Norwegian version of this page

Lacey Okonski

Researcher - Sentral-Europa og Balkan-studier

Email laceyok@ilos.uio.no

Phone +47 22 85 69 15

Room 1131

Username

Visiting address Niels Henrik Abels vei 36 Niels Treschows hus 0316 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1003 Blindern 0316 Oslo

Other affiliations The International Summer School (Student)

Press photo Download business card

Academic interests

Cognitive Linguistics, Metaphor, Embodied Cognition, Cognitive Poetics, Cognitive Grammar, Prepositions, Dance, Mother Earth Metaphors, Climate Communications

MSCA project: Embodied Scenes

Since August of 2025, I have been working on an MSCA project titled, An Embodied Scenes Approach to the Teaching and Learning of Prepositions. The Embodied Scenes method offers a novel approach to systematically address the complex challenges of prepositions in Cognitive Grammar and in the context of English as an additional language.

The project aims to produce profiles for several high-frequency prepositions, to build lessons combining these profiles with an Embodied Scenes (ES) framework, and to test the lessons in the classroom.

I am currently working at the UiO. From December 2025 to the end of March 2026, I will be traveling to Sweden for a secondment at Umeå University, where I am conducting the outgoing phase of the project. I will rejoin UiO in April 2025 until the project's conclusion.

Courses taught

Psycholinguistics/Linguistics: Special Topics in Cognitive Linguistics; Intro to Cognitive Linguistics; Applied Linguistics; ICT Eng3 for English Secondary Teachers
Cognitive Science/Psychology: Brain, Language, and Cognition; Learning and Memory; Feelings and Emotions; Intro to Cognitive Psychology; Mind, Body, World; Behavioral Neuroscience; Children's Thinking
Statistics: Elementary Statistics; Statistics for Language Studies; Statistical Methods for Linguists
Writing: Academic Writing; Scientific Communication; Psychology of Language (Writing Intensive)

Background

Lacey Okonski is a psycholinguist who studies metaphor. She received her PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, is a Fulbright Fellow, and is currently a Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Fellow/Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oslo in the Department of Literature, Area Studies, and European Languages.

Awards

Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Fellowship Recipient, European Union, Department of Literature, Area Studies, and European Languages, University of Oslo, 2025
Fulbright Grantee, US Scholar: Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2018
Award for Excellence in Teaching: UCSC, 2015
Frank X. Barron Award for Creativity Research: 2012

Appointments

Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Fellow
Department of Literature, Area Studies, and European Languages, University of Oslo
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Language Studies; HumLab, Umeå University
Fulbright Fellow, Visiting Professor
Linguistic Studies Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Tags: Cognitive Linguistics, Metaphor, Embodied Cognition, Cognitive Poetics, Cognitive Grammar, Prepositions, Dance, Mother Earth Metaphors, Climate Communications

Publications

Scientific articles and book chapters

Falck, Marlene Johansson & Okonski, Lacey (2025). From spatial to abstract and back again - The challenging case of hidden metonymies for metaphor identification scholars. Metaphor and the Social World. ISSN 2210-4070. 15(2). doi: 10.1075/msw.24030.joh. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Abstract Cognitive linguists have long argued that our comprehension of abstract concepts is primarily based on metaphorical or metonymic mappings from more concrete or familiar experiences ( Lakoff & Johnson 1980/2008 , 1999 ). Accordingly, metaphor identification commonly involves contrasting concrete senses of words with their contextual meanings. However, examples like a huge log spinning down into nothingness and Max opened a door into nothingness are reminders that, through metonymy, even highly familiar source concepts such as spatial areas can be targets grounded in abstract concepts. Both these instances evoke scenes in which the abstract notion of ‘nothingness’ is a space that physical entities move into. This study highlights the complexity of figurative language and underscores the need for further exploration into how abstract concepts can ground our understanding of more concrete experiences. It also serves to bridge the gap between current metaphor identification practices and the directionality of metonymy. Focusing mainly on mappings in one direction can pose challenges for metaphor researchers, as they might mistakenly categorize such cases as metaphorical rather than as expressions of spatial relations. This is particularly relevant in contemporary metaphor research, which often relies on establishing the basic meanings of individual words to identify metaphorical relationships.
Gaele, Claudia; Okonski, Lacey & Martinez-Cruz, Adan L. (2025). The climate battle in America: War metaphors alarm Republicans but Democrats more likely to act. Metaphor and the Social World. ISSN 2210-4070. 15(1), p. 77–106. doi: 10.1075/msw.24015.gae. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Published Aug. 20, 2025 11:30 AM - Last modified Oct. 16, 2025 12:13 PM

Research groups

Figurative Communication