We’ll be having a gathering of synesthete musicains & painters on Sun Nov 10th 2024 at Beaver Hall Gallery by Queen & University. We’ll set up from 3-4pm, play/paint from 4-6:30, and have dinner nearby after for those who’d like. There’ll be tables & chairs there, though participants will need to bring their own instruments and art materials. Looking forward to it - we haven’t done one of these for a couple years!
Saturday May 11th, 2024 will mark the world’s first synaesthesia day as announced by the synaesthesia associations of Canada, America, the UK, China, Russia, Africa, Germany, and Spain along with the International Association Of Synesthetes Artists & Scientists (IASAS), The day coincides with a gathering of synesthetes and the world’s leading synaesthesia researchers taking place at the University of Oxford from May 10th-12th.
This global day will raise awareness of synaesthesia, build support for young people and their families, connect a knowledgeable global community of academic and research experts, artists, and creatives, and celebrate the experiences and achievements of synesthetes worldwide
People with synaesthesia have often encountered disbelief and challenges regarding the sensory differences they experience with sound, taste, smell, and sight. This inaugural awareness day is the first step to growing inclusivity, awareness and understanding.
We’re pleased to annouce that we’re working with the synesthesia associations in the US and UK to put on a major international synesthesia conference at Oxford University’s Somerville College from May 10th to 12th, 2024.
If you’ve never been to a gathering of synesthetes before (and those who research us), know that it’s really quite an amazing experience to meet others who share our unique abilities.
Below is the official call for presenters & papers, along with the submission deadlines. If you’ve any queries, send them on in through the contact form here on our site.
We are pleased to invite submissions to participate in a joint conference on Synesthesia and Cross-modal Perception organized jointly by the UK Synaesthesia Association and American Synesthesia Association, Inc. The full program will be announced in January 2024.
The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of the latest findings on synesthesia, its mediation, and relevance to cross-modal perception. We welcome talks from synesthetes, researchers, and all others with a professional or general interest. Relevant topics include synesthesia, a presentation of visual artwork, audio compositions, a reading, as well as a first-hand account of synesthesia, lessons for cross-modal processing and integration, and lessons from sensory substitution.
For those wishing to present:
Please submit your abstract of 300 words or less, together with a list of any co-authors and your and their affiliations. Also include your name, email address, telephone contact number, and a short resume (no more than two pages) or web-link to same. Please list any audio-visual equipment you might require for your presentation.
Plan to limit your presentation to 20 minutes (not including an additional 5–10 minutes for Questions & Answers). There may be both poster and paper sessions at the conference. Please indicate your preference for being scheduled as a poster or paper.
The number of presentation slots will be limited, so there is no guarantee that a submission can be accepted. For Paper submissions that cannot be scheduled, there may be a poster option. Please indicate your preference for a Paper or Poster. Proposals for a Workshop panel can be submitted. Individuals are urged to attend even if they are not making a presentation.
DEADLINE for Abstract Submission: December 3, 2023
NOTIFICATION will be by January 5, 2024.
To submit your abstract, contact information, short resume and audio/visual equipment needs, please go to the American Synesthesia Association website: http://synesthesia.info
Abstracts should be submitted here: http://www.synesthesia.info/submissionformcaptcha.asp
We are delighted to be holding this joint conference between the UK Synaesthesia Association and the American Synesthesia Association, Inc.
Sincerely,
For the British Synaesthesia Association: James Wannerton, Julia Simner, Charles Spence, Jamie Ward
For the American Synesthesia Association: Carol Steen, Greta Berma, Ed Hubbard, Greg Jarvis, Daphne Maurer
In January and February 2022 we’ll be holding a few Zoom meetings for Canadians across the country with various forms of synethesia. Details will be sent out to those on our email list (you can sign up here on this site). The meetings will be held based on the various forms of synesthesia that people have so that they can meet others with shared experiences.
Recently the CBC aired a sceintific radio program on taste for which they interviewed a lexical-gustatory synesthete member of ours from British Columbia. The segment of the show which looks at synesthesia begins around the 35:30 mark. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1498957891535
If you’ve never chatted about your synesthesia with a bunch of other synesthetes, you’re in for a treat. While one goes through life naturally building a rich understanding of tastes, smells, sights, sounds, & touch by all one discusses with others about such things, it’s truly through meeting other synesthetes that one’s understanding of one’s own synesthetic perceptions increases.
Usually our meetings have six to a dozen synis carrying on a freeflowing discussion of everything from how they use synesthesia in their artistic discipline or profession through to the implications of synesthesia on fields as diverse as quantum physics and theology.
This year while we seek a new regular location to hold our meetings, we’ll be having them in a variety of spaces that various members have access to.
We meet approximately once a month, usually on a Sunday afternoon from 2 - 5pm. Message for details of our next meeting.
Note that we have a ‘synesthetes only’ policy (one of the nicest things for many of us who attend regularly is being able to discuss our perceptions with out having to explain them to people who don’t experience such things.)
As part of the AGO's May 4th 2017 First Thursdays evening event, there'll be a pop up talk on synesthesia and the early 20th century works of Toronto painter Bertram Brooker. The talk will be delivered by the Canadian Synesthesia Association's Greg Jarvis in the Prints & Drawings centre at 8:30pm. More details of the night - which includes musical performances, interactive art, and other pop up talks - may be found here along with ticket information: https://ago.ca/events/may-first-thursday-gender-trouble?q=the-may-first-thursday-gender-trouble
Bertram Brooker's 1927 'Chorale (Bach)' painting along with a number of his drawings including 'Fugue' and 'Duet' from the early 30s will be out of the vaults and on display for the night.
