The 8th Researching and Applying Metaphor specialised seminar will be held in Macerata, Italy, on 6-7 June 2024. Registration will also be available on the afternoon of 5th June; the seminar will run from 9am on 6th June til 5pm on 7th June (see 'Seminar schedule' for the planned activities).

The theme of the specialised seminar is Metaphor, Inclusion and Accessibility. The seminar will be hosted by the University of Macerata, Italy.

The International Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor is a vibrant interdisciplinary community of researchers who are committed to the study of metaphor, metonymy and other forms of figurative expression in all domains of life and with a particular focus on the application of metaphor research to real-life issues.  Previous specialised seminars have focused on Discourse (Ciudad Real, 2007), Multimodality (Amsterdam 2009), Time and Genre (Almagro, 2011), Emotion, (Poznan, 2013), Translation (Leiden, 2015), Ecological Cognition (Odense, 2017), and the role of Metaphor at the intersection of multiple disciplines (Liège, 2019). This year's theme of Metaphor, Inclusion and Accessibility seeks to bring together researchers in diverse fields who are interested in the use, processing and production of metaphor and other figurative language in contexts involving or referring to different abilities.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: Sunday, 7th January 2024 (23:59:00 Central European Time)

Notification of acceptance: Friday 16th February 2024

Seminar dates: 6-7 June 2024

Participation at RaAM events is reserved to RaAM members. This applies equally to presenters, non-attending co-authors, and non-presenting delegates. You need not be a RaAM member at the time when you submit an abstract, but you must join in order to present your work or to attend the seminar.

All delegates attending in person will be required to pay a fee to cover the conference costs (student/retired members are entitled to a reduced fee). We endeavour to keep these as low as possible, since RaAM is a non-profit organisation. We will draw on any surplus to offer some financial assistance to specific groups - please see the 'Financial support' tab on the menu.