Name:    Gunter  S e n f t 

Date of birth:  19.07.1952 

Place of birth:  Kaiserslautern 

Nationality:   German 

Marital status:  married to Barbara Senft; 

Children:  Frauke Senft    (27.03.1985) 
              Sebastian Senft (07.01.1987) 

Address:  Max-Planck-Institute for Psycholinguistics 
               PB 310 
               6500 AH Nijmegen 
               The Netherlands 
               Tel.:(+31)-((0)80)-521 911 
                                           -521 274 
     Fax                                -521 300 
     e-mail: gunter@mpi.nl 

Private address:  Holthuisenbosch 1 
                          D-47574 Goch 
                          Germany 
                          Tel.:  (+49)-((0)2823) - 86612 

Education: 

Abitur, Gymnasium am Rittersberg, Kaiserslautern, May 1971. 
1971-1979 Ruprecht-Karl-Universität Heidelberg (German and English Language 
and Literature); 1976 Wissenschaftliche Prüfung für das Lehramt an Gymnasien (große Facultas); 
1979-1982 Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (Ph.-D. student); 
1.03.1978 - 28.02.1981 Max-Planck-Society Ph.-D. fellowship, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen,  (The Netherlands); February 1982 Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.), Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main ("summa cum laude"); 
May 1992 Technische Universität Berlin, Habilitation (German qualification for lecturing): 
"General Linguistics". 
July 1994 Universität zu Köln, Umhabilitation “General Linguistics”. 
July 1998 Universität zu Köln, Extraordinary Professor for General Linguistics 

Professional history: 

1976-1978 research assistant, German Research Society (DFG)-Project "Heidelberg Research Project `Pidgin-German of Spanish and Italian Workers in the Federal Republic of Germany'" 
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Klein; 
1.03.1978 - 28.02. 1981 Max-Planck-Society Ph.-D. fellowship, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen,  (The Netherlands); 
1.03.1981 - 30.09.1981 associate research fellow, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen; 
1.10.1981 - 30.09.1986 research fellow, DFG-Project "Ritual Communication on the 
Trobriand Islands", Prof. Dr. Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Human Ethology Research Unit, 
MPI for Behavioural Physiology, Seewiesen; 
1.10.1986 - 31.12.1988 postdoctoral research fellowship, Max-Planck-Society, 
Human Ethology Research Unit, Andechs; 
1.01.1989 - 31.05.1990 postdoctoral research fellowship, German Research Society (DFG); 
1.06.1990 - 31.01.1991 postdoctoral research fellowship, Max-Planck-Society,                  Human Ethology Research Unit, Andechs; 
since 1.02.1991 senior research fellow, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen; 
1992 "Habilitation" for teaching general linguistics at the Technische Universität Berlin;                1994 "Umhabilitation" for teaching general linguistics at the Universität zu Köln as "Privatdozent"; 1998 Extraordinary Professor for general linguistics at the Universität zu Köln. 
1.04.1999-30.09.2000 on leave from the MPI for Psycholinguistics to act as the stand-in for 
the chair of general linguistics at the Universität Bielefeld for the summer-semester 1999, the winter-semester 1999/2000, and the summer semester 2000 (= “Lehrstuhlvertretung”). 

Pre-doctoral fellowships: 

1971 - 1977, G.M.Pfaff-Gedächtnisstiftung Kaiserslautern, student-fellowship; 
1.03.1978 - 28.02.1981 Ph.-D. fellowship, Max-Planck-Society, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, (The Netherlands); 

Field research: 

1.09.1977 - 14.10.1977 participant observation in a factory in Kaiserslautern; 
July 1982 - November 1983 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea; 
May 1989 - August 1989 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea; 
July 1992 - September 1992 Trobriand Islands Papua New Guinea; 
June & July 1993 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. 
August & September 1994 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. 
May & June 1995 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. 
May & June 1996 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. 
May & June 1997 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. 
August & September 1998 Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. 

DFG-(German Research Society)-funded research projects: 

"The system of classificatory particles in Kilivila", research fellowship, including costs for field research,  1.01.1989 - 31.05.1990. 

"Serial verb constructions, event concenptualization and event-report in Auatronesian and Papuan languages", project finacing a student assistant (Alex Dukers) and a post-doc researcher (Dr. Miriam van Staden) for 2 years. 

