Sunday, June 29, 2014

Call for papers (Deadline August 1 2014): Psychological perspectives on aesthetics


Call for papers (Deadline August 1 2014)
Psychological perspectives on aesthetics


December 11–13 2014, MPI for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M., Germany

Aesthetics, as a discipline, has evolved to deal primarily with the experience and evaluation of sensory perceptions, especially in relation to artworks. Traditionally a subfield of philosophy and a concern of the different disciplines related to the specific art forms, such as literary studies, musicology, and art history, the latter part of the 19th century witnessed the development of a new, empirical approach to the questions of aesthetics. This empirical approach originated out of the then emerging field of experimental psychology, and today psychological aesthetics still dominates the empirical branch of aesthetic research. However, an engagement of this psychological approach with the ongoing debates and research in the humanities is (unfortunately) rarely entertained.

The Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (founded in 2013) seeks to implement a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to the study of aesthetics with special emphasis on language/literature and music. Psychological findings, methods, and paradigms will play an important role in this context. In order to provide a forum where desiderata, promising topics, empirical and experimental methods and interdisciplinary perspectives can be identified and discussed, we are hosting a workshop to which we invite colleagues with a background in any relevant field of psychology (e.g. perception, emotion, cognition, development, social) and a serious interest in matters of aesthetics. We welcome short abstracts that either present ongoing research, evaluate and discuss certain research fields or outline ideas for possible future research. 

Please address your proposal to Mrs Myriam Mieles (assistent of the managing director): myriam.mieles@aesthetics.mpg.de 


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