The 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies along with the 15th Annual Lotman Days

“Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence“

Tallinn, Estonia, June 11–13, 2025

The intricate interplay of signs with the processes of creativity, complexity, and intelligence is immersed in all varieties, modalities, and ecologies of meaning-making. Meaning-making is always creative, complex, and intelligent, in both its agreements, alignments, and continuums, as well as its incompatibilities, controversies, and contradictions.

According to Juri Lotman, one of the defining characteristics of an intelligent semiotic system is its ability to be creative, i.e. the ability to produce new and unpredictable meanings. Lotman noted that this ability is not exclusive to the human mind but can occur in various other systems and at multiple scales, where a sufficient degree of complexity is present.

The role of creativity in learning and development, be it in humans or non-humans, is integrative within patterns of emergence, reproduction, and decay in complex systems, such as nature, culture, or the individual mind. Intelligence – be it organic or artificial, individual or collective – manifests in various signs and sign systems and is in time creatively transformed through meaning-making.

We kindly invite proposals for conference presentations (20 minutes + 10 minutes for discussion) and sessions of presentations on the dynamic relationships between signs, creativity, complexity, and intelligence and their transformative impact within education, art or the arts, play, and scientific inquiry.

The updated program can be downloaded here.

The abstract book can be downloaded here.

We’re delighted to share a collection of photos from the event, available here.

Important dates:

• January 31, 2025 – Extended deadline for submitting proposals
• February 28, 2025 – Notification of acceptance of presentation
• March 1 to April 15, 2025 – Early bird registration
• April 16 to May 16, 2025 – Late bird registration
• June 11 to June 13, 2025 – The conference

Call for papers can be downloaded here in English, and here in Russian.

Confirmed plenary speakers

• Terrence Deacon, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi, University of Warsaw, Poland
• Aaro Toomela, Tallinn University, Estonia

We welcome papers on the topics of interest, including but not limited to:

• Semiotic theories of creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• The nature and culture of creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Semiotics, psychology, and cognitive science of creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Creativity, complexity, and intelligence in various modalities of meaning-making;
• Creativity, complexity, and intelligence in humans and non-humans;
• The relationships between various cognitive processes and creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Agency, the self, and subjectivity within creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Creativity, complexity, and intelligence in organic and artificial systems;
• Emergence and decay of creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Creativity, complexity, and intelligence in art, play, and science;
• Creativity, complexity, and intelligence in education, learning and development;
• Language and other sign systems in relation to creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Digital technologies in relation to creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Ecologies of creativity, complexity, and intelligence;
• Futures and prospects of creativity, complexity, and intelligence – expectations and anticipations.

NASS Graduate Student Award and Grants

5-10 graduate students presenting a paper at NASS XIV are supported financially by NASS (250 € each). Furthermore, a prize along with a diploma for the best graduate student presentation is awarded at NASS XIV (350 €). We are happy to announce that the grant winners are:

1. Anwer Shazia, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2. Qiao Du, Nanjing University, China
3. Holm Mark Allen, University of Wyoming, United States
4. Kõrver Kristina, Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonia
5. Levasseur Hélène, Université Paris Cité, France
6. Mouratidou Alexandra, Lund University, Sweden
7. Pertusati Eléa Jessica, University of Tartu, Estonia & Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
8. Salvucci Peter, Istanbul Technical University, State Conservatory of Turkish Music
9. Yu Jun, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China & Lund University, Sweden
10. Zlov Vladislav, Lund University, Sweden

Certificates of Excellence for Best Student Presentation were granted to two presentations:

Karl Joosep Pihel (University of Tartu, Estonia) for the presentation “Musical semiotics in a major key: Between Deleuze and topic theory”

Heidi Campana Piva (University of Turin, Italy) & Michele Cerutti (University of Turin,Italy, and University of Tartu, Estonia) for the presentation “Everything is connected: Signs of a conspiracy”

NASS and The Lotman Days

The conference was organized by the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, Tallinn University School of Humanities, and the Juri Lotman Semiotics Repository. The official languages of the conference were English and Russian. All participants were expected to attend in person, as online participation was not available.

