Identification
Name: Rafael E. Núñez
Nationality: Chilean, Swiss
Professional Address: Department of Cognitive Science
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0515
U.S.A.
Education
Post-Doctoral Training
Institute of Cognitive and Brain Studies
University of California at Berkeley, USA.
Sponsors: Prof. George Lakoff (1995-1996) and Prof. Hubert Dreyfus (1993-1994)
Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI)
Stanford University. Sponsor: Prof. Terry Winograd (1994-1995).
Ph.D.
University of Freiburg, Switzerland. 1992.
Dissertation: Psycho-cognitive aspects underlying the idea of infinity in Mathematics (in French).
Advisors: Prof. Humberto Maturana (Chile), Prof. Jean Retschitzki (Switzerland), Prof. Gérard Vergnaud (France).
M.Sc.
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. 1983. Department of Psychology.
Other undergraduate programs
Credits in Mathematics and Engineering. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Santiago (1979-1981).
Other graduate credits
Advanced statistics: Multilevel analysis and courses (S. Raudenbush) et LISREL (J. de Leeuw). ICO. International summer school. Univ. of Twente, Holland. 1992.
Global Security: Development, Disarmament, Environment, Human Rights. 28th Geneva Graduate Study Program, United Nations. July, 1990. Elected president of the working group on Environmental issues.
Computers and Instruction: California State University, Northridge, (Yokohama branch). Tokyo, Japan, 1984.
Languages
Native language: Spanish
Fluent (written and spoken): English, French, Italian, Portuguese
Advanced Medium level: German
Awards and Fellowships
National Geographic Society – Committee on Research and Exploration (with Dr. Kensy Cooperrider). "Topographies of Time in the Yupno Valley" (2103).
Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences. Founding co-director of the Fields Cognitive Science Network for the Empirical Study of Mathematics and How it is Learned (2011).
National Institute of Health-NIH. (Co-Investigator; PI Marty Sereno). "Cognitive Functions of Multisensory Cortical Maps". (2009-2014).
Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin). Fellowship 2008-2009.
Office of Naval Research (Co-Investigator; PI Scott Makeig). "Mobile Brain Imaging: Monitoring the Brain Dynamics of the Motivated Action." (2008-2012).
Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UCSD, Innovative Research award (Principal Investigator). "Neural basis of Metaphorical Abstraction" (2007-2009).
Spencer Foundation (Co-Principal Investigator). "Investigating the Conceptual Basis of Proof" (2007-2008).
National Science Foundation, Catalyst for Center for Learning Sciences (co-investigator): Research on Embodied Mathematical Cognition, Technology, and Learning (2005-2006).
Center for Interdisciplinary Research (Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, ZiF), Bielefeld University, Fellowship (2005).
University of California Systemwide, Faculty Exchange Program (2004) supporting field work with the Aymara indians of the South American Andes.
University of California, San Diego, Hellman Fellowship (2003-2004) for promising Assistant Professors.
Swiss National Science Foundation, Young scientific talent Advanced Researcher Fellowship, 1995-1996.
Swiss National Science Foundation, Young scientific talent Advanced Researcher Fellowship, 1993-1995.
Professional/Academic experience
July 2012–present
Full Professor at the Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, United States.
July 2005– June 2012
Associate Professor at the Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, United States.
March 2002 – June 2005
Assistant Professor at the Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, United States.
January 2000 – March 2002
Maître-ass. (50%) at the Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Switzerland.
Maître-ass. (50%) at the Department of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
June 1999 - January 2000
Research Associate at the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
June 1988 - May 1999
Visiting Professor/Researcher at the École Nationale Supérieure de Télécommunications, Paris, France (Dept. Informatique et Réseaux).
April 1999
Invited Professor at the Graduate School of Psychology, Department of Developmental Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
Graduate course: Corrientes contemporáneas en psicología cognitiva: "Embodied cognition" (in Spanish). [Contemporary approaches in cognitive psychology: Embodied cognition].
Winter semester 1998-1999
Instructor (Lehrbeauftragter, Chargé de cours) at the Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Course: Psychopédagogie des mathématiques et sciences cognitives contemporaines (in French). [Psychopedagogy of mathematics and contemporary cognitive sciences]
January-May 1998
Research Associate at the Institute of Cognitive Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
November-December, 1997
Invited Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Department of Educational Psychology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Graduate course: Advanced topics in educational psychology (in Portuguese).
1 September - 31 October 1997
Visiting Researcher (Gastforscher), GMD (German National Research Center for Information Technology). Institute of Artificial Intelligence.
Bonn, Germany.
1 May - 31 August 1997
Senior Visitor at ICSI (International Computer Science Institute).
Berkeley, California.
January-May 1997 (Spring term)
Co-Instructor of graduate seminar (with Prof. George Lakoff), University of California at Berkeley. Linguistics 290B (Semantics).
Course: The metaphorical structure of mathematics: Towards a cognitive science of mathematical ideas.
March 1996 - February 1997
Teaching commitments (Instructor) (Lehrbeauftragter, Chargé de cours) at the Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Summer term '96. Course: La psychologie de la connaissance: Nouvelles tendances (in French). [The psychology of knowledge: New trends].
