Call for Papers

Architecture+Philosophy 2011 Conference - April 8-9, 2011
Boston University, Department of Philosophy, Boston, MA

Submission Deadline: January 15, 2011. 

Thinking about architecture has long been an enterprise of philosophers and architects alike, but in recent years there has been a growing divergence between them over terminological and methodological issues.  Philosophers charge architects with mishandling texts and architects charge philosophers with mishandling buildings.  But there are also other divisions among contemporary architectural theorists themselves.  Some theorists concern themselves with the human experience, with ethical and poetical questions, and with sensory and aesthetic explorations of architecture and its environment.  Other theorists are bent on treating architecture as a form of knowledge that takes shape as a formal and socio-political practice through tools such as language, algorithms, and diagrams. Still other theorists see their task as navigating among these sometimes quite distinct approaches.

Architecture+Philosophy 2011 seeks to clarify thought on the intersection of architecture and philosophy. Keynote speakers will be Dr. Karsten Harries and Dr. Alberto Pérez-Gómez. Two panel discussions will be held on concrete and on ethics, love, and architecture.

If you would like to join the reading group PhilArch Forum that will be heading up to the event, please see the about PhilArch page. The co-organizers are Dr. Daniel Dahlstrom, Bryan Norwood, and Elizabeth Robinson.  For other questions, contact the conference organizers at architecture.philosophy@gmail.com.

Book Series:  RadicalAesthetics-RadicalArt
Deadline: August 31st

Call for book proposals for two titles - Socio-political aesthetics and Eco-aesthetics as part of a commissioned series of books:  RadicalAesthetics-RadicalArt.

Contact:  Dr. Jane Tormey J.Tormey@lboro.ac.uk and Dr Gillian Whiteley G.Whiteley@lboro.ac.uk. Proposals should be e-mailed to both series editors by the end of August.

This new series of books, to be published by I. B. Tauris, explores what aesthetics might mean in the twenty-first century. We use the term ‘radical’ to promote debate, confront convention, and formulate alternative ways of thinking about art practice. The fundamental premise of the series is to reconsider the relationship between practicing art and thinking about art. The series aims to liberate the notion of aesthetics from visual traditions and to expand its parameters in a creative and meaningful way. It proposes to examine those multisensory, collaborative, participatory and transitory practices that have developed in the last twenty years.

The purpose of the series is to critique conventional approaches to thinking about art practice and aesthetics, reconsider the interrelationships between theories and art practice on equal terms, provide a useful resource to assist research and provoke discussion, address current issues in response to contemporary contexts, encourage an interdisciplinary approach to discussion, and survey recent and current material and debate.

Books in the series will provide a comprehensive discussion of developments in contemporary art practice that is global in scope, their relation to other disciplines in the humanities, and the consequent re-evaluation of the term ‘aesthetics.’ The series is intended for an academic audience in the broad field of the fine arts, history of art, media and aesthetics. The secondary readership would be visual culture, philosophy and politics and extending across the humanities more generally.

 The first two titles planned for this series are Socio-political Aesthetics and Eco-aesthetics. We invite submissions from authors (artists and scholars) who can make a provocative contribution to the development of these debates.  Each book (60-70,000 words) should offer a challenging critique to assist research and to generate discussion. For each theme, authors should address its contemporary relevance, outline relevant and key concepts, provide historical and cultural background, interrogate different theoretical positions, address theory and practice, and provide comprehensive bibliography and glossary of terms.

Submission

Proposals should be 3 to 5 sides A4 and include a statement outlining your theoretical position and interpretation of the theme, a detailed synopsis, and an outline of each chapter with reference to specific theories and examples of practice.  Author information should include a  CV (one A4 page maximum), a brief description of academic interests and professional affiliations, a list of publications, and a sample of recent publication (e.g. article or chapter in book).

For background information on the RaRa project, see

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/mainpages/Research/staff%20groups/Politicized%20Website/PPRG.html

The Crisis of the Human Sciences:
False Objectivity and the Decline of Creativity
March 6-8, 2011 -  Kuwait

Deadline for submission of abstracts: November 30, 2010

The Gulf University for Science and Technology is a highly modern institution and strives to be among the leading private universities in the region.  Registration and submissions on the conference website: http://conferences.gust.edu.kw/

Centralization and over-professionalization can lead to the disappearance of a critical environment capable of linking the disciplines to the "real world." The humanities need to operate in a concrete cultural environment able to influence procedures on a hic et nunc basis and should not entirely depend on normative criteria whose function is often to hide ignorance behind a pretentious veil of value-neutral objectivity.  For example, in sociology, the growth of scientism has fragmented ethical categories and distorted discourse between inner and outer selves. Philosophy is suffering from an empty professionalism current in many philosophy departments in industrialized and developing countries, where tiresome, ahistorical, and nonpolitical exercises are justified through appeals to false excellence.  In all branches of the humanities absurd evaluation processes foster similar tendencies as they create a sterile atmosphere and prevent interdisciplinarity and creativity. An invidious technicization of theory plays into the hands of technocrats. Due to the centralization of editorial power in the hand of large university presses of Anglophone countries, the content, quality, and range of  modern publishing has become only too predictable.  How do people working in the humanities respond to the crisis in their respective disciplines? Papers including either meta-scientific considerations or concrete observations are welcome.
 
