Building interfaces between the humanities and cognitive sciences: The case of human speech

I argue that creating interfaces between the humanities and cognitive sciences would be intellectually stimulating for both groups. More specifically for the humanities: they might gain challenging and rewarding avenues of inquiry, attract more funding, and advance their position in the 21st-century universities and among the general public, if they engage in interface projects with cognitive science and other disciplines that seek to improve our understanding of what it means to be human. I discuss a potential research framework of non-linear dynamics for such interfaces, and argue that it alleviates some of the concerns of reductionism and determinism that scholars in the humanities might have in relation to the scientific approach. I also discuss some general examples from the study of human speech of how successful interfaces have been built and might be extended to other areas relevant to the humanities.