Winter term '96-'97. Course: La nouvelle théorie des métaphores conceptuelles: Science cognitive et pensée mathématique (in French). [The new theory of conceptual metaphors: Cognitive science and mathematical thinking].
April 1996 - May 1997
Research Associate at the Institute of Cognitive Studies, University of California at Berkeley.
April 1995 - March 1996
Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Cognitive Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Post-doctoral training under a 1-year extension of a fellowship awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Bourse de relève scientifique pour chercheurs avancés, No 8210-033279).
April 1993 - March 1995
Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Cognitive Studies, University of California, Berkeley (April 1993 - March 1994), and at the Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University (April 1994 - March 1995). Post-doctoral training under a 2-year fellowship awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Bourse de relève scientifique, pour chercheurs avancés, No 8210-033279).
Project: Alternatives to Information Processing: the Case of Infinity in Mathematics.
March - April 1993 and April 1994
Participation in a field study (Ivory Coast, Africa) with a team from University of Fribourg.
Project: Influence of African Children's Media Experience and Abilities in Spatial Cognition (Swiss National Science Foundation, No 11.32439.91).
July 1991 - March 1993
University of Fribourg, Department of Psychology. Researcher.
Project: Psychocognitive aspects in mathematical modeling (Swiss National Science Foundation No 11-30259.90).
November 1990 - March 1993
Chef de Projet at S.U.P.E.A., Lausanne, Switzerland (Service Universitaire Psychiatrique de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent).
Project: Mental Health and Protective Factors in Early Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study (Swiss National Science Foundation No 3.891-0.88).
October 1990 - June 1991
University of Fribourg, Department of Psychology.
Teaching Assistant: Statistics for Social Sciences (Prof. Jean Retschitzki).
April 1989 - October 1990
University of Geneva, Faculty of Psychology and Education.
Teaching Assistant: Techniques of Observation and Evaluation in Special Education (Prof. Fredi Büchel)
Teaching Assistant: Methodology of Scientific Research.
Part time researcher.
Project: Inductive Thinking and Mental Handicap (Swiss National Science Foundation No 11-25463.88). Methodological and statistical analyses.
October 1988- December 1989
University of Fribourg, Department of Psychology.
Half-time researcher (Prof. Jean Retschitzki).
Project: Comprehension and use of recursive procedures in the solution of practical and computational problems (Swiss National Science Foundation No 1.861-0.88).
1985-1986, and February- April 1987
Coopers and Lybrand International, Santiago, Chile.
Full-time Consultant. Human Resources/Organizational Psychology.
1983 and 1985
Counseling and Psychometrics. Private clinic in Santiago.
1980-1983
Department of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Teaching Assistant:
- Intelligence, Thought and Language (1983)
- Measure and Evaluation (1983)
- Statistics for Social Sciences (1982)
- Methodology and Scientific Research (1980-1981)
Invitations, talks and consulting (to be updated)
2009
University of Edinburgh, Dept. of Engineering and Computer Science. Edinburgh, Scotland, July, 2009.
Invited speaker: Towards and understanding of the nature of mathematics: Truth, objectivity, metaphor, and the embodiment of axiom systems.
Cultural effects on the mental number line workshop. York, England, July, 2009.
Invited speaker: Why the number line is not hard-wired: Or, the "cultural nature of the mental number line".
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Kolloquium [Institute of Advanced Study, Berlin]. Berlin, Germany, June, 2009.
Fellowship presentation: What makes mathematics possible? Looking into brain, metaphors, and the human imagination.
Towards the neural basis of high-level cognition. Institute of Advanced Study at Berlin. Berlin, Germany, June, 2009.
Invited Keynote Speaker: The embodiment of compositional meaning: Some thoughts, questions, and challenges.
Emergence of Mathematics Workshop. Cleveland, Ohio, USA, May, 2009.
Invited Keynote Speaker: Some thoughts on the nature of mathematics: A view from Cognitive Science.
The Fundamental Idea of Proof Theory Workshop. Ecole Normale Supérieure, April, 2009.
Invited Keynote Speaker: Towards the Cognitive Basis of Proof.
Bridge the Gap of Science and Art 5, Venice, Italy,
January, 2009.
Invited Keynote Speaker: Mind, meaning, science, art: Reflections on nativism and reductionism.
2008
Yokohama Triennale of Modern Art. Yokohama, Japan, November 2008.
Invited Speaker: How do humans conceptualize time? A view from Cognitive Science.
Space-Time Mapping Workshop. University of Tokyo. Tokyo, Japan, November 2008.
Invited Speaker: On the empirical study of spatial construals of time: A multi-disciplinary approach.
XIV Jornadas Nacionales de Educación Matemática [14th National Congress of Mathematics Education]: Concepción, Chile, November 2008.
Invited Plenary Speaker: Porqué es la ciencia cognitiva importante para la educación matemática contemporánea? [Why is Cognitive Science important for contemporary Mathematics Education?].
8th International Ontology Conference: The problem of the Infinite from Greek Thought to Contemporary Science, San Sebastian, Spain, September 2008.
Invited Plenary Speaker: On the cognitive nature of infinity.
2nd ISCAR Congress (International Society for Cultural and Activity Research). Symposium: Mathematics and Theoretical Diversity. San Diego, California, September 2008.