Through out 2016 on the third Sunday of every month we'll be holding synesthete meetings in downtown Toronto. Come on out and meet others who share your unique abilities. The meetings are quite informal with very free flowing conversations. Message info@synesthesiacanada.com for location details and times.
Out next Toronto area meeting of synesthetes will happen on Sunday Oct 18th from 2-5pm in Meeting Room 6, at the back of the ground floor of the Centre for Social Innovation's Annex location (720 Bathurst, just south of Bloor). Amongst other things, we'll be discussing highlights of the American Synesthesia Association's 13th conference happening in Miami Oct 2 - 4th.
Our next meeting of Toronto area synesthetes (and those driving in from further afield!) will be on Saturday June 20th. Same location as usual, Meeting Room #6 at the back of the ground floor of the Centre for Social Innovation's 720 Bathurst Street location, 2 - 5pm.. (Note the meeting has been moved from the Sunday it was originally scheduled for, due to that being Father's Day)
The American Synesthesia Association has announced that their 13th semi-annual conference will be held at the University Of Miami from October 2nd to October 4th. The conference will feature presentations by some of the world's leading experts on synesthesia, and will also have synesthetes discussing their abilities. It provides a forum for synesthetes and researchers alike to congregate. More details here: http://www.synesthesia.info/
Our next meeting of Toronto area synesthetes will be on Sunday May 31st from 2 to 5pm in Meeting Room #6 at the Centre for Social Innovation (720 Bathurst St, just south of Bloor.)
We'll be having our next Toronto-area synesthete meet up on Sunday April 26th from 2 - 5pm, in the Telus Room on the ground floor of the Centre For Social Innovation's Annex Location (720 Bathurst Street).
The next meeting of Toronto-area synesthetes will happen on Sunday March 8th at the Centre For Social Innovation's Annex location (720 Bathurst Street) from 2-5pm. Room TBC. We'll be discussing our various forms of synesthesia, how to raise awareness of synesthesia, and the CBC's new WWII-era drama 'X Company' which features a synesthete as a main character.
Our next meeting of Toronto area synesthetes will be on Sunday, January 18th, from 2 - 5pm at the Centre For Social Innovation's Annex Location (720 Bathurst Street), in Meeting Room #6 at the back of the ground floor. All synesthetes are welcome.
The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands has pulled together a team of world leading synesthesia and genetics researchers to undertake a large scale study that seeks to find the synesthete gene.
For the first phase of things, they are looking for approximately 2000 grapheme-colour synesthetes (those who experience coloured letters, numbers, days, and/or months). Travel is not necessary - participants can be located anywhere in the world. If interested, you’ll be asked to anonymously provide a saliva sample for DNA testing.
Previous research has determined that synesthesia runs in families, and the goal with this study is to learn more about its genetic basis.
For more information and to participate, please go to: www.mpi.nl/synaesthesia
Having checked it out, it’s a study that we highly endorse and recommend participation in due to the caliber of the researchers and the extraordinary potential of its findings.
Best regards,
Greg Jarvis
Canadian Synesthesia Association
Our next meeting of Toronto area synesthetes will be on Sunday November 30th from 2 - 5pm in Meeting Room #6 at the back of the ground floor of the Centre for Social Innovations 720 Bathurst Street location (just south of Bloor). All synesthetes are welcome.
We'll be having our next meet up of synesthetes on Sunday October 19th at the Centre for Social Innovation at 720 Bathurst Street, in the ground floor cafe/meeting area from 2 to 5pm. Should prove to be some interesting discussions as always!
Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia
This month saw the long awaited release of the 1120 page Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia. With contributions from all the leading synesthete researchers, it promises to be the definitive text on synesthesia. You may order it through Amazon at http://www.amazon.ca/Oxford-Handbook-Synesthesia-Julia-Simner/dp/0199603324/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393536953&sr=8-1&keywords=oxford+handbook+of+synesthesia
And you may catch it’s lead editor, Julia Simner, giving a talk in Toronto in March…
Synesthesia Talks at U of T, March 18th and 19th
“Tasty Coloured Sounds: The Experiences Of Synaesthetes”, presented by the Colour Research Society Of Canada. Full details at: http://www.colourresearch.org/
Tuesday March 18, 7:00 pm
Room 330, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. 80 Queen’s Park Cres
Dr. Julia Simner is a neuropsychologist and leading expert in the field of synesthesia research. She trained at the Universities of Oxford, Toronto and Sussex, and she currently runs the Synesthesia and Sensory Integration lab at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her work focuses on the psychological and neuroscientific bases of synesthesia. She is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia
On Wednesday March 19 3-6pm
Room 544, OCAD University
Dr Daphne Maurer (McMaster University) will discuss results from the Music Visualization Workshop, held May 31 2013 at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Drs Simner and Maurer will also co-host a panel on the impact of synesthesia in education.
GTA Synesthete Meet-Up, Sunday March 2nd, 2pm
Also for those of you in and around Toronto, we’ll be having our regular monthly gathering of local synethetes at a member’s residence near Yonge & St.Clair on Sunday, March 2nd at 2pm. Message info@synethesiacanada.com if you require address details. Increasingly our discussions are taking a unique direction exploring synesthesia and consciousness.
We'll be holding our next Toronto-area meeting on Sunday Dec 8th at 2pm at one of our member's residence by Yonge & St.Clair, where we'll be looking at paintings and colour swatches, listening to sounds, and discussing our synesthetic experiences. E-mail info@synesthesiacanada.com for the address & directions.