Invited visiting research fellow: 

July 1982 Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea; 
August 1989 Divine Word Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea; 
Oktober 1989 Research School of Pacific Studies, Department of Linguistics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; 
July 1992 Research School of Pacific Studies, Department of Linguistics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australien. 
November 2000, 7-day visit to Japan to present five invited talks in Tokyo, Kobe, and Kyoto, sponsored by the Japan Foundation’s Foreign Researcher Exchange Programme. 

Academic teaching: 

SS 1990 Technische Universität Berlin, seminar: "Languages with Classifiers", 
seminar:  "Introduction to Field Linguistics"; 
WS 1990/91 Technische Universität Berlin, seminar: "Kilivila - an Austronesian Language"; seminar: "Etholinguistics"; 
WS 1993/94 Technische Universität Berlin, seminar: "Space and Spatial Reference  in Various Languages and Cultures". 
SS 1994 Technische Universität Berlin,  seminar and lecture: "Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics". 
WS 1995/96 Universität zu Köln, seminar: “Nominal Classification”. 
WS 1996/97 Universität zu Köln, seminar: “`Kölner Klüngel´ etc. - an Introduction to Lexical Semantics”. 
WS 1997/98 Universität zu Köln, seminar: “An Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics” 
WS 1997/98: Universität Heidelberg, seminar:  “Theory and Practice of Anthropological 
Linguistics (for anthropologists)”. 
WS 1998/99: Universität zu Köln, seminar: Spatial Deixis. 
SS 1999: Universität Bielefeld, seminar (4 hours/week): Languages of the World; 
seminar: Typology – The Conceptualization of  Space in Various Languages; 
seminar: An Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics. 
WS 1999/00: Universität zu Bielefeld, lecture (4 hours/week): Structure of 
Non-Indoeuropean Languages; 
seminar: Kilivila; 
seminar: Field Methods. 
SS 2000: Universität Bielefeld, seminar (4 hours/week): Languages of the World; 
seminar: Systems of Nominal Classification; 
seminar: Ritual Communication 
WS 2000/01: Universität zu Köln, seminar: Serial Verbconstructions. 

Ph.-D. guidance: 

1.06.1993-30.09.1995: Giovanni Bennardo,  A Computational Approach to Spatial Cognition: Representing Spatial Relationships in Tongan Language and Culture. Ph.D 1996, Urbana, Illinois. 
1.05.1995-04.03.1997: Michael Meeuwis 
1.10.1996: Gaby Cablitz 
 

Ph.-D. promotions: 

1.06.1993 member of the promotion commission and member of the "cum laude commission" for 
Eric Venbrux's promotion and thesis: "Under the Mangotree: A Case of Homicide in an Australian Aboriginal Society". Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen. Eric Venbrux promoted "cum laude". 
23.02.1995 member of the promotion commission for Harrie Wetzer's promotion with his thesis: "Nouniness and Verbiness: A Typological Study of Adjectival Predication". Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen. Harrie Wetzer promoted "cum laude". 
4.03.1997 member of the promotion commission for Michael Meeuwis’s promotion with his 
thesis “Constructing Sociolinguistic Consensus - A Linguistic Ethnography of the Zairian Community in Antwerp, Belgium”. Universiteit Antwerpen (UIA). 
15.09.1999: Member of the “leescommissie” and member of the promotion commission for 
Philomena Dol’s promotion with her thesis  “A Grammar of Maybrat”. Universiteit Leiden. 
19.10.2000: "Referent" and member of the promotion commission for Miriam van Staden's promotion with her thesis  “Tidore - A Linguistic Description of a Language of the North Moluccas". Universiteit Leiden. 
10.11.2000: Member of the promotion commission for Isabel Compes' promotion with her thesis "Textkonstituierung in gesprochener Sprache. Eine Fallstudie zum Verfahren der Verortung am Beispiel samoanischer Narrationen". Universität zu Köln. 
10.11.2000: Member of the promotion commission for Margarita-Maria Castro-Medina's promotion with her thesis "Morphologische Beschreibung des Verbsystems des Mexikanero von San Pedro Jicora". Universität zu Köln. 
 

