The Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor

06/08/2026

We would like to draw your attention to an upcoming event that may be of interest to the metaphor and Cognitive Linguistics community.

🔸 Cognitive Linguistics in the Year 2026 will take place 14-16 September 2026 in Gdańsk, Poland, bringing together researchers working across the broad field of Cognitive Linguistics. We are especially pleased to highlight the keynote talk by Dr. Gerard Steen: "How do conceptual metaphor and deliberate metaphor relate to each other?"

ℹ️ Further information about the conference is available here:

Jordan Zlatev Linguistics and phenomenology I will review how Husserlian phenomenology has influenced thedevelopment of “the science of human language”, linguistics, since its recognized inception at the beginning of the 20th century, to the present. While major proponents of linguistics, includ...

03/08/2026

Twenty years ago, in April 2006, RaAM became a formal Association. To mark the occasion, we’ve rebuilt raam.org.uk from the ground up.

The new site is simpler and, we hope, easier to find things in. A few highlights:
🔸 Events in one place. Conferences, seminars, and endorsed events now live on shared pages with a full archive going back to the first RaAM conference in York, 1996
🔸 Grants and prizes, clearly laid out. Every scheme, its eligibility, and its deadline in one place, with applications available to members directly. Winners’ archive coming soon
🔸 A proper member area. Sign in to submit newsletter contributions, apply for funding, request an invoice, and access members-only material.

Existing links may have changed — if you hit something broken, please let us know and we’ll fix it.

Here’s to the next twenty years! 🎂

15/07/2026

From 15-17 June 2026, the RaAM community gathered in the beautiful city of Pavia, Italy, for the 9th RaAM Specialised Seminar, Metaphor in Vitro: From Texts to Brains, hosted by IUSS Pavia.

Set within the stunning Palazzo Broletto, in the heart of Pavia’s historic centre, the seminar offered an outstanding programme but also an unforgettable atmosphere. Participants fell in love with the charm of Pavia. The combination of excellent research and an exceptionally beautiful venue made this year’s seminar a truly special occasion.

The seminar was preceded by four pre-conference workshops, dedicated to different methodological approaches to metaphor research:
▪️Metaphor Development: Trends and Tools
▪️Computational Approaches to Metaphor
▪️The Neurobiology of Metaphor
▪️Metaphors in Clinical Contexts

Across the three days, the seminar welcomed 21 oral presentations, 44 poster presentations, 140 authors, 23 countries represented, and 24 bursary recipients.
The programme also featured two keynote lectures:
▪️Valentina Cuccio – Multimodal Metaphor Processing and the Hypothesis of Graded Embodiment
▪️Hamad Al-Azary – Metaphor Processing: From Neighborhoods to Neurons

As always, RaAM was delighted to recognise outstanding contributions by early-career researchers. This year’s PhD Presentation Award, presented to the best oral or poster presentation delivered during the seminar, was awarded to Daban Hamad Ameen for the poster presentation: Polarity and Metaphor: A Corpus Study of Holocaust Oral Histories.

This wonderful event would not have been possible without the tremendous dedication of the local organising team. Our heartfelt thanks go to the Neurolinguistics and Experimental Pragmatics Lab () team: Valentina Bambini, Chiara Pompei, Maddalena Bressler, Veronica Mangiaterra, Chiara Battaglini, Luca Bischetti, Rebecca Guolo, and Adele Loia. Thank you for creating such a welcoming seminar. ✨

25/05/2026

We’re excited to share the May 2026 issue of the RaAM newsletter with you.

You can now access the newsletter on our website.

Below are some highlights from this issue:

• Message from the Chair
A heartfelt message from our Chair, Jeannette, before she passes the torch.

• RaAM 9th Specialised Seminar
📅 15–17 June 2026
📍 University School for Advanced Studies IUSS, Pavia, Italy

• 18th Researching and Applying Metaphor Conference
📅 2–4 June 2027
📍 University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

• Reports from Grants and Prizes Winners
We are delighted to feature updates from previous winners on their ongoing projects and research journeys.

• Executive Committee Election 2026
Please remember to cast your vote in time.

• Metaphor Column and Community Updates
Including publications, opportunities, upcoming events, and news from across the RaAM community.

We hope this issue gives you a sense of the many exciting activities, events, and developments taking place across the RaAM community. If you have news, publications, events, or resources to share with the RaAM community, we warmly welcome contributions for the next issue via the contact form on our website.

19/05/2026

🗳️ RaAM members can now vote in this year’s RaAM Executive Committee (EC) elections.

Candidates:
• Chair: Aletta G. (Lettie) Dorst (Leiden University, Netherlands)
• Secretary: Sarah Turner (Coventry University, United Kingdom)
• Communications Officer: Caroline Girardi Ferrari (Jagiellonian University, Poland)
• Grants & Prizes Officer: Maíra Avelar (State University of Southwestern Bahia, Brazil)
• Postgraduate Liaison: Rafaeli Miorando (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) and Bonnie Xinyue Ren (City University of Hong Kong)

ℹ️ For more information about the candidates and voting instructions, please visit:
https://www.raam.org.uk/memberarea/elections/

📅 Voting takes place exclusively online through the RaAM Members Area and is open until June 3.

🤗 We warmly encourage all RaAM members to participate in the elections and help shape the association through their vote.

06/05/2026

Nominations for the upcoming elections are now open and will remain open until 15 May. This is a great opportunity to get involved and actively contribute to the metaphor community.

Positions which are up for election in 2026: Chair; Secretary; Communications Officer; Grants & Prizes Officer; and Postgraduate Liaison.

If you would like to stand for a position, please note that the standing form must be completed in the Members Area of the website (https://www.raam.org.uk/memberarea/).

28/04/2026

Our upcoming elections are approaching. This is a great opportunity to get involved and contribute to the metaphor community.

The positions up for election this year are:
• Chair
• Secretary
• Communications Officer
• Grants & Prizes Officer
• Postgraduate Liaison

If you’re thinking about running, now is the time to start preparing!

🗓 Nominations open on 4th May.

For more information about the positions, please check our website: https://www.raam.org.uk/about-raam/

14/04/2026

We are pleased to announce that registration for the RaAM Seminar 2026 is now open.

The registration link is available through the members’ area of the RaAM website and can be accessed with an active, paid membership (https://www.raam.org.uk/memberarea/).

Once logged in, you will find separate options for seminar and workshop registration. Participants are kindly asked to complete both (if attending workshops). Please note that workshop places are limited, so early registration is strongly recommended.

🏷️ Registration fees:
Student rate: €200
Regular rate: €300

📅 Registration is open until May 15.

ℹ️ For further information, please contact: [email protected]

We look forward to welcoming you to RaAM Seminar 2026.