AESTHETIC EDUCATION AND SCREEN STORIES

With key note speakers

The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars working in philosophy of art and aesthetics, film theory, media studies, cultural studies and other domains dedicated to the study of film and television, with the aim of exploring cognitive, ethical, educational and other aspects of the aesthetic experience of film and television series and serials – screen stories for short.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the relation of screen stories and truth, knowledge, understanding and other cognitive values; screen stories and ethics; political aspects of screen stories; screen stories and ideology; philosophical aspects of screen stories; issues concerning definition, meaning and value of screen stories; interpretation of screen stories; their fictional dimension; relation of screen stories to literature and theater; questions of expression, narration, ontology; emotional reactions and affective ties; paradox of fiction; fictional characters; documentaries and docuseries; spectators’ experience; and the like. Papers dealing with aesthetic education in relation to other forms of art may also be considered. We are also interested in establishing a dialogue between film theorists, media theorists and philosophers and to discuss methodological advantages and disadvantages of various approaches to screen stories, in particular those related to neuro-aesthetics, naturalized aesthetics and cognitive aesthetics.

As part of the conference, there will be a Roundtable discussion on the Educational relevance of arts, dedicated to the current status of narrative art forms such as literature, cinema and television in education and culture, with the aim of promoting the values of humanities and the overall appreciation of these artforms. Our keynote in this session is Laura D’Olimpio (University of Birmingham).

The conference will take place at the University of Rijeka, September 5^th and 6^th 2023.

We invite submissions for 30 minute presentations, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. If you are interested in presenting your work, please send the title and the abstract of max. 300 words by May 15^th 2023 to Iris Vidmar Jovanović (ividmar@ffri.uniri.hr). Notification of acceptance will be sent out by May 25^th. There is no conference fee.

Organizing committee: Iris Vidmar Jovanović, Rafe McGregor & David Grčki

Contact person: Iris Vidmar Jovanović (ividmar@ffri.uniri.hr)

Click here for a pdf of the Call for Papers

The aim of this one-day interdisciplinary workshop is to explore the role and significance of
illusion in aesthetics and art. Philosophically, this may seem anachronistic. After all, the idea
that the representational arts in general aim at illusion has been widely criticised by
philosophers working in the analytic tradition. There seems to be no good sense in which
literature, painting, photography, theatre, or film typically aim at or provide illusions of what
they represent. They may absorb us, transport us, or enchant us, but they only very rarely
explicitly deceive us, cognitively or perceptually. Thus, the notion of illusion has been largely
sidelined in contemporary analytic aesthetics and philosophy of art. This workshop is based
on the conviction that it nevertheless deserves more attention than it has been getting.

We welcome contributions from all academic disciplines concerning philosophical and/or
psychological issues related to illusion in aesthetics and art, whether they consider genres
and artforms that are manifestly illusionistic (such as trompe l’oeil painting, magic
performance, or op art), explore ways in which illusion might be important to genres and
artforms that are generally non-illusionistic (such as film or music), or investigate illusion’s
significance in non-art contexts and aesthetics more generally. We also welcome proposals
from practicing artists who would like to present and/or discuss their work in relationship to
the topic of illusion.

The workshop will take place in the beautiful Magic Circle Theatre at the Magic Circle
headquarters in the heart of London. Lunch will be provided for all speakers and registered
participants, and the event will be followed by a free evening magic performance by a
world-class performer.

Please consider sending your abstract (max. 500 words), accompanied by a short
biographical note (max. 150 words), to jason.leddington@bucknell.edu by 1st May. We
particularly encourage applications from scholars and artists from underrepresented groups,
including applicants with disabilities, applicants from BAME backgrounds, and women. The
workshop will be in English and attendance is free. Successful applicants will be notified by
3rd May.

This event is funded by the ������Ƶ (������Ƶ) and co-sponsored by the
Science of Magic Association and The Magic Circle Foundation.

Organizers:
Jason Leddington (Philosophy, Bucknell University)
Gustav Kuhn (Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London)
Anthony Barnhart (Psychology, Carthage College)
Jay Olson (Behavioural Science Fellow, Government of Canada)
Jeniffer Ortega (Psychology, National University of Columbia)
Alice Pailhès (Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London)
Matt Tompkins (Cognitive Science, Lund University)
Brian Rappert (Science, Technology, and Public Affairs, University of Exeter)

Duties of Post

The Editor will be responsible for editing and maintaining website content, making sure all pages are relevant, accurate, up-to-date, appropriate for the target audience and easily accessible to users. This will include updating pages to include new events, relevant activities, journals, and so on, as well as maintaining and generating content to include writing copy and researching news items and events of interest to the aesthetics community.