The purpose of NASS is to promote the advancement of semiotics as an academic discipline and research domain in the Nordic and Baltic countries and within the international semiotic community. The Lotman Days are an annual conference series that has been held at Tallinn University since 2009. The aim of the Lotman Days is to provide an interdisciplinary platform for scholars who wish to examine the dynamics of our semiotic world from different perspectives and to explore together questions that were central to Juri Lotman’s scholarship.

All rooms were equipped with a computer, a projector, and a screen. For your convenience, we kindly ask you to ensure your presentation is available on the computer in your designated room before your session begins. For technical reasons, we kindly ask you not to use your own computer for projecting. A USB drive may be used to transfer the presentation or the presentation may be uploaded in advance.

Practical Information for Conference Attendees

Registration: 125 € (March 1 to April 15, 2025), 150 € (April 16 to May 16, 2025). Registration fee includes lunches on all days, coffee breaks, a digital abstract book, and NASS membership fee.

Venue

The conference will be held at the Mare Building (Uus-Sadama 5) on the Tallinn University campus. Conference registration will take place on the second floor, the sessions will be held in rooms all close to each other. Catering will be held in the atrium on the 3rd floor of Mare Building.

Mare building can also be accessed from Narva street, via Astra building, as well as through the campus courtyard.

Located in the center of Tallinn, the university is a 20-minute walk from the edge of the Old Town and is close to Kadriorg Park and Tallinn Bay, including Terminal D at Port of Tallinn. The campus consists of six interconnected buildings with glass corridors and galleries for easy navigation. You can find a campus map here and a virtual tour here.

Free high-speed WiFi is available on campus, and eduroam accounts are supported. The campus is fully accessible, with wheelchair ramps, self-opening doors, elevators, and handicap restrooms. Low-floor trams also connect the university to the city center. More information on tram lines No. 1 and 3 can be found here.

Getting to Tallinn University

Travel to Estonia

• By Air: Tallinn Airport (TLL) is a very convenient small airport offering decent connections with Europe. More details are on their website.
• By Ferry: Ferries from Helsinki and Stockholm arrive at Old City Harbour near the university and the city centre.
• By Bus: Several service providers connect Riga Airport to Tallinn in about 5.5 hours.

From the Tallinn Airport, the Harbor and around Tallinn to Tallinn University:

Public Transportation in Tallinn: The most sustainable and affordable option. For prices and more details click here; timetable is available here. Real-time functional timetables are also available, e.g. Googlemaps.

Taxi Services: Taxis (which is popularly considered an affordable option) charge approximately 0.5 EUR per kilometer plus a 3.5 EUR starting fare. Most accept card payments, but it is wise to confirm. From the airport to the university, taxi is available for approximately 15 EUR. Bolt and Uber offer affordable and convenient services from everywhere.

Electric Scooters: Electric scooters are popular and eco-friendly. Bolt and Tuul offer scooter services via their apps, with fees around 0.20 EUR per minute.

Airport Shuttle is fast and convenient for solo travelers.

From the Port of Tallinn: Terminal D is in walking distance to the university and from other terminals, taxi rides cost around 7 EUR. Bolt and Uber are also available.

Medieval Old Town

Information on sight seeing in Tallinn is available at https://www.visittallinn.ee/eng/visitor

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Tallinn’s Old Town is truly like a fairytale come to life! Here, you will find the Europe’s oldest continually operating apothecary called Raeapteek, the St Olaf’s church that was once the world’s tallest building, and one of the best-preserved Gothic town hall in Northern Europe. If you’re interested in history, you will find delight in exploring Tallinn’s historical fortification system that is one of the mightiest defence systems in Northern Europe, consisting of a series of walls and towers that date all the way back to the 13th century.

We have set up a guided tour to Tallinn old town taking place during the conference – you can register for it when registering for the conference.

Scientific committee: Merja Bauters, Øyvind Eide, Paulius Jevsejevas, Tatjana Kuzovkina, Sara Lenninger, Lauri Linask, Merit Maran, Tanya Menise, Daniele Monticelli, Juha Ojala, Alin Olteanu, Inesa Sahakyan, Aleksei Semenenko, Morten Tønnessen, Siiri Tarrikas, Daina Teters, Mikhail Trunin.

For more information, please visit nordicsemiotics.org/nass-tallinn-2025/ or write to nass14lotmandays2025@gmail.com

Participating in the conference implies expressing support for the freedom and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Drawing by Juri Lotman, © Tallinn University