Conference organisation: 

1987 Internationaler Pragmatikkongreß, Antwerpen, 19.08. Co-chair of the session on "Variability and Language Change"; 
1991 Sixth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Convenor of the Symposium on Austronesian Classifier Languages, May 20th, 1991; 
1991 Organizer of the "Workshop on Concepts of Space and Spatial Reference in Austronesian and Papuan Languages", Nijmegen, Cognitive Anthropology Research Group, September 30th - October 1st, 1991. 
1993 Organizer of the workshop:"Back to Basic Issues in Nominal Classification", Nijmegen, Cognitive Anthropology Research Group, May 25th - 27th 1993. 
1993 convenor of the section “Signs and Time - Signs and Culture of Signs - Signs of  time: Case Studies from Anthropology”, 7th. International Congress of the German Society for Semiotics, Tübingen,  4.-7.10.1993. 
1996 member of the organizing committee (with Isabelle Bril, Even Hovdhaugen, Claire Moyse- Faurie) for the First European Meeting on Oceanic Linguistics, Oslo, September 13-15, 1996 
1997. Workshop in Spatial Cognition, Rome, September 18th-19th. Chair - morning session September 19th. 
1997. First International Interdisciplinary Conference “Perspectives on the Bird’s Head of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, Leiden, October 13th-17th. Chair for the anthropology  section, October 16th. 
1997 Member of the organization committee for the 6th International Pragmatics Conference, Reims, 19.-24.07.1998. 
1997 Member of the organization committee for the Leiden Conference of the European Society for Oceanists in 1998. 
1998 Organizer of the Second European Meeting on Oceanic Linguistics, Nijmegen, 6-7.11., MPI for Psycholinguistics. 
1998 William Labov Nijmegen Lectures: Linguistic Change: Some Solved & Unsolved Problems. Chair for lecture 2, December 15th. 
2001 The Third European Meeting on Oceanic Linguistics, LACITO-CNRS, Paris-Villejuif, 9.-10. 03. 2001. Chair - sessions on March 10th. 

Board memberships 

1991-1993 German Society for Semiotics - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Semiotik, member of the scientific council; 
1991-2000 member of the International Committee of Recommendation and member of  the scientific council for the Irian Jaya Studies Programme for Interdisciplinary  Research, Leiden, The Netherlands; 
since 1991 Board member of the Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Nijmegen; 
since 1992 member of the "Arbeitsgruppe Bedrohte Sprachen" (Committee for Research on Endangered Languages) of the German Society for Linguistics; 1997-1998 founding member and Vice-President of the “Gesellschaft für bedrohte Sprachen”, 1998 re-elected as Vize-President for 2 years; 
since 1992 co-founder and twice re-elected member of the board of the "European Society 
for Oceanists"; 
since 1995 member of the “Advisory Board” of the journal “Folia Linguistica, Acta  Societatis Linguisticae Europaeae”. 

Advisor: 

Since 1992 (adviseur) "Werkgemeenschap  Zuidoost Azie en Oceanie, Stichting   Wetenschappelijke Onderzoek in de Tropen, Nederlandse Organisatie voor 
Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO = Dutch Research Organisation)", 
Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 
Volkswagen-Stiftung. 

Journal referee: 

Linguistics; 
Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-  en Volkenkunde (BKI), 
Journal of Pragmatics, 
Linguistische Berichte, 
LINCOM EUROPA - Studies in Australian, Austronesian & Papuan languages. 

Editor: 

Since 1992 co-editor "Pragmatics: Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics 
Association". 

Membership in scientific organizations: 

Linguistic Society of America, 
Societas Linguistica Europaea, 
Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea, 
Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, 
International Pragmatics Association, 
European Society for Oceanists, 
Gesellschaft für bedrohte Sprachen, 
American Anthropological Society (1984-1998), 
Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth (1991-1997), 
European Association of Social Anthropologists (1991-1997), 
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Semiotik (1990-1996), 
Gesellschaft für Kognitionswissenschaft. (1994-1998) 
 

Languages: 

Latin, English, Kilivila; some Dutch; 
passive knowledge of French and Tok Pisin. 
 
 
 
 

Nijmegen, March 21st, 2001 
 
 

         Gunter Senft