Giulia Palazzolo
I am a Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. I completed my PhD at La Sapienza University of Rome in September 2022. My specialisations are in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of language. I am especially interested in animal minds and language evolution.
My current research interests can be divided into three main subfields: the evolution of human syntax, the methodological and theoretical foundations of the comparative study of animal and human communication and the evolution of reference.
I am post-doc on Richard MooreLink opens in a new window’s UKRI project ‘The Communicative MindLink opens in a new window’. I am also an affiliated member of the ‘Expression, Communication, and the Origins of MeaningLink opens in a new window’ Research Group (University of Connecticut), a member of the Warwick Mind and Action Research Centre and the ‘Groups networkLink opens in a new window’. I am co-founder of the project 'What is it like to be another animal'. I also work as a freelance editor.
Publications
- 'Toward a bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax', Biology and Philosophy (*winner of the PAMBA 2025 Essay Prize; forthcoming).
- 'What is animal communication?', Ergo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy (forthcoming).
- 'Animal communication', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2024, ed. E.N. Zalta (with Richard Moore).
- 'A case for animal reference. Beyond functional reference and meaning attribution', Synthese 2024, 203(59).
- 'Pragmatic Interpretation and the Production of Ideographic codes', Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2023, 46, e236 (with Leda Berio, Berke Can, Katharina Helming and Richard Moore).
- 'L'intenzionalità. Breve storia di un concetto filosofico', La voce e il logos 2020, ed. S. Gensini, pp. 451-471.
- 'Simbolicità e emotività negli animali non umani: un tema attuale con radici lontane', Rivista italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio 2020, pp. 230-241 (with Stefano Gensini).
- Marin Cureau de la Chambre: Cognition and Language in Animals”, Blityri 2017, 6(2): 55-78.
Book reviews
- R. Humphreys, “Animals, ethics, and language. The philosophy of meaningful communication in the lives of animals”, for Bioethics (invited)
- S. Monsó, “Schrödinger’s possum: How animals experience and understand death (Italian edition)”, for Humanimalia (invited).
Upcoming events
- ‘Toward a bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax’, keynote talk at PAMBA Conference, UC Santa Barbara California (expected April 2025).
- ‘A bounded hierarchy account of the evolution of human syntax’, Workshop Animal Communication, Universitat de València (invited, expected May 2025).
Teaching
University of Warwick
- Group Mindedness: Perspectives from Economics, Philosophy and Psychology (3rd year honours course).
- Introduction to Philosophy (seminars).
York University Toronto Summer School (organised by Kristin Andrews in Roatàn (Honduras), in collaboration with the Dolphin Communication Project).
- Lectures on animal communication.
La Sapienza University of Rome
- Philosophy of Language.
Selected conference talks
Invited
- ‘The evolution of human syntax’, Roma Tre (Dec 2024).
- ‘What is animal communication?’, UNED Madrid (Oct 2024).
- ‘The evolution of syntax’, University of Warwick Psychology (Oct 2024).
- ‘Thinking of animal and human communication together’, Evolutionary Pragmatics Forum (Apr 2024).
Peer-reviewed
The evolution of syntax
- Italian Association for Cognitive Science (Sep 2024).
What is animal communication?
- World Congress of Philosophy (Aug 2024).
- Evolang, Madison (WI) (May 2024).
- London School of Economics Animal Minds workshop (April 2024).
The evolution of reference
- The Philosophy of Language Society Congress (Sep 2024).
- Protolang (Sep 2023, Roma Tre).
- Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behaviour Association (Apr 2023).
- Embodied Creativity: The role of performativity (2019, Bologna University).
- The Philosophy of Language Society Congress (2019, Cagliari University).
Public philosophy
Organisation of the exhibition "What is it like to be another animal?Link opens in a new window"in collaboration with the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with funds from London School of Advanced Studies Innovation Award (with Simon Brown & Ross Pain) .
Contact details
Email:
Giulia.Palazzolo.1[at]warwick.ac.uk
Room: S2.63
Advice and Feedback Hours:
Monday: 14:00-16:00 (FAB4.01)
Here is the linkLink opens in a new window to book a 15-minute slot in my office hours.