A New PhD Cohort Begins Its Journey
The second PhD cohort of the RTG Dimensions of Constructional Space started their three-year journey with a week full of insights, discussions, theory, and inspiration. After a warm Welcome Day, the group dived into an exploration of why we do Construction Grammar (and why not), presented by the programme supervisors who reflected on the motivations and boundaries of the framework.
A short introduction to Construction Grammar based on the CASA approach followed, with Prof. Dr. Thomas Herbst (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoffmann (KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt) who helped refresh key concepts, situate Construction Grammar within broader linguistic theories, and present the CASA perspective.
Midweek, the PhD candidates took part in a series of workshops focusing on different perspectives within Construction Grammar:
• Fluid Construction Grammar – Prof. Dr. Katrien Beuls (Université de Namur)
• Frame Semantics – Prof. Dr. Kyoko Ohara (Keio University)
• ConstructiCon – Prof. Dr. Alexander Ziem (HHU Düsseldorf) and Prof. Dr. Kyoko Ohara (Keio University)
• Contrastive Construction Grammar – on constructions in German (Prof. Dr. Alexander Ziem and Dr. Nina Böbel, HHU Düsseldorf), Polish (Maria Szawerna, University of Gothenburg), Swedish (Prof. Dr. Benjamin Lyngfelt, University of Gothenburg), Old English (Dr. Barthe Bloom, FAU), Arabic (Hassane Kissane, FAU), Japanese (Prof. Dr. Kyoko Ohara, Keio University), and Quechua (Prof. Dr. Silke Jansen, FAU).
This week was an intensive start, rich in ideas and new connections – a promising beginning for the new cohort in Dimensions of Constructional Space.