Center for Nonverbal Studies
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Life Signs

The Center for Nonverbal Studies (CNS) is a private, nonprofit research center located in Spokane, Washington, with a site for conferences and seminars in La Jolla, California. The Center is committed to the idea that, for a deeper understanding of "who we are" and "what it means to be human," more attention should be paid to our nonverbal nature.

Areas of special interest include body movement, gesture, facial expression, adornment and fashion, landscape architecture, mass media, and consumer-product design. All our senses--of balance, hearing, smell, sight, space, taste, time, and touch--are channels for nonverbal cues.

The Center looks at our nonverbal communication from viewpoints of:

Anthropology (archaeology and cultural, linguistic, and physical anthropology),
Art (literature, painting, and sculpture),
Biology (anatomy, ethology, and natural history),
Evolution (through 500 million years of vertebrate life), and
Neuroscience (incorporating discoveries made in the 1990-2000 Decade of the Brain)


EVENTS

The Center sponsors periodic conferences and seminars on nonverbal communication. (For information, please click here).

A Featured Presentation on "Establishing Viable Rapport Across Continents" was given on Tuesday, January 26, 1999, at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, Florida (www.beachsand.com). The Q-Search conference was sponsored by the Marketing Institute and the Institute for International Research (www.iir-ny.com).

CNS conducted field research on the Warm Wishes® product line for Hallmark Cards Inc., with the Center for Ethnographic Research, in Kansas City, Missouri, from March 1-5, 1999.

A presentation on "Product Selection and the Evolution of Consumer Goods" was given at the 98th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (Chicago Hilton & Towers Hotel, Thursday, November 18, 1999, in Private Dining Room 2, 3rd floor).

CNS conducted field research in Spokane, Washington, on signage for Hallmark Cards Inc., with the Center for Ethnographic Research in Kansas City, Missouri, from January 6-11, 2000.

The fourth in a continuing series of observations of nonverbal communication in captive bonobos, lowland gorillas, and orangutans at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California was completed on April 8, 2000.

A presentation on "Nonverbal Communication Across the Conference Table" was given on Thursday, May 11, 2000 to a Spokane Falls Community College Management Department class at the MSC/Premera/Blue Cross building in Spokane, Washington.

CNS completed filming for a Discovery Channel pilot on "Mysteries of Mating," June 24-26, 2000, in Hollywood, California.

A presentation on "Interrogation and the Interview: Nonverbal Agendas" was presented to the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) on Wednesday, July 26, 2000, at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute (SIRTI) in Spokane, Washington.

CNS conducted field research on rock music and human courtship at Endfest 2000, on the Kitsap County Fairgrounds west of Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, August 5, 2000 (see MUSIC).

CNS consulted and completed a design project to make interior spaces seem more spacious for residents of the La Mesa Village Plaza condominiums in La Mesa, California, from August 28-31, 2000.

"Top 10 Nonverbal Cues You Can Use," was presented to the Spokane Public Relations Council and the Greater Spokane Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America on Friday, September 8, 2000, at the River Inn in Spokane, Washington.

"Body Language in the Business World: Top 5 Cues," was presented to the Rotary 21 Club at the Ridpath Hotel in Spokane, Washington, on Thursday, October 5, 2000. (We used examples from the U.S. presidential debates.)

"Between the Words: Counseling's New Nonverbal Agenda," was presented to the Palouse Area Continuing Education Committee at the Quality Inn in Pullman, Washington, on Friday, December 1, 2000, 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm.

"Body Language in the Business World: Top 5 Cues," was presented to the Valley Rotary Club at the Shilo Hotel in Spokane, Washington, on Friday, December 8, 2000. (We used examples from the U.S. presidential debates.)

"Nonverbal Behavior for Investigations," was presented for the Behavior Analysis Training Institute at the CarrAmerica Realty Corporation Conference Center in Pleasanton, California, on Tuesday, December 19, 2000, from 8:30 am - 4:00 pm.

Research on facial expressions is underway for LaForce & Stevens, 132 West 21st Street, New York, NY on behalf of Johnson & Johnson Oral Health.

A course on Communication Research Methods was presented in the Department of Communication Arts at Gonzaga University from January 17 to May 11, 2000.

CNS presented a slide lecture on nonverbal communication to sociology students at Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington, on February 23, 2001.

Research on available consumer data is underway for Robideaux Marketing & Design on behalf of Olympic Foods and Sunkist.

Observational and ethnographic product research is underway for Ethnographic Research, Inc., in Kansas City, Missouri, on behalf of Epson America.

Background research for a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) project on the neurology of human hand gestures has begun with colleague Robert Burr, Ph.D. of Sacred Heart Medical Center.

The next continuing legal education (CLE) presentation: "Off the Written Transcript: Using Nonverbal Communication in Court," will be given in early spring, 2001, in Seattle, Washington.

"Interrogation and the Interview: Nonverbal Agendas" will be presented to attendees of the Western States Wildlife Investigators Conference, to be held at West Yellowstone, Montana, from July 22 through July 25, 2001.

A course on Communication Research Methods will be presented in the Department of Communication Arts at Gonzaga University from September 4 to December 20, 2001.



As a public service, the Center provides information about nonverbal signs, signals, and cues in The NONVERBAL DICTIONARY. Additional information is available by phone or e-mail request.


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Copyright © 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)
Detail of photo by Karen Kasmauski (copyright 1999, the National Geographic Society)