New Forking Festival
Workshop on generalized stability theory and independence relations
The New Forking Festival is a workshop on recent developments in model theory, with a focus on generalized stability theory and new ideas concerning independence relations.
A central theme of contemporary model theory is the study of the hierarchy of dividing lines that emerge beyond stability and simplicity, and the independence relations naturally associated to each. New dividing lines, such as NSOP₁ and NTP₂, and new notions of independence, such as Kim-independence and Conant-independence, have opened the door to the analysis of important algebraic and combinatorial structures that lie beyond the classical frameworks of stability and simplicity. This workshop will bring together researchers working at the frontier of these developments to share new results, techniques, and open problems.
Schedule
The workshop will run from Tuesday, July 28 through Friday, July 31, 2026. A detailed schedule of talks (PDF), with titles and abstracts, is available.
| Time | Tue, Jul 28 | Wed, Jul 29 | Thu, Jul 30 | Fri, Jul 31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 | Registration | Pillay | Baldwin (online) | Mutchnik |
| 11:00 | Kruckman | Burka | Kim | d'Elbée |
| 12:00 | Lunch | |||
| 14:00 | Conant | Kaplan | Miguel Gómez | — |
| 15:30 | Takahashi | Hanson | Problem session | — |
| 19:00 | — | — | Conference party | — |
Afternoon talks are preceded by lunch; coffee breaks follow the 9:30 and 14:00 talks. The Thursday problem session runs 15:30–17:30. See the PDF for full times, titles, and abstracts.
Invited Speakers
- John Baldwin (University of Illinois Chicago)
- Alex Burka (UC Berkeley)
- Gabriel Conant (University of Illinois Chicago)
- Christian d'Elbée (Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea)
- James Hanson (Iowa State University)
- Itay Kaplan (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
- Joonhee Kim (Korea Institute for Advanced Study)
- Alex Kruckman (Wesleyan University)
- Alberto Miguel Gómez (University of Cambridge)
- Scott Mutchnik (University of Illinois Chicago)
- Anand Pillay (University of Notre Dame)
- Yuki Takahashi (UC Berkeley)
Travel
The University of Notre Dame is located in Notre Dame, Indiana, adjacent to South Bend. The nearest airport is South Bend International Airport (SBN), approximately 10 minutes from campus. Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Chicago Midway (MDW) are roughly 1.5–2 hours by car.
Accommodation
A block of rooms is available to attendees at a discounted rate at the Ivy Court Inn, located near campus in South Bend. To book at the discounted rate, reserve through the hotel website and use the code CNF-SCI0727.