The Editor must be able to respond promptly to requests from the ������Ƶ Manager and Trustees Committee members to create new content and update existing pages.  The post-holder will liaise with the wider aesthetics community wishing to advertise calls for papers, journals and events, proof-reading and editing any adverts so that they are consistent with the style of the website.

In addition, the Editor will maintain an active social media presence for the ������Ƶ via its Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Terms of appointment

The post reports to the ������Ƶ Manager and receives technical guidance from the Website Manager. The post will be paid at £16 per hour for up to 60 hours per annum, as required.  The appointment is for one year in the first instance, renewable subject to satisfactory performance.

Person specification

Applicants will be expected to be UK-based postgraduates working in aesthetics.  No equipment is required other than internet access to carry out the role from home or university.  The ideal candidate will have:

– an understanding of how to edit and maintain websites, including use of WordPress themes

– experience of copywriting, editing and proof-reading

– excellent attention to detail

– an understanding of best practice for the web (usability, access, SEO)

– an appreciation of style of the website

– good communication skills

– experience of maintaining an active Facebook account and Twitter feed

Application procedure

To apply, send us your CV to include the names of two referees and examples of relevant work, and a covering letter setting out your own view of your suitability and qualifications for the role.  Short-listed candidates may be required to attend interview.

Deadline for applications: 31 January 2023.  

Please send your application by email to the Society’s Manager, Caroline Auty: admin@british-aesthetics.org

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Eligibility to present at the Festival: 

All presenters, including papers, panels, commentators, and chairs, must be members of either the ASA or the ������Ƶ in 2023.

What ASA/������Ƶ members need to provide:

• A paper or panel presentation arranged by the ASA/������Ƶ member to be live-streamed on Zoom, or a comparable vehicle widely available via Internet at no charge for persons interested in viewing; in case of panels, the planned presentation should include commentators and chair. Ordinarily, the session should not be for more than 90 minutes for a paper with discussion or two hours for a panel.
• You should submit a substantial abstract of the proposal (at least 500 words) or the complete paper suitable for review. We reserve the right to require the complete paper, as needed to adequately review.
• A specific date and time when the live stream will be available, with scheduling to be as accommodating as possible to persons in North America, Europe, and Asia. Please allow sufficient time: at least two weeks for review and another two weeks for publicity.
• The organizer/presenter should use their own Zoom account for the presentation. (The committee will consider hardship requests for ASA or ������Ƶ to host the session on their Society Zoom accounts.)
• Information on how to access or sign up, depending on the medium used, with appropriate security measures. Security might require registering with the presenter. We strongly discourage open publication of the Zoom address to prevent “Zoom-bombers.”
• Information on how to obtain a copy of the paper in advance of the session, if the member wishes to make that available.

How to apply:

• ASA members should submit their proposal to secretary-treasurer@aesthetics-online.org
• ������Ƶ members should submit their proposal to admin@british-aesthetics.org

What ASA/������Ƶ/ARC will do:

• Provide review to ensure that the presentation is appropriate for distribution by ASA/������Ƶ/ARC as part of the Virtual Summer Aesthetics Festival. The goal is to screen out material inappropriate for publicity by ASA/������Ƶ/ARC, such as scammers, material unrelated to aesthetics, etc.
• Distribute a list of available presentations with names of presenters, titles of presentations, time and date of presentation, access information
  • The list would be distributed weekly or bi-weekly, depending on interest, to ASA bulk email, web page, ASA-Facebook, Twitter, and Philos-L, the ������Ƶ publicity mechanisms, and the ARC publicity mechanisms

Click for Pdf

What is beauty? Even after 300 years of modern aesthetic research, we do not have a generally acceptable definition of beauty. What is the reason? Do we even need a definition of beauty? Is beauty still necessary for Aesthetics and for everyday life? And what can current scientific research tell us about beauty?