Invited Speaker: What kinds of diversities in mathematics?
Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognitive Research, Altenberg (Vienna), Austria. Measuring Biology: Quantitative Methods Past and Future. September, 2008.
Invited Keynote Speaker: Numbers an Quantification: Where do they come from?
Cortona Week: Knowledge vs. Belief. ETH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Cortona, Italy, August 2008.
Invited Keynote Speaker: What then is Mathematics? Truth, Objectivity, Metaphor and the Embodiment of Axiom Systems.
Linguistic Anthropology Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, May 2008.
Talk: Facing the Sunrise: Mind, World, and Culture in the Bodily-based Lexicalization of East-West Absolute Frames of Reference in Aymara.
Workshop on Metaphor, Language, Cognition, and the Brain, University of Granada, Spain, May 2008.
Invited Speaker: Cognitive Neuroscience of Metaphor: A tutorial.
Innovative Research Symposium, Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UCSD, San Diego, May 2008.
Talk: Neural Basis of Metaphorical Abstraction: An fMRI Study.
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, February 2008.
Invited Talk: The Embodied nature of Human Abstraction: The Empirical Investigation of Spatial Construals of Time.
2007
Workshop on Embodied Mathematics, Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, December 2007.
Invited Talk: On Barsalou's "Grounded Cognition."
Linguistic Anthropology Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, October 2007.
Invited Talk: With the Future Behind Them: Linguistic and Gestural Evidence of Spatial Construals of Time in Aymara.
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, June 2007.
Invited Talk : Embodiment and Human Abstraction: The Empirical Study of Spatial Construals of Time.
Institute of Ethnology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, June 2007.
Invited Speaker : Body, Gesture, Brain: The Empirical Investigation of Temporal Construals.
Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Switzerland, June 2007.
Invited Speaker: The Empirical Study of Spatial Construals of Time.
31st Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, June 2007.
Invited Plenary Speaker : Understanding Abstraction in Mathematics Education: Meaning, Langauge, Gesture, and the Human Brain.
International conference "Wolfgang Pauli's Philosophical Ideas and Contemporary Science", Ascona, Switzerland, May 2007.
Invited Keynote Speaker : Where Does Mathematics Come From?: Pauli, Jung, and Contemporary Cognitive Science.
Philosophical Investigations: Embodiment, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, May 2007.
Invited Speaker : Doing Time: The Empirical Study of Spatial Construals of Time.
Seminar in Psychology: Culture and Cognition, Charmey, Switzerland, April 2007.
Invited Speaker : Abstraction, Imagination, Conceptual Systems, and the Embodied Mind.
Early Education and Human Brain Development Symposium, Santiago, Chile, March 2007.
Invited Plenary Talk: Research in Cognitive Science: Potential Impact on Educational Policy.
10th Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, San Diego, February 2007.
Invited Plenary Talk: Meaning, Language, Gesture, and the Brain: The Cognitive Science of Human Abstraction, and Why is it Relevant for Mathematics education.
School of Architecture, Woodbury University, San Diego, January, 2007.
Invited presentation: On Time and Meaning: The Empirical Study of Spatial Construals of Time.
University of Education Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany, January 2007.
Consulting: Metaphor, gesture, embodiment and mathematics education.
2006
College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, December 2006.
Invited presentation: Everyday Cognition, Embodiment, and Mathematics Education.
Bridge the Gap? 4, Pudong International Conference Hall, Shanghai,
China, November 2006.
Invited presentation for the panel "The future of the city": Cultures,
bodies, languages, and houses: Front and back in Aymara.
Bridge the Gap? 4,
Center for Contemporary Art Kitakyushu. Kitakyushu
International Conference Center, Kitakyushu, Japan, November 2006.
Invited lecture: Time and the Mind: A view
from Cognitive Science.
Conceptual Structure Discourse
and Language 8, San Diego, California, November 2006.
Paper presentation: Zooming in on gesture-speech co-production: The
pre-stroke inflection point (PSIP) (with Carlos Cornejo).
Cognitive Science Program
Colloquium Series, University of Arizona, Tucson, October
2006.
Invited talk: From the lab to the Andes and back: The empirical study
of spatial construals of time.
13th Herbstakademie, Cognition
and Embodiment. Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland,
October 2006.
Invited plenary talk: Abstraction and the
Embodied Mind: The empirical study of spatial construals of time.
Conference on Embodied
Communication, Joint Action, and Social Understanding, Zentrum
für interdisziplinäre Forschung, University of
Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, July 2006.
Invited discussant
III Seminario Internacional
Cognición y Curriculum en Matemáticas de
Educación Media [3rd International Seminar on
Cognition and Mathematics Curriculum in High School],
University of Chile. Santiago, Chile, March 2006.
Invited plenary talk:
Cognición, Lenguaje, y Abstracción:
¿Porqué la Ciencia Cognitiva es importante para
la Educación Matemática? [Cognition, Language,
and Abstraction: Why is Cognitive Science important for Mathematics
Education?]
Center of Mathematical Modeling,
Educational Studies Colloquium, School of Engineering, University of
Chile. Santiago, Chile, March 2006.
