLI (Aston University - UK)

Silvia HANSEN-SCHIRRA (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz - GERMANY)

Chloe HARRISON (Aston University - UK)

Arnt Lykke JAKOBSEN (Copenhagen Business School - DENMARK) 

Isabel LACRUZ (Kent State University - USA)

Andrea LOMBARDINILO (Roma Tre University - ITALY)

Kayo MATSUSHITA (Rikkyo University - JAPAN)  

Francesco NACCHIA (University of Naples L’Orientale - ITALY)

Maria Cristina NISCO (Parthenope University of Naples - ITALY)

Sigrid NORRIS (Victoria University of Wellington - NEW ZEALAND)

Sonja Pöllabauer (Universität Wien - AUSTRIA)

Isabelle ROBERT (University of Antwerp - BELGIUM)

Eleonora SASSO (“G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara - ITALY)

Sherry SIMON (Concordia University - CANADA)

Enrichetta SOCCIO (“G. d'Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara - ITALY)

Luc VAN DOORSLAER (University of Tartu, ESTONIA)

Tania ZULLI (“G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara - ITALY)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Eleonora SASSO (UdA); Maria DE SANTO (University of Naples L’Orientale); Robin DONADIO (University of Naples L’Orientale); Manuela FRANCIA (UdA); Andrea LOMBARDINILO (Roma Tre University); Giulia MAGAZZÙ (Tor Vergata University of Rome); Dalia MENNELLA (University of Naples L’Orientale); Doriana PAPILE (UdA); Michaela QUADRARO (University of Calabria)

CONTACTS

https://www.cognition-themedia.it/

cognition.media2025@unich.it

 eleonora.sasso@unich.it

 Eleonora Sasso