Probably due to the decline of modernism and postmodernism – which minimized the importance of beauty in art – and attempts to base (neuro)aesthetics on scientific foundations (Zeki 1999, Ramachandran 1999, Chatterjee 2015), at the end of the last century beauty came once again to the centre of aesthetic research. Examples of such rehabilitation of beauty can be found in Danto (2003), Sartwell (2004), Nehamas (2007), Scruton (2009) and others. It was evident from these works that the classical concept and understanding of beauty required intense revision and reframing, in the sense of Derrida’s deconstruction: theorists needed to go back to the source of the issue and phenomena. The last decade has also witnessed a growing interest in beauty, e.g. in the Aesthetics of Everyday Life, Environmental Aesthetics, but also in the onset of empirical research in the field of Empirical Aesthetics (e.g. Menninghaus, 2019) as well as in many other areas.

Are we ready for a re-evaluation of beauty – for rethinking the role of beauty in art and everyday life? Is the topic of beauty still needed and attractive for aesthetics? Is this the right time to reframe beauty – in concepts, the body, environment, and art?

To promote discussion on this timely issue, ESPES – The Slovak Journal of Aesthetics intends to dedicate a special Thematic Issue to the topic: Reframing beauty: body, environment, art, guest-edited by Andrej Démuth (Comenius University, Bratislava).

We encourage predominantly philosophical-aesthetic studies that set out to rethink the ‘essence’ and role of beauty in the context of contemporary interdisciplinary knowledge, (contemporary) art, as well as in everyday aesthetic experience.

Subtopics:
Beauty in historical perspectives
Beauty in the era of digital media
Beauty as a synonym for aesthetic value
Beauty in contemporary art
Beauty and the body
Beauty and the city
Beauty and the environment
Beauty in the language
Beauty in the Cognitive Sciences

Instructions

Types of Contributions

Research articles are original contributions that initiate a debate, offer a point of view on current trends in aesthetics and the philosophy of art, or introduce a scholarly discussion. Contributions to the Research articles section should not normally exceed 7,500 words (including bibliography). An abstract in English should be added of no more than 150 words.

Interviews offer a portrait of the life and work of leading figures in contemporary Everyday Aesthetic debates. Contributions to the Interviews section should not exceed 3500 words and the proposal must be formerly discussed with the editors before submission.

Translations include seminal essays in different languages newly translated into English. The translated essays are selected based on their relevance for the development of current discourses in Everyday Aesthetics. Contributions to the Translations section should not normally exceed 7,500 words and must be formerly discussed with the editors.

Stylistic Guidelines

Language of Contribution: English.

The complete formatting instructions are available at: . Submissions that do not comply with these instructions will be returned to the author.

All submissions will undergo a double-blind review process.

Timeline

Submission deadline: May 31, 2023 Publication date: December 2023

Submission via . If you have any questions, please contact the editors at: espes@ff.unipo.sk

The conference is co-organised by the and the . Conference fee is 40€ for students and unwaged, and 80 € for academics.

The keynote speakers:

Alva Noë ()

Stacie Friend () 

Veronika Darida ()

Call for Abstracts

We invite papers from all traditions and on any topic in philosophical aesthetics. Both systematic and historical presentations are acceptable. For each talk, there will be time for a 20–25-minute presentation, with about another 20 minutes designated for discussion. All papers presented at the conference are eligible for publication in the . 

Submissions must be long abstracts (800-1200 words in length) presenting not only the main ideas and claims of the paper, but also the arguments in favour of them. We encourage the presentation of submissions in English, but submissions in other major European languages will be considered equally. Full paper submissions will not be accepted, and submissions are limited to one per person. Please, do not exceed the word limit.

Please use the PDF-file format for submission and render your text completely anonymous to allow for blind refereeing, i.e., the names of participants should not be revealed in the proposal. To submit your long abstract, please use the (first-time users will be asked to register with EasyChair).

The deadline for submissions of long abstracts and panel proposals is 16th January 2023. We aim to inform you about the result of our selection process by the end of February.

Call for Panel Proposals

We also invite submission of panels (1200-1500 words in length), which can be dedicated to a specific topic or a recently published book, relevant within the field of aesthetics. Panels should include up to four people and be completely anonymous to allow for blind refereeing, i.e., the names of participants should not be revealed in the proposal. One panel lasts 90 minutes. Panel proposals will be evaluated on an all or nothing basis. In addition to being included in a panel proposal, you can submit an individual long abstract. However, you can only present your own paper (if accepted) in case the panel where you participate is not accepted.

To propose a panel, please follow the same procedure as described above.

The 2023 Fabian Dorsch ESA Essay Prize Contest Announced

The European Society for Aesthetics awards an essay prize for PhD students and early career scholars (max. three years from the doctorate) in connection with its yearly conference. Former winners of the prize are not eligible to participate. The prize consists of a stipend of 500€. The winning essay will be considered for publication in the journal.