Invited talk: Objectividad, consistencia, y verdad en sistemas
conceptuales abstractos: Aprendiendo de la Matemática y de
las construcciones espacio-temporales en Aymara. [Objectivity,
Consistency, and Truth y Abstract Conceptual Systems: Learning from
Mathematics and from Spatial construals of Time in Aymara],
Santa Fe Institute Colloquium.
Santa Fe NM, March 2006.
Invited talk: Objectivity, Consistency, Truth, and the Embodied Mind:
Lessons from Mathematics and Spatial Construals of Time in Aymara.
Behavior, Evolution, and Culture
Speaker Series, UCLA. Los Angeles CA, January 2006.
Invited talk: Embodied Cognition, Objectivity, and Truth: Lessons from
Mathematics and Spatial Construals of Time in Aymara.
Mind, Technology, &
Society Speaker Series, University of California, Merced.
Merced CA, January 2006.
Invited talk: Mind, Abstraction, and Objective Truth: Lessons from
Mathematics and Spatial Construals of Time in Aymara.
2005
Workshop on Embodied Cognition and Mathematics
Education, Vanderbilt University. Nashville, December 2005.
Invited presentation: Principles of Embodied Cognitive Semantics.
Workshop on Numeracy and Health, National Cancer
Institute. Washington DC, December 2005.
Invited lecture: The bodily basis of human
conceptual systems and their inferential structure: The case of
mathematics.
Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking. Lake
Starnberg, Germany, October 2005.
Invited lecture: Thought, Truth, and
Objectivity: Lessons from Mathematics and Time Construals in Aymara of
the Andes.
Conference on Embodied Communication, Zentrum
für interdisziplinäre Forschung, University of
Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, October 2005.
Invited lecture: Embodied X: What does it
really mean?
Center for Philosophy, University of Tokyo. Tokyo,
Japan, July 2005.
Invited talk: Cognitive Science of Embodied Experience: Creating
Mathematical Infinities.
International Conference on the Philosophical
Foundations of Cognitive Linguistics. Tokyo, Japan, July
2005.
Invited plenary talk: Conceptual Metaphor,
Truth, and Objectivity: Lessons from Mathematics and Time Construals in
Aymara of the Andes.
Fields Institute Symposium: Designing Mathematical
Thinking Tools, University of Western Ontario. London,
Ontario, Canada, June 2005.
Invited keynote address:
Metaphor’s (often) Ignored Side: A View from Contemporary
Cognitive Science.
Workshop on the life and work of Sofia Kovaleskaia, La
Chartreuse de Villeneuve. Avignon, France, May 2005.
Invited presentation: Language, Gesture, and Embodiment in Mathematics.
Conference on Embodied Communication in Humans and Machines, Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, January 2005. Invited lecture: When the future is behind you: Embodied spatial construals of time in Aymara.
Institute of Cognitive Science Colloquium,
University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück,
Germany, January 2005.
Invited talk: Abstraction, Language, and Gesture: What Embodied
Cognitive Science has to say about the Nature of Mathematics.
2004
Seminário Internacional Corpo e Linguagem
na Educação Matemática
[International Seminar on Body and Language in Mathematics Education], Post-Graduate
Program in Mathematics Education,Pontifícia Universidade
Católica de São Paulo, São
Paulo, Brazil, Dezember 2004.
Invited lecture:
Cognição Corporificada e Matemática
[Embodied Cognition and Mathematics]
Learning and Multimodal Communication Conference,
University of Chicago, Chicago, October 2004.
Invited discussant: Thoughts on
Multimodality: Is Subitizing Supra- Infra- or A-modal?.
International Seminar “Impacto de los
Nuevos Paradigmas Científicos del Mundo Actual”
[The Impact of Today’s New Scientific Paradigms].
Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Santiago, Chile, August 2004.
Invited plenary lecture:
Cognición Corporizada: Impacto en el Mundo actual [Embodied
Cognition: Impact on today’s world].
10th International Congress on Mathematical Education,
Copenhagen, Denmark, July 2004.
Invited plenary lecture: Language, Gesture
and the Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and the Foundations of
Mathematics.
10th International “Congress on
Mathematical Education, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 2004.
Invited lecture: What Embodiment for
Mathematics Education? Issues and controversies from the perspective of
Cognitive Science.
Catholic University of Chile, School of Psychology,
Santiago, June 2004.
Invited talk: Metáfora, abstracción, y la
construcción espacial del tiempo: Un estudio experimental
[Metaphor, abstraction, and the spatial construal of time: An
experimental study].
Purdue University, School of Mathematics and Science
Center, May 11-13 2004.
Invited participant to the workshop “Foundations for the
Future in Mathematics Education.”
International Seminar “Nuevas Estrategias
Didácticas y Juegos Cooperativos para la
Enseñanza de las Matemáticas”
[New didactic strategies and cooperative games for the teaching of
mathematics]. Santiago, Chile, January 2004.
Invited plenary talk. Avances recientes en
cognición humana y su impacto en educación
matemática [Recent developments in human cognition and their
impact on mathematics education].
International Seminar “Nuevas Estrategias
Didácticas y Juegos Cooperativos para la
Enseñanza de las Matemáticas”
[New didactic strategies and cooperative games for the teaching of
mathematics]. Santiago, Chile, January 2004.
