An international conference at the University of Vienna 9-10 June 2014
The Conference Theme / Call for Papers
Recent research in the cognitive sciences has inspired a wealth of new approaches to the study of mind, consciousness and embodied experience. For researchers in the humanities, the cognitive turn has challenged long-established definitions of what it means to be human. This conference will scrutinise the implications of neuroscientific research on the ultimately human capacity to create culture (literature, art, music, etc).
Experts in cognitive poetics and the new sub-disciplines of Mind Reading (or Theory of Mind) and the Social Mind will be invited to discuss their understanding and vision of what the cognitive sciences can contribute to a better understanding of culture – as an abstract concept as well as an umbrella term that embraces a vast range of cultural practices.
Questions for debate revolve around the following topics:
In what ways have recent arguments about the inseparability between body and mind affected our understanding of culture?
Do the cognitive sciences offer new approaches to the understanding of the production and consumption (or aesthetic experience) of culture?
This is a 6-week, Session One, two credit program.
The Duke Neurohumanities in Paris global education program brings a vertically integrated and international learning community into sustained dialogue to advance theorizations at the crossroads of neuroscience and humanities systems of knowledge and disciplinary milieu.
Taught with a collaborative modular team faculty, the program will unfold in the context of deepening local knowledge of the history of cognitive science and of humanities that are germane to cognitive analysis. Faculty will invite a selection of guest lecturers who will assist in forging ties between Duke faculty and students and the local Parisian interdisciplinary neuroscience community.
You can find further information about mission and goals, program schedule, application process here Duke Neurohumanities in Paris
The NeuroHumanitieStudies Group recommend you the reading of
The Aesthetic Brain
Hhow we evolved to desire beauty and enjoy art
Anjan Chatterjee
The Aesthetic Brain takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey through the world of beauty, pleasure, and art. Chatterjee uses neuroscience to probe how an aesthetic sense is etched in our minds and evolutionary psychology to explain why aesthetic concerns feature centrally in our lives. Along the way, Chatterjee addresses fundamental questions: What is beauty? Is beauty universal? How is beauty related to pleasure? What is art? Should art be beautiful? Do we have an instinct for art? Chatterjee starts by probing the reasons that we find people, places, and even numbers beautiful. At the root of beauty, he finds, is pleasure. He then examines our pleasures by dissecting why we want and why we like food, sex, and money and how these rewards relate to aesthetic encounters. His ruminations on beauty and pleasure prepare him and the reader to face art. He wanders through the problems of defining art, understanding contemporary art, and interpreting ancient art. He explores why art, something
that seems so useless, also feels fundamental to our humanity. Replete with facts, anecdotes, and analogies, this empirical guide to aesthetics offers scientific answers without deflating the wonders of beauty and art.
The 2014 Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA)
will be held in New York City from August 22-24, 2014.
Deadline: 1 April 2014
The 2014 IAEA Congress is an opportunity for researchers and scholars from different domains and countries to present and share empirical research on aesthetics, creativity, and the psychology of the arts. Submissions may address questions concerning: aesthetic perception, appreciation, emotion, experience, and judgment; the creative process in various media and domains; cultural studies; musicology; art historical perspectives on aesthetics and creativity; architectural and design studies; museology; philosophical, theoretical, and methodological issues in aesthetics research; and others.
Detailed information about the Congress venues, program, submission guidelines, registration, travel, and accommodations may be found on the official Congress website:
Congress Organizing Committee: Aaron Kozbelt (Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center), Paul Locher (Montclair State University), Pablo Tinio (Queens College)
Universidad CEU San Pablo - Madrid, Spain 11-13 June 2014
Submission Deadline: 6 February 2014
CONFERENCE FOCUS
The Humanities Conference is held annually in different locations around the world. Over the past eleven years, the Humanities Conference has established a reputation as a focal point for new ideas and new practices in humanities research and teaching.
The conference will address a range of critically important themes in the various fields that make up the humanities today. Plenary speakers will include some of the world’s leading thinkers in the humanities, as well as numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by teachers and researchers.
We are inviting proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, or colloquia (See Proposal Types) addressing the Humanities through one of the following themes:
METAPHOR IN COMMUNICATION, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION Cagliari, June 20-23, 2014
Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy
School of Communication Science
University of Cagliari
The Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor welcomes researchers from various theoretical approaches studying metaphor and metonymy in different forms of expression and in different realms of use in society (e.g., educational, political, commercial, artistic). Contributors to the 2014 conference may approach metaphor and metonymy from a variety of perspectives (including philosophical, cognitive, discursive, cultural, pedagogical, social, etc.) and by applying a variety of methods (including discourse analytical methods, corpus-based methods, experimental methods, etc.)
The 2nd International Conference will take place at Durham University, 24-26 April 2014.
Deadline: 1st December 2013
CONFIRMED PLENARY SPEAKERS
ALAN RICHARDSON (Boston College)
PATRICIA WAUGH (Durham University)
MARK ROWLANDS (University of Miami)
DAVID HERMAN (Durham University)
ALAN PALMER (Independent scholar)
VYVYAN EVANS (Bangor University)
PLUS A ROUNDTABLE ON INTERDISCIPLINARITY INCLUDING ELLEN SPOLSKY (BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY) AND MICHAEL WHEELER (STIRLING UNIVERSITY) Read the rest of this entry »
Uriah Kriegel, A Hesitant Defense of Introspection 2013.
