Aesthetics for Birds

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art for Everyone

Tag Archives: awards

February 1, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
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ASA to Award Diversity Curriculum Grants

The American Society of Aesthetics is pleased to announce the 2017 competition for Curriculum Diversification Grants.  Up to three grants for up to $5,000 each will be awarded in 2017.  The application deadline is May 1, 2017. Grantees will develop detailed annotated reading lists, complete with background reading, that are organized into modules covering core areas in aesthetics/philosophy of art. The idea here is not to develop modules oriented primarily around gender, race, disability, etc., but, rather, to promote diversity at the heart of mainstream aesthetics and philosophy of art.  Modules should be usable in, for instance: introduction to aesthetics/philosophy of art courses; courses on particular historical figures or movements (e.g., Plato’s or Aristotle’s aesthetics, Medieval aesthetics, Scottish Enlightenment aesthetics, Continental aesthetics); courses devoted topics or problems within core areas in aesthetics/philosophy of art (e.g., Fiction, Film, Narrative, Music, Depiction, Art and Ethics, Ontology of Art, Definitions of Art, Theories … Continue reading →

December 14, 2016
by Rebecca Millsop
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New Arthur Danto/ASA Prize Announced

The American Philosophical Association and the American Society for Aesthetics are pleased to announce the establishment of the Arthur Danto/American Society for Aesthetics Prize. The prize recognizes outstanding published work in aesthetics in honor of the late Arthur Danto, a past-president of the APA-Eastern Division. The Prize will be awarded to a member of the APA and ASA for the best paper in the field of aesthetics, broadly understood, in a refereed journal, or an original book chapter or original essay published in a collection with a multiplicity of contributors. The award will be presented in even-numbered years, commencing in 2018. The winner will receive a $1,000 prize. In addition, a symposium in honor of the recipient of the Prize will be held at the APA Eastern Division meeting, normally the next such meeting following the selection of the prize winner. The symposium will normally include a summary of the … Continue reading →

October 20, 2014
by Aesthetics for Birds
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AFB Fab Flock Five 2012 & 2013

Many of you may recall the previous discussion (here) about the near total absence in Philosophers’ Annual of articles dealing with issues in Philosophy of Art & Aesthetics. In response, many of you suggested AFB host its own annual recognition of outstanding papers in the field. Well, here you are. A panel of nine judges were tasked with nominating what they thought to be particularly outstanding papers published in 2012 and 2013 (judges could not nominate their own work). From those nominations, five papers were selected for each year. I present to you…

September 12, 2014
by Aesthetics for Birds
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1st Annual AFB Awards (The Ornies)

Aesthetics for Birds is proud to present… The 1st Annual AFB Awards (The Ornies) ********************************* Nominees were limited to Guest Posts and Interviews published in Aesthetics for Birds’ 1st year of operation (07/2013-07/2014) and where needed further narrowed based on total number of pageviews and comments received. A panel of 7 judges reviewed all nominees then rank ordered their preferences in each category with the AFB Award going to the nominee with the greatest weighted average. Winners will have their Ornie mailed to them in the form of a 3″x4″ sticker. Yes, that’s right, the Ornie is a sticker this year. ********************************* Nominees for Outstanding Guest Post: “Seven Puzzles About Pictorial Content” by Gabriel Greenberg “Wonder Works: Renovating Romanticism About Art” by Jesse Prinz “Thoughts on the Philosophy of Dance” by Aili Bresnahan “The Philosophical Importance of Aesthetics” by Anna Christina Ribeiro “A Very Practical Defence of Aesthetic Value” by … Continue reading →

September 6, 2014
by Aesthetics for Birds
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AFB Covers Contest WINNERS!

The AFB Cover Month Philosophy Contest tasked philosophers with providing (in 50 words or fewer) an answer to the question “Can a Band be its own Cover Band?” I received nearly two dozen entries, which were anonymized and sent along to independent judge P.D. Magnus (Albany). Below are the results, followed by a nice summary from the honorable Judge Magnus. 1st Place: BP Morton (Winner of an AFB T-shirt & Sticker Packet): 2nd Place: Eric Wiland (Winner of an AFB Sticker Packet): Honorable Mentions: Roy T. Cook, Jim Hamlyn, & Jonathan Weinberg ******************************* Judge’s Report The contest grew out of a conversation between Christy and me about whether musicians adopting different personas might do a cover of a song they had recorded earlier. It would have been easy to get caught up in how to define a ‘cover’, but we quickly realized that the meatier philosophical question was about the identity conditions … Continue reading →

August 1, 2014
by Aesthetics for Birds
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August is Covers Month at AFB

The Cover Song is a wondrously magical yet terribly fickle alchemical creature: just as it may resurrect an otherwise lifeless subject, so too might it destroy all that’s good in it (or even worse, leave it seemingly altogether unchanged). To pay tribute to this mysterious being, for the month of August Aesthetics for Birds will feature nothing but cover songs in its weekly music posts Musical Mondays & Fall Fridays. ****************************************************** As an extra bonus, AFB is holding a PHILOSOPHY CONTEST related to the philosophical issues surrounding the Cover Song. Here’s what you need to know: Background: Cover bands (also known as tribute bands) aim to faithfully reproduce the music (live performances) of the bands they cover (e.g., Fan Halen is a Van Halen cover band, BC/DC is an AC/DC cover band from British Columbia, Iron Maidens is an all-female Iron Maiden cover band). Assignment: In 50 words or fewer, … Continue reading →