Invited plenary talk. El pensamiento
metafórico en matemáticas y su importancia para
la educación [Metaphorical thought in mathematics and its
importance for education].
Interdisciplinary College 2004 (German
Societies of Computer Science and of Cognitive Science).
Günne, Germany, March, 2004.
Guest professor. Course: The Cognitive Science of Mathematics.
2003
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences,
Stanford CA, October 2003. Workshop on Emergence
Invited talk: Actual Infinity in Mathematics: The Emergence of the
Impossible.
11th Herbstakademie: Dynamical Systems in Cognitive
Science, Ascona, Switzerland, October 2003.
Invited talk: Mind, Motion, and Abstraction: The Embodied Cognitive
Foundations of Mathematics.
Mind in Motion: Interdisciplinary Seminar on
Perception, Body Motion, and Mathematics Learning. Boston,
October 2003.
Invited talk: Mind, Math, and Motion: What Kind of Embodiment, Really?
Learning Lab Denmark, Copenhagen,
Denmark, September 2003.
Invited plenary talk for the Seminar on
the Biological Roots of Mathematical Thinking: The Bodily-Grounded
Cognitive Foundations of Mathematics.
Learning Lab Denmark, Copenhagen,
Denmark, September 2003.
Invited talk: Body and Learning in Cognitive Science. Symposium Body
and Learning: New Theory of Practice.
The 8th International Cognitive Linguistics
Conference, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain, July 2003.
Talk: Fictive and Metaphorical Motion in Technically Idealized Domains:
Limits, Hyperbolae, and Continuity in Mathematics.
International Seminar on Embodied Artificial
Intelligence. Dagstuhl, Germany, July 2003.
Invited lecture: Is the Motion of Real Numbers Real? The Embodied
Cognitive Foundations of Mathematics.
University of Fribourg, Department of Psychology,
July 2003.
Invited talk for the Symposium on The Psychology of Board Games : Jeu,
competition et co-évolution: Quelques questions sur la
notion de “jeu de strategie” [Games, competition
and co-evolution: Some questions on the notion of “games of
strategy”].
Workshop on Empirical Methods in Cognitive
Linguistics. Cornell University, May 2-4 2003.
Invited faculty participant.
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,
School of Psychology, Santiago, Chile, April 2003.
Invited Opening plenary address for the
academic year: Reflexiones sobre converegencia interdisciplinaria y
validez ecológica: Nuevos desafíos para la
investigación en psicología [Reflecting on
interdisciplinary convergence and ecological validity: New challenges
for research in psychology].
Arizona State University, Department of Mathematics,
Tempe, Arizona, February 2003.
Invited talk: Looking for the Cognitive Origins of Mathematics:
Cognitive Science and the Beauty of Human Abstraction.
Arizona State University, Department of Mathematics,
Tempe, Arizona, February 2003.
Invited talk: The Role of “”Gesture in the Study of
Conceptual Structure.
2002
National University of Singapore, International Workshop on
Metaphor and Contemporary Science, Singapore, November 2002.
Invited Plenary Talk: Conceptual Metaphor
and the Cognitive Foundations of Mathematics: The Power of the Basic
Metaphor for Infinity (BMI).
[webcast]
San Diego State University, Center for Research in Mathematics
and Science Education, November 2002.
Talk: How could Transfinite Numbers possibly be Embodied?
International Conference “The Way We
Think,” Odense, Denmark, August 2002.
Invited Plenary Talk: Creating
Mathematical Infinities: The Beauty of Transfinite Cardinals.
Mathematical Association of America’s Special
Interest Group on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics education,
Burlington, Vermont, July 2002.
Invited Plenary Talk: Metaphor as a Theory
of Learning.
54th International Conference on the Teaching of Mathematics,
CIEAEM, Vilanova/Barcelona, Spain, July 2002.
Invited Plenary Talk: Commonalities and
Differences: Cognitive Science and the Beauty of Actual Infinities in
Mathematics.
Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking, Elba, Italy,
April 2002.
Invited Talk: In What Sense Are Conceptual Mappings Embodied? Problems,
Qustions, and the Testing of a Fascinating Hypothesis.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA, April 2002.
Invited Talk: Gesture in Mathematical Thinking, Learning and Teaching.
Universidad Católica de Chile, Graduate School of
Psychology, Santiago, 14 May 2002.
Special Interdisciplinary Talk (Psychology and Mathematics): Buscando
el orígen de las Matemáticas: Ciencias Cognitivas
y el genio de la abstracción humana [in Spanish]
Convegno Internazionale « Fisiologia della mente et
della coscienza », Ravenna, Italy, 13 April 2002.
Invited Plenary talk: Come il cervello ha
creato la matematica [in Italian]
2001
Cours de 3ème cycle romand de psychologie
(organized by the University of Geneva and the University of Fribourg),
Charmey, Switzerland, 20 December 2001:
Talk [in French]: Abstraction, Conceptual Systems, and the Embodied
Mind: Searching for the Origins of Cultural Variation: The Case of Time
Construals in Aymara
Laboratoire de Didactiques des Sciences, Université
Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France, 11 December 2001.
