During 2020-1 the Institute of Philosophy London Aesthetics Forum (LAF) has continued to hold its regular series of seminars on topics in aesthetics and the philosophy of art, but have switched to an online Zoom format, due to COVID.
The LAF aims to provide a lively environment for those already working in aesthetics and philosophy of art, and to foster new interest. LAF events are open to all, both inside and outside the University of London. Audiences tend to be multi-disciplinary, and talks are followed by extended discussion where the philosophical topics raised by the talks are explored in depth from a variety of perspectives. With the new online format, we鈥檝e had over 100 attendees in some cases, and draw attendees from around the world.
The LAF now has 946 Facebook followers and 1,975 followers on Twitter, and the website received many thousands of hits in the past year.
One of the LAF鈥檚 aims is to benefit students who are working in aesthetics or related areas, providing opportunities for graduate researchers to engage with cutting edge work and meet (if this year, only in an e-format) other academics working in the area. Graduate students in the University of London also play a central role in organising the Forum鈥檚 activities, and in 2020-1 year this has included help on various organizational tasks, as well as participating actively in discussions.
We have aimed for a diverse programme, including talks by early career philosophers as well as by those more established in the field. Talks in 2020-1 included speakers from the U.K., the U.S., New Zealand, and Canada. 聽Our speakers were as follows:
John Hyman (UCL), 鈥淭ruth and Truthfulness in Painting鈥�
Panos Paris (Cardiff), 鈥�’On the Concept of Form in the Theory of Beauty鈥�
Kathrine Cuccuru (Sussex), 鈥淭he Problem with the History of Aesthetics Before Aesthetics鈥�
Thi Nguyen (Utah), 鈥淭he Arts of Action鈥�
Susan Feagin (Temple), 鈥淣onfiction Theater鈥�
Noel Carroll (CUNY), 鈥淔orget Taste鈥�
Sondra Bacharach (Wellington, NZ), 鈥淰andalising Art鈥�
Alex King (Simon Fraser), 鈥淓thics, Aesthetics, and the Color Analogy鈥�
SWIP: LAF aims for gender diversity in our talks. 4 of our 8 speakers this year have been women.
The LAF would like to thank the 糖心视频 for their continued support.
鈥擜ndrew Huddleston
On behalf of the LAF鈥檚 2020-21 organising group: Andrew Huddleston (Birkbeck), Stacie Friend (Birkbeck), Alex Grzankowski (Birkbeck); Sarah Kiernan (PhD Student, Birkbeck); Taylor Enoch (PhD Student, UCL)