Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) is the premier North American conference on semantics as a part of linguistic theory. The 28th SALT will take place on May 18-20, 2018 in the Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Our invited speakers are Amy Rose Deal and Benjamin Spector. By attending, you agree to abide by the code of conduct. 

SALT 28 is organized by faculty at MIT (Kai von Fintel, Danny Fox, Martin Hackl, Irene Heim, Sabine Iatridou, Justin Khoo, and Roger Schwarzschild) with the help of many student volunteers. As usual for SALT, the organizers also served as the program committee. You can reach the organizers at salt28@mit.edu.

The conference program is now posted. It includes the following special features:

• Four poster sessions with lightning talks. [With these sessions and only two invited speakers, SALT 28 has 50 contributed presentations, 15 thirty minute talks and 35 lightning talks and posters, which is a significant increase in contributors.]
• The conference reception, dinner, and party at the MIT Museum on Saturday, 6pm-11pm.
• On the eve of SALT, Thursday May 17, from 6:30pm-8:30pm in Room 32-D461 in the Stata Center, there will be a session on Semantics and Inclusion/Diversity (SAID), organized by the SALT Steering Committee. This is a new initiative to help us figure out how we can ensure that our conferences and our field are fair, safe and open to all. Keynote speaker: Lynne Tirrell, University of Connecticut. Tirrell has combined detailed, theoretical work on language with the human reality of monstrous events. She has related work on transitional justice and apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation, as well as work on metaphor, storytelling, pornography, and feminist theory. She is Past Chair of the APA Committee on Public Philosophy. After Dr. Tirrell’s presentation there will be a mildly structured discussion of issues of inclusion and diversity in our field, and what steps can or should be taken. The session will include an introduction to the COSWL pop-up mentoring initiative (see below). All are welcome and encouraged to attend! Light refreshments will be offered.
• Pop-up mentoring during lunch on Saturday. The LSA Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics (COSWL) is excited to debut “Pop-Up Mentoring” at a number of conferences this spring, including SALT at MIT. The Pop-Up Mentoring event at SALT will take place during lunch time (1:00 – 2:30 PM) Saturday during the conference. All attendees are invited to participate; this event is not restricted to women, and is open to participants at all career stages. The event is free, but you must register online in advance, so that we can pair mentees and mentors and get a rough head count.  To register for Pop-Up Mentoring at SALT, please click here to register as a mentor or here to register as a mentee.  You will be asked to complete a brief google form.

Conference registration is open and is being handled by the LSA. The registration form will ask you whether you need ASL Interpretation and will ask you to acknowledge the conference code of conduct and the LSA’s Civility Policy. You will also be able to state any dietary restrictions for the conference dinner(s).

Local information (accommodations etc.) is available.

Find out more about membership in the Linguistic Society of America (LSA). The LSA is proud to sponsor SALT and to publish its Proceedings.