Talk: L’origine des mathématiques: Sciences
cognitives et systèmes conceptuels [The origin of
mathematics : Cognitive science and conceptual systems]
Collège de Saussure, Geneva, Switzerland, 28
November 2001.
Talk: D’où viennent les mathématiques?
[Where does mathematics come from?]
“Nuevos Paradigmas a Comienzos del Tercer
Milenio”, Public debate organized by the “Instituto
de Ingenieros de Chile”. Santiago de Chile, 29 October 2001.
Plenary address: El paradigma de la mente
corporizada [The paradigm of the Embodied Mind]
University Psychiatry Services Bern, Switzerland, 25 October
2001.
Talk: On the Embodied Mind: What Embodiment for High-Level Cognition?
28th “Semana de la Matemática”,
Valparaíso, Chile (video-conference), 24 October 2001.
Plenary address: Estudio Cognitivo de los
Conceptos Matemáticos [The cognitive Study of Mathematical
Concepts]
International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, Santa Barbara,
California, 26 July 2001.
Talk (with Eve Sweetser): Spatial Embodiment of Temporal Metaphors in
Aymara: Blending source-domain gesture with speech.
Swiss National Seminar of Didactics of Mathematics, Lausanne,
Switzerland, 23 June 2001.
Talk: Cognition, didactique et mathématiques [Cognition,
didactics, and mathematics]
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des
Télécommunications, Département
Informatique, Paris, France, 13 June 2001.
Seminar: Les sciences cognitives des mathématiques [The
cognitive science of mathematics]
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne,
Switzerland, 21 May, 2001.
Talk: Presenting the book “Where Mathematics Comes
From”
Swiss National Festival “Science et
Cité”. Panel organized by the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, 5 May, 2001.
Panel: Artificial and Natural Intelligence
Università di Modena, Dipartimento di Matematica,
Italy, 5 April, 2001.
Seminar: Cognitive Science and the Study of Mathematical Ideas
Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Matematica,
Italy, 2 April, 2001.
Seminar: Concepts, Cognition, and Mathematics
University of Freiburg, Switzerland, 21 March, 2001.
Public conference: Présentation du livre “Where
Mathematics Comes From”
Department of Cognitive Science, University of California at
San Diego, 28 February, 2001.
Talk: From Everyday Life to Abstract Mathematics: Towards an Embodied
Theory of High-Level Cognition
Annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS), San Francisco, California, 17 February 2001.
Talk (with George Lakoff): Where Mathematics Comes From
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne,
Switzerland. 7 February 2001.
Talk: Les ordinateurs pensent-ils? La mort d’une question
scientifique. [Do computers think? The death of a scientific question]
Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Matematica,
Italy. 31 January, 2001.
Seminar: Embodied Cognitive Science and the Nature of Mathematics
2000
International Conference of Research on Mathematics Education.
Sociedade Brasileira de Educação Matematica.
São Paulo, Brazil. 24 November 2000.
Invited closing plenary address: O que a
ciência cognitive pode dizer sobre a natureza da
matemática (in Portuguese). [What cognitive science can say
about the nature of mathematics].
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São
Paulo, Brazil. 13-24 November 2000. Invited Professor at the Graduate
School of Education, Department of Educational Psychology,
Graduate course: Social Cognition (in Portuguese).
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculty of Education,
Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. 23 November, 2000.
Talk: Cognição, linguagem, e a natureza da
matematica [Cognition, Language, and the nature of Mathematics].
The 3rd Meeting of the Athens-Pittsburgh Symposium in the
History & Philosophy of Science and Technology. Rethymnon,
Greece, 27 October, 2000.
Plenary Address: Bodily Grounded
Experience and the Foundations of Mathematical Knowledge.
Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Matematica,
Italy, 14 September, 2000.
Seminar: Lakoff e Núñez sull’Embodiment
: Sistemi concetualli, cultura, e matematica (in Italian) [Lakoff
& Núñez on Embodiment : Conceptual
Systems, Culture, and Mathematics].
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University. Inuyama, Japan,
1st August, 2000.
Talk: Mathematics and the Human Primate: Grounding Conceptual
Abstraction on Sensory-Motor Understanding.
The 24th Conference of the International Group for the
Psychology of Mathematics Education. Hiroshima, Japan, 23 July, 2000.
Opening Plenary Address: Mathematical Idea
Analysis: What Embodied Cognitive Science Can Say About the Human
Nature of Mathematics.
[PDF]
Universität Zürich, Department of
Information Technology, Switzerland. 7 March, 2000.
Talk: What Embodiment for High-Level Cognition?
Zurich Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). 11 January 2000.
Talk at the seminar “Natürliche un
künstliche Intelligenz”: The Embodied Nature of
Mathematics.
1999
Universidad Católica del Norte. Antofagasta, Chile.
October-November, 1999.
Research Consultant for the project "Proto-mathematical notions of the
Aymara indians of northern Chile" funded by the Chilean National
Science Foundation (Field study in the Andes mountains).
Universidad Católica del Norte, Department of
Mathematics, Antofagasta, Chile. 21 October, 1999.
Talk: La naturaleza de las mathemáticas como objeto de
estudio científico [The nature of mathematics as a
scientific subject matter].
Universidad Católica del Norte, Department of
Economics, Antofagasta, Chile. 11 November, 1999.
