Workshop on
                           Constraints in Discourse
                                
                               
                   http://www.constraints-in-discourse.org/cid08


This is the third in a series of workshops entitled "Constraints in
Discourse".

It is a linguistic commonplace to say that the meaning of text is more than the
conjunction of the meaning of its sentences. But what exactly are the rules that 
govern its interpretation, and what are the constraints that define well-formed 
discourse? For a long time, the development of precise frameworks of discourse 
interpretation has been hampered by the lack of a deeper understanding
of the dependencies between different discourse units. Recent
years have seen a considerable advance in this field. A number of
strong constraints have been proposed that restrict the sequencing and
attaching of segments at various descriptive levels, as well as the
interpretation of their interrelations. 

The goal of this workshop is to provide a forum for presenting recent research on 
constraints in discourse. The target areas include the recognition of discourse 
structure as well as the interpretation and generation of discourse in a broad variety 
of domains. The workshop offers a forum for researchers from diverse formal 
approaches, including but not limited to:
- Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST)
- Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT)
- Tree Adjoining Grammars
- Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG)
- The QUD Modell
- Plan Based Reasoning
- Abductive Reasoning
- Gricean Pragmatics
- Speech Act Theory

We invite talks that further our theoretical understanding of
the role of constraints in discourse, as well as empirical studies
that shed light on their empirical validity. The conference is explicitly
intended for discussion and comparison of theoretical
accounts that lay the ground for applications. It is not intended as a
platform for system demonstrations. Specific topics might relate to
 - Anaphora Resolution
 - Co-reference
 - Dialogical vs. Monological Discourse
 - Questions and Answers
 - Lexicon and Discourse Relations
 - Cognitive Modeling
 - Underspecification and Nonmonotonic Inferences
etc.

The organisers are planning to publish a book based on the contributions to this 
workshop.

Publication (and workshop) language is English.

The workshop is endorsed by ACL's SIGDial, SIGGen and SIGSem.

Invited Speakers
================
Laurence Danlos, Universite Paris 7
Julia Hirschberg, Columbia University
Paul Piwek, Open University
Bonnie Webber, U Edinburgh, UK

Paper Submission
================

Researchers interested in contributing a paper to the workshop are
invited to submit an abstract that spans not more than 3 pages in PDF or PS
(single column, 10pt font size, a4 paper, including a bibliography)
using the form at the workshop website
(http://www.constraints-in-discourse.org/cid08). Reviews will be done
blindly; the abstracts may accordingly not include explicit hints that
allow the identification of the authors (such as "in paper (...) we
show that").

Important Dates
===============
Conf: July 30th-August, 1st, 2008
Deadline for Submissions: April 25th, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: May 17th, 2008
Final Abstracts due: July 12th, 2008

Program Committee
=================

Anton Benz, ZAS Berlin, Germany
Laurence Danlos, Universite Paris 7, France
Markus Egg, RU Groningen, Netherlands
Julia Hirschberg, Columbia University, USA
Peter Kuehnlein, RU Groningen, Netherlands
Paul Piwek, Open Univerity, UK
Gisela Redeker, RU Groningen, Netherlands
David Schlangen, U Potsdam, Germany
Manfred Stede, U Potsdam, Germany
Bonnie Webber, U Edinburgh, UK

Organisation
============

Organisation Committee:
Anton Benz, ZAS Berlin, Germany
Markus Egg, RU Groningen, Netherlands
Peter Kuehnlein, RU Groningen, Netherlands
Gisela Redeker, RU Groningen, Netherlands
Manfred Stede, Uni Potsdam, Germany

Local Organisation:
Anton Benz, ZAS Berlin, Germany
Manfred Stede, Uni Potsdam, Germany