All submissions to the prize must be in English. The selection of the prize winner is in two stages. First, submissions are made by following the general call of the ESA 2023 conference. Please place “(Essay Prize)” after the title of your submission in EasyChair to indicate that you want your submission to be considered for the prize. After the first round of reviews, selected authors are asked to submit a full conference paper (max. 5000 words, including bibliography and footnotes) by April 15th, 2023. The recipient of the prize is selected from this group. We aim to announce the winner by May 15th, 2023.

Additionally to selecting the winning paper, the ESA Essay Prize Committee plans to shortlist up to two more essays out of those who are invited to submit their full conference paper. For each of the shortlisted essays (including the winning one), a commentary by one ESA executive board member (or an invited scholar) will be provided before the conference. The essays, comments, and replies to these by the authors will be presented in a special session at the conference.

The ESA Essay Prize is named after the co-founder and first secretary of The European Society for Aesthetics, Fabian Dorsch (1974–2017). Former winners include Servaas van der Berg (2017), Mark Windsor (2018), Irene Martínez Marín (2019), Jeremy Page (2020), Nemesio G. C. Puy (2021), and Alex Fisher (2022).

Imagination has recently garnered considerable attention in various fields of philosophy. Attempting to elucidate the mind’s functional organization or ‘architecture’, certain philosophers explore the relations between imagining and mental imagery on the one hand, and, imagination and other kinds of mental states such as perceptual states, beliefs, desires and emotions, on the other. Questions about the nature of works of fiction, pretense, mindreading and spontaneous daydreams have been reframed as questions about the nature and uses of imagination. Other discussions pertain to the question of whether we can learn from imagination or invoke it in justifying beliefs. Imagination is also invoked to explain phenomena such as self-deception, implicit bias, delusion, belief-discordant behavior, imaginative immersion, etc.

For this special issue we welcome papers on any topic related to the theme. The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2023; we aim to make decisions within 3 months after the deadline.

Submissions will be through the ScholarOne system and should conform to Analysis author guidelines, including the word limit of 4000 words (see ). In ScholarOne, please make sure to tick the box indicating that the submission is for a special issue, and on the cover page please include the words ‘submitted for the special issue on imagination’.  

All submissions will be refereed to maintain the high standards of Analysis. 

If you have any questions, please contact the guest editors alon.chasid@gmail.com; elvira.dibona@unito.it .

Stacie Friend, David Liggins and Lee Walters

Analysis Editors

Weds 30 November, 4pm, Jarman Studio 5 (+ Teams link to follow).

In this paper I examine the changes wrought to women’s/lifestyle media during the coronavirus pandemic. Closely analysing several issues of Grazia UK from the first UK lockdown, I argue that the societal and affective disorientation of the  pandemic allowed this magazine to do genuine political work – critiquing the government, advocating for non-capitalist subjectivities and forms of community work – which is normally absent from such publications due to their imbrication in commercial logics and industries. At the same time, fashion was reframed as a tool to navigate the affective uncertainties of the pandemic, offering levity (comfort, play) and escape (dreaming of better days to come) which shows us how closely woven fashion is with affect and mood. 

Teams link available for those wishing to join online to follow. If you plan to attend in person, please let Murray Smith know, as space is limited: mss@kent.ac.uk

Thurs 17 November, 5pm, Jarman Studio 5 (+ Teams link to follow)

My project ‘a philosopHER walks’ aims to philosophically and physically explore various types of walking. Although I am a somewhat experienced and well-equipped long distance walker, Stage One of the project, Pedestrian at Best, was born out of my frustration at finding a viable route to take and discovering the limits on someone like me, poor people, to walk. As a result, this first stage tests what sort of walking is possible for those of us living on or below the poverty line, to be a pedestrian who uses only local busses and has to keep to a daily budget based on Universal Credit standard rates. This talk celebrates the end of stage one, offering my initial reflections on walking when poor. Along with reporting on my experiences during these 21 days of walks, I shall reveal the political tension between walking as a radical act and the privilege of walking; identify some of the philosophy in developing a philosophy of walking; and present the aesthetics of walking, from the sartorial to the sublime.

‘a philosopHER walks’ Website: 

Teams link available for those wishing to join online to follow. If you plan to attend in person, please let Murray Smith know, as space is limited: mss@kent.ac.uk