Talk: Avances teóricos en el estudio de sistemas
conceptuales [Theoretical advancements in the study of conceptual
systems].
Universidade Santa Ursula, Departamento de
Educação, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 17 September
1999.
Talk: Linguagem e o ensino das matemáticas [Language and the
teaching of mathematics].
3rd Enunciative/Cognitive Linguistics Workshop. Department of
Linguistics, University of California at Berkeley, 3 September, 1999.
Talk: Spatial Conceptual Metaphors in Aymara: Evidence of Past-Front
Bodily Orientation in Ego-Based Mappings.
École Normale Supérieure,
Département de Mathématiques et Informatique,
Paris, France, 9 June, 1999.
Talk: Vers une théorie des fondements cognitifs des
mathématiques (in French) [Towards a theory of the cognitive
foundations of mathematics].
Universität Freiburg, Psychologisches Institut,
Switzerland. 6 May 1999.
Invited talk at the German speaking section "Vorlesungszyklus
für Studierende im Grundstudium": Einführung in die
Grossen Themenbereiche der Psychologie (presentation in English).
[Introduction to main topics in psychology].
Université de Fribourg, Institut de Psychologie,
Switzerland. 6 May 1999.
Invited talk at the "Colloque Scientifique de l'Institut":
Corps-esprit: La psychologie face aux nouvelles questions sur un vieux
problème.
École Nationale Supérieure de
Télécommunications (E.N.S.T.), Paris, France,
February-March 1999.
Series of conferences (in French) under the title:
"D'où viennent les mathématiques? corps-esprit et
sciences cognitives contemporaines" [From where does mathematics come
from? mind-body and contemporary cognitive science.]
1) Les mathématiques comme objet d'étude
scientifique:Embodied Cognition et les nouvelles questions. 10
February, 1999.
2) Points, limites, et continuité: Ce qu'on nous a jamais
dit sur l'epsilon-delta de Weierstrass.
3) Comment l'animal humain crée les infinis
mathématiques, ou qui a dit que la courbe de Peano
rempli un carre?
1998
ProfMat 98 (Annual meeting of the Association of Portuguese
Mathematics Teachers), Guimarães, Portugal, 11-14 November,
1998.
Plenary talk: Educación
matemática y ciencia cognitiva contemporánea:
Reflexiones sobre la teoría del "embodied cognition" (in
Portuguese) [Mathematics education and contemporary cognitive science:
Reflections on the theory of embodied cognition].
Universidad Católica del Norte. Antofagasta, Chile.
September, 1998.
Research Consultant for the project "Proto-mathematical notions of the
Aymara indians of northern Chile" funded by the Chilean National
Science Foundation (Field study in the Andes mountains).
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. Berkeley,
California, 19 May, 1998.
Talk (with George Lakoff): The Cognitive Structure of Infinity A Case
Study In the Theory of Embodied Mathematics.
Centro de Investigação em
Educação. Faculdade de Ciências.
Universidade de Lisboa. Lisbon, Portugal. March 1998.
Consultant for a project on Cross-cultural issues related to
mathematics education (Field study in Cabo Verde).
1997
Graduate Program in Cognitive Psychology, Universidade Federal
de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. 2-6 December, 1997.
Seminar: New Paradigms in Contemporary Cognitive Science.
Department of Educational Psychology, Universidade Estadual de
Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. 1 December, 1997.
Talk: O que estamos ensinando?: Reflexões sobre a natureza
da matematica e a ciência cognitiva contemporânea
[What are we teaching?: Reflections on the nature of mathematics and
contemporary cognitive science].
The Metaphor Public Humanities Project. The Midnight Special
Bookstore, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California. 15 November, 1997.
Talk: Embodiment and Conceptual Mappings: Making Mathematics Human.
University of Ghent, Department of Philosophy, Belgium, 27
October, 1997.
Talk: Conceptual Metaphor and the Embodied Mind.
Research Network "Science and Culture": Metaphor and Analogy
in the history and philosophy of science. Ghent, Belgium, 25 October,
1997.
Talk: Conceptual Metaphor and the Embodied Mind: What makes mathematics
possible?"
Instituto Chileno de Terapia Familiar, Santiago de Chile, 3
June, 1997.
Talk: Ciencias cognitivas y vida cotidiana (Cognitive Science and
everyday life).
Universidad del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile. 26 May, 1997.
Talk: Teorías del conocimiento en las ciencias cognitivas
contemporaneas (Theories of Knowledge in Contemporary Cognitive
Sciences).
University of California, San Diego, Department of Cognitive
Science. April 21, 1997.
Talk: Embodied cognitive foundations for a mind-based mathematics: Why
Weierstrass didn't define continuity and why we think he did?
1996
Queensland University of Technology, Department of Science and
Mathematics Education, Brisbane, Australia. September 25, 1996.
Talk: Conceptual metaphors and mathematics: Evidence for an Embodied
Cognition.
GMD, Artificial Intelligence Research Division Institute for
Applied Information Technology, Bonn, Germany. August 16, 1996.
Talk: The metaphorical nature of mathematics: Embodiment and cognition.
