The third workshop by Prof Jeannette Littlemore, University of Birmingham will take place on Friday 19th May at Computer classroom No 13. The link to join the workshop online: https://bit.ly/3NL7dU7

In this workshop, I further explore the relationship between metaphor and creativity by analysing the ways in which metaphor use varies across individuals. We focus in particular on the findings from a study designed to explore responses to sensory stimuli provided by synaesthetes and non-synaesthete populations. Synaesthesia is a condition whereby people have a heightened tendency to experience one sense in terms of another. In our work, we use the writings of synaesthetes as a lens through which to examine the relationships between sensory experience, emotion, metaphor, and creativity in order to reach a new understanding of creativity -- what it is, and the factors that may attend it. Student will be invited to explore writings produced by synaesthetes and to draw their own conclusions on the nature of creativity. I then bring together all the work discussed in the other workshops and consider what this tells us about the different ways in which people experience and use metaphor and the factors that shape these differences. In addition to considering the implications of the studies discussed, students will also be invited to reflect on their interactions with metaphor in their own lives.