Submissions:

Proposal submissions directly related to the topic are welcome from scholars working in all fields of the humanities and social sciences.  A 250-word abstract along with a short biographical note (max. 100 words) should be submitted by using the conference website.  Papers should not exceed 3000 words (20 minutes reading time). Conference fee: Early bird (until December 15) 50 KD [€130] covering the costs of an opening reception, a conference dinner, and refreshments. After December 15: 60 KD [€155].

For more information contact:
Ayman Bakr bakr.a@gust.edu.kw or Thorsten Botz-Bornstein Botz.T@gust.edu.kw

Call For Abstracts

American Philosophies Forum  2011 Conference:
“Cosmopolitanism and Place”
June 2-4, 2011  Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid

Sponsors:  Emory University (USA) & Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (SPAIN)

Deadline:  1 October 2010.  

Submissions are invited on any aspect of this topic and should reflect the broad mission of the American Philosophies Forum:  to contribute to the critical development, imaginative growth, and shared understanding of American philosophical traditions in a global context; and to bring the resources of these multiple philosophies to bear on the reconstruction of contemporary culture and the amelioration of its problems.  Exclusively expository or historical  submissions will not be accepted. 

Submissions must take the form of abstracts of 350-500 words sent to:  americanphilosophiesforum@gmail.com   Persons who submit an essay should be Associates of APF.  To become an Associate—there is no cost, simply e-mail name, address, institutional affiliation (if any), and preferred e-address to: americanphilosophiesforum@gmail.com. 

For additional information about The American Philosophies Forum, the conference, and detailed submission requirements, see: http://www.americanphilosophiesforum.org/.

Call for Papers

The Eighteenth International Congress of Aesthetics
http://www.caae.pku.edu.cn/ica2010/

August 9th - 13th, 2010  -   Beijing

Deadline for submission of abstracts: March 31, 2010.

The Eighteenth International Congress of Aesthetics (ICA) is the largest conference on aesthetics in the world and represents the highest level of scholarship in this discipline. For about a century, the International Association of Aesthetics has held seventeen congresses in Europe, Asia, and North and South Americas, including, since the beginning of the 21st century, three congresses in Tokyo, Rio, and Ankara . The theme of the Beijing Congress will be “Diversities Aesthetics.”                                                                                                                   

On behalf of the Program Committee for the XVIII International Congress of Aesthetics, we are pleased to invite you to attend the convention.  Please submit the abstract of your presentation to ica2010@yahoo.cn

Topics include:

1.  The global and the local: Western and non-Western aesthetics
2.  The definition of art and the analysis of concepts of art
3.  Conflicts and interactions between cultural studies and aesthetics
4.  The relationship between aesthetics and philosophy, ethics, psychology, or anthropology, etc.
5.  The relationship between aesthetics and forms of art, such as music, painting, sculpture, architecture, calligraphy, movie, and design, etc.
6.  The relationship between aesthetics and nature/environment/ecology
7.  The relationship between aesthetics and economy, society, and politics
8.  Aesthetics and aesthetic education
9.  Aesthetics: historical traditions and modernization
10. Aesthetics: information technology and the cyber-space

 Please note: Abstracts should be 200 - 300 words. Please mark on your abstract the topic under which you wish it to be listed. Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Program Committee. A formal letter of invitation will be sent out by the Program Committee when an abstract is accepted.

Suggested length: 30 min., including 10 min. for discussion.

Registration fee:   200 USD (IAA membership included); graduate students,100 USD (IAA membership included).

Fourteenth Annual Meeting of International Association for Environmental Philosophy

November 6-8, 2010, Montreal, Canada
www.environmentalphilosophy.org

The International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP) invites attendance at  its annual meeting to be held in Montreal, Canada on November 6-8, 2010, immediately following the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP).

The International Association for Environmental Philosophy offers a forum for the philosophical discussion of our relation to the natural environment. Embracing a broad understanding of environmental philosophy, IAEP encourages discussions of environmental ethics, environmental aesthetics, ontology, the philosophy of science, political philosophy, ecofeminism, the philosophy of technology, and religion. IAEP also welcomes a diversity of approaches to these issues, including those inspired by Continental philosophy, the history of philosophy, and the tradition of American philosophy.
For further information contact:

Brian Schroeder
Co-Director, International Association for Environmental Philosophy
http://www.environmentalphilosophy.org

Call for Papers and Artworks

Geo-Aesthetics in the Anthropocene

Salisbury University May 24-26, 2010
http://geoaesthetics.blogspot.com
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: March 1, 2010

What do the ecological humanities have to say in a time of extinction unprecedented in human history? How might the ecological arts address living in the emergence of a geological era that is now defined primarily by the human impact upon the living world? 

Featured Speakers include Irene Klaver, Director of The Water Project; John Murungi, co-founder of IASESP; Joan Maloof, author of Teaching the Trees ; Thomas Horton, environmental journalist.

Proposals for papers, as well as artworks and musical and theatrical presentations, welcomed. Send abstracts and/or images to:GeoAesthetics@aol.com or to  Dr. James Hatley, Department of Philosophy,Salisbury University, Salisbury MD 21801. 

Sponsored by The International Association for Environmental Philosophy, the Philosophy Department, the Environmental Studies Program, and the Fulton School of the Liberal Arts of Salisbury University.