1995
XI Encontro Nacional de Professores de Matemática
(ProfMat 95). Evora, Portugal. November 10, 1995.
Workshop (with João Filipe Matos):
Funções e Computadores (Functions and Computers).
VI Seminário de Investigação
em Educação Matemática. Evora,
Portugal. November 6, 1995.
Talk: Embodied Cognition e Educação
Matemática.
Universidade de Lisboa. Lisbon, Centro de
Investigação em Educação,
Faculdade de Ciências. Portugal. November 14, 1995
Talk: Embodied Cognition.
Universidade de Lisboa, Centro de
Investigação em Educação,
Faculdade de Ciências. Lisbon, Portugal. November, 1995
Consultant for a project on Cross-cultural issues related to
mathematics education (Isles of Cabo Verde).
1995 International Somatics Congress: The Living Body, San
Francisco, California. 18-22 October, 1995.
Presentation (with Elizabeth Beringer): Embodiment: The emergence of
the concept in cognitive science, philosophy and somatics.
Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile. August 24,
1995.
Talk: Reflexiones sobre el concepto de infinito desde el punto de vista
biológico y socio cultural.
Universidade Estadual Paulista. Câmpus de Rio Claro,
São Paulo, Brazil. August 1-2, 1995.
Plenary talk at the 1st International Seminar on Philosophy of
Mathematics Education.
GMD, Artificial Intelligence Research Division Institute for
Applied Information Technology, Bonn, Germany. April 20, 1995.
Talk: Ecological Naturalism and Supra-Individual Biological processes.
University of California, Santa Cruz, Board of Studies in
Education, Colloquium Series "Issues in Education". February 23, 1995.
Talk: Ecological Naturalism: A non-objectivist alternative to
mainstream Cognitive Science.
1994
Stanford University, Symbolic Systems Forum,. December 8, 1994.
Talk: Reflections on Symbols, Objectivism, and Biological Naturalism.
Stanford University, CSLI Seminar, October 20, 1994.
Talk: Cognitive Development and Infinity's Missing Link: Searching
Beyond Smallness.
1993
University of California, Berkeley, Sesame/Emst (Graduate
Group in Science and Mathematics Education and Education in
Mathematics, Science, and Technology), November 29, 1993.
Talk: Infinity and Cognition: Still Looking for a Drosophila.
University of Barcelona, Spain, February 15 - 17, 1993.
Consultant for a project on psychopedagogical aspects related to the
use of computers in Mathematics Education.
University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Dept. of
Computer Science, January 13, 1993.
Talk: Psychocognitive aspects underlying the idea of infinity in
mathematics.
1992
Società Italiana di Adolescentologia, Milano,
Italy. May 31, 1992.
Conference on the occasion of the "1a Giornata Italiana di studio di
Adolescentologia": "Fattori protettivi della salute mentale
dell'adolescente" (Protective factors and Mental Health in
Adolescence).
1990
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. December 10 -
16, 1990.
Consultant at the "Research Centre for Educational Informatics" for a
project on psychocognitive issues related to the teaching of plane
geometry by means of a computer micro-world.
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. December 13,
1990.
Talk: A conceptual space of transformations for the study of the
intuition of infinity in mathematics.
Centre d'études et de formation continue pour
travailleurs sociaux, Geneva, Switzerland. October, 1990.
Teacher for the class: "Outils d'évaluation: outils
psychométriques et projectifs" (Evaluation Tools:
Psychometric and Projective Tools).
Centro di Ricerche in Fisica e Matematica, Locarno,
Switzerland. May, 3, 1990.
Conference: La psychologie cognitive et le concept d'infini en
mathématiques (Cognitive Psychology and the Concept of
Infinity in Mathematics).
Remarks
Rafael Núñez has been asked to review book/paper submissions for the following scientific journals and institutions:
Cambridge University Press
University of Chicago Press
Cognition
Cognitive Linguistics
Cognitive Science
Cognitive Science Society Meeting
Conceptual Structure, Discourse, and Language
Current Anthropology
Educational Studies in Mathematics
Functions of Language
Journal of Consciousness Studies
Journal of Pragmatics
Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
Mathematical Cognition
Mathematics Thinking and Learning
New Scientist
Philosophical Psychology
Pragmatics and Cognition
Bi-annual Conference of the International Cognitive Linguistics Association
Annual International Conference for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
and also to review grant proposals for:
Arts and Humanities Research Council UK
Chilean National Science Foundation (FONDECYT)
European Science Foundation
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Member of the editorial board of the journals:
Ciencia Cognitiva (published in Spain)
Gesture (published by John Benjamins)
Vetor Neteclem (published in Brazil)
Quadrante (published in Portugal)
Zetetiké (published in Brazil)
Affiliations:
- Cognitive Neuroscience Society
- Cognitive Science Society
- Société Suisse pour la Recherche en Didactique des Mathématiques.”
- “Centro del Hombre en el Desierto” [“Center for the Man in the Desert,” conceived for biological and cultural studies involving human life in the desert/highlands of the Andes], funded by the Chilean Science Foundation.
- Elected Member of the International Committee of PME (the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education), representing Switzerland, 1995-1999.
Hobbies:
Tennis. Former junior national champion in Chile, and ranked among the top junior tennis players in the world.
