Aesthetics for Birds

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art for Everyone

Tag Archives: academic philosophy

November 29, 2017
by Aesthetics for Birds
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The ASA at 75: Diversity and the Tipping Point

The following is a guest post by Charles Peterson (Oberlin College). This is the third of three companion pieces that reflect on the ASA’s 75th anniversary. Click here for the first, by A.W. Eaton, and the second, by Paul C. Taylor. See also the ASA Officers’ response letter here. The age of 75 can signify multiple indicators. At 75 years old, an ant would be ancient. At 75 years old a mountain would be considered infantile in its span and at 75 years old a human being, has lived to a ripe and healthy age. For an academic organization, 75 years is a perfect time to celebrate its longevity and take stock of its future. The American Society for Aesthetics is at this point in regards to the inclusion of diverse scholars and discourses in its proceedings.  The ASA stands at the threshold where its present efforts to open up, … Continue reading →

November 27, 2017
by Aesthetics for Birds
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The ASA at 75: ‘Splaining and Safaris

What follows is a guest post by Paul C. Taylor (Penn State). [Updated:] This is the second of three companion pieces that reflect on the ASA’s 75th anniversary. Click here for the first, by A.W. Eaton, and the third, by Charles Peterson. See also the ASA Officers’ response letter here. By the time my father turned 75, he was freely exercising the wide-ranging license to offend that family elders often enjoy. He could say or do pretty much anything, and we would chalk it up to him being set in his ways. We would weigh the costs and benefits of contesting his frequently insensitive and sometimes just rude behavior, or of reminding him of all the considerations that militate against talking about women or Jews or whatever like that anymore. And we would usually decide that discretion was the better part of valour, and we would let him alone. So on he … Continue reading →

November 27, 2017
by Aesthetics for Birds
3 Comments

The ASA at 75: How Are We Doing with Diversity and Inclusion?

What follows is a guest post by A.W. Eaton (University of Illinois-Chicago). [Updated:] This is the first of three companion pieces that reflect on the ASA’s 75th anniversary. Click here for the second, by Paul C. Taylor, and the third, by Charles Peterson. See also the ASA Officers’ response letter here. The 75th anniversary of the American Society of Aesthetics is an opportunity to reflect upon both our progress regarding inclusion and diversity and also upon the remaining work to be done. I discuss them here in turn.

May 27, 2017
by utahphilosoraptor
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Art Rules: Conference Recap, DAY 2

Mary-Beth Willard (Weber State) offers pseudo-live-blogging/recap/latergram of the Art Rules Conference, Day 2 I’ve found (n = a few) that aesthetics conferences have some of the best philosophical audiences and discussions. I am not sure why this has been the case – the small size of the subfield? The somewhat more interdisciplinary nature of aesthetics? Whatever the reason, the participants at Art Rules were no exception. Discussion has been great.

May 26, 2017
by utahphilosoraptor
2 Comments

Art Rules: Conference Recap, DAY 1

Mary Beth Willard (Weber State) offers pseudo-live-blogging/recap/latergram of the Art Rules Conference, Day 1 Most people know Salt Lake City as “weren’t the Olympics there in 2002?” and some people after mine own heart know it as “Isn’t that the city where Scully was going to be banished in the first X-Files movie?”, but what they don’t know is that the art community in Salt Lake is so generous that the Art Rules: Aesthetic Reasons, Norms, and Standards (May 19-20) conference was held inside of the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art for free. An aesthetics conference in an art museum! No one tell them this isn’t a thing.

March 29, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
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ASA Funds Conference on the Philosophy of Portraits

The American Society for Aesthetics Board of Trustees has approved a grant of $3,990 for a conference on “The Philosophy of Portraits” at the University of Maryland, April 7-8, 2018. The conference has been organized by Hans Maes, Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Art and Director of the Aesthetics Research Centre at the University of Kent, and Jerrold Levinson, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. Confirmed keynote speakers include A.W. Eaton, Cynthia Freeland, and Jenefer Robinson. A call for additional papers for the conference will be announced shortly. ASA is funding two travel grants for ASA student members of $500 each for papers selected for the program. The conference registration fee of $35 will be waived for all ASA members attending the conference.

March 22, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
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Questioning Aesthetics Symposium: Black Aesthetics

The American Society for Aesthetics is pleased to provide $7500 in partial support of the Questioning Aesthetics Symposium: Black Aesthetics, to be held at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, March 31-April 1, 2017. Funding is also being provided by Hampshire College, the Transdisciplinary Aesthetics Foundation, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the Five-College Lecture Fund. The conference is co-organized by Monique Roelofs, Professor of Philosophy at Hampshire College, and Michael Kelly, Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and the Founder and President of the Transdisciplinary Aesthetics Foundation. The symposium will be free and open to the public. NEW (2/27/2017): Symposium Program Web sites for the Symposium: http://blackaesthetics.hampshire.edu https://transaestheticsfoundation.org/ Poster: http://aesthetics-online.org/resource/resmgr/conferences/QAS-BlackAesthetics-Poster.pdf Four grants of $500 each, made possible by an ASA Major Projects Initiative Grant, have been awarded to ASA student  members to attend the Symposium: James Cobb, English and … Continue reading →

January 25, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
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ASA to Sponsor Aesthetics Speakers at 2017 Diversity Institutes

The Board of Trustees of the American Society for Aesthetics has approved sponsoring aesthetics speakers at three diversity institutes in the summer of 2017: (1) the Summer Program for Women in Philosophy at UC San Diego, June 28-July 8; (2) the 20th Annual Rutgers Summer Institute for Diversity in Philosophy, July 10-17; (3) the Summer Immersion Program at Brown University, July 28. For each of the three institutes, the ASA-sponsored speaker will attend the Institute for two days, give a 2-1/2 hour presentation (including a question and answer period), and take meals with the students. Each speaker will receive an honorarium, plus travel, lodging, and meals at the institute site. For more information on each institute, please consult their web sites: Brown: http://www.sippatbrown.com/ Rutgers: http://philosophy.rutgers.edu/events-335/summer-institute UCSD: http://spwp.ucsd.edu/2017-program/ Applications are now be sought for these appointments. Applicants to be the ASA speaker must be current members of the ASA. Applicants should … Continue reading →

January 11, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
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New MA in Philosophy & the Arts at the University of Warwick, Uk

Applications are now open for an innovative new MA at the University at Warwick allowing students to combine Philosophy with one or more Arts disciplines. Warwick Philosophy operates a rolling admissions process, considering applications as they come in. Early application is encouraged to secure a place. The contributing departments to the new degree are i) Philosophy ii) English & Comparative Literature iii) Film & TV, and iv) Art History. Candidates take modules from Philosophy plus one or more arts disciplines, and have the option of gaining the degree by fulfilling the coursework requirements of 6 modules or of 4 modules plus dissertation. The degree has been designed to introduce students from both Philosophy and a variety of Arts and Humanities backgrounds to detailed philosophical study of the arts, in combination with the kind of first order critical, theoretical and historical attention to works of art, film and literature offered by … Continue reading →