SBU Gesture Focus Group

The Gesture Focus Group is an interdisciplinary forum for addressing current directions in gesture research. Our weekly meetings draw a consistent and lively set of participants from the Departments of Psychology, Linguistics, and Computer Science, Philosophy, Theater Arts, and Biology.

The purpose of the Gesture Focus Group is threefold: (a) to discuss recently published articles pertaining to the role of non-verbal modalities in interaction; (b) to acquaint participants with new methodologies from various disciplines for studying gesture production and comprehension (e.g. eye-tracking, automated motion capture, and microanalysis of hand movements and speech); and (c) to generate ideas and the means to develop projects that participants would like to pursue, whether collaboratively or on their own.

A burgeoning community of young gesture researchers has emerged at Stony Brook in the last four years. The Gesture Focus Group, founded by Alexia Galati and Anna Kuhlen in 2005, is spearheading the effort of training these researchers through its reading group, lectures, and workshops. With events such as the Speaker's Series we hope not only to provide training for the regular members of the Gesture Focus Group, but also draw interest and participation of students from other departments (see Past Events below for more information).