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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260416T135211Z
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20250926T090000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20250927T170000
SUMMARY:CfA: Workshop "Behavior Across the Tree of Life: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges"
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TZID:Europe/Brussels
LOCATION:Kardinaal Mercierplein 2\, Leuven\, Belgium\, 3000
DESCRIPTION:<p>Frameworks from animal behavior studies are increasingly being borrowed and adapted to interpret a wealth of empirical findings in creatures outside the animal kingdom\, such as plants\, fungi\, and bacteria. These findings include goal-oriented dynamics\, adjustments in growth and development\, and signaling. Collectively\, they have complicated our understanding of what constitutes organismal activity and stretched the concept of behavior\, prompting a reevaluation of how behavior should be understood and how it can be distinguished from related activities\, such as growth and development.&nbsp\;</p>\n<p>Even though cross-kingdom comparisons are increasingly employed to frame and explain the activities of non-animal organisms\, the issue of whether these comparisons are epistemologically and methodologically warranted remains underexplored.</p>\n<p><strong>This workshop will explore the theoretical and methodological foundations of comparative research on behavior across the tree of life and will spell out some of its challenges.</strong> It will convene philosophers and scientists working on different groups of (putatively) behaving organisms to assess the status of what could be called &lsquo\;comparative behavioral biology.&rsquo\; This comparative approach aims to build systematic knowledge of the diversity and evolution of behavior across kingdoms and to complement other branches of comparative biology with much-needed clarifications.</p>\n<p>The themes and topics that we will cover include (but are not restricted to):</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can the theoretical and methodological frameworks already developed in animal behavior studies be extrapolated to investigate behavior in non-metazoan organisms?</li>\n<li>What concepts and frameworks are useful for laying the groundwork of a genuine inter-kingdom comparative behavioral biology?</li>\n<li>Through which criteria can we individuate behaviors and behavioral characters? How projectible are trait individuation criteria across taxonomic groups?&nbsp\;</li>\n<li>What experimental set-ups and methodological considerations do we need to take into account for sound inter-kingdom comparisons? Do we need one-size-fits-all standards\, or can we have different standards depending on the particularities of certain taxa?</li>\n<li>How is comparative behavioral biology situated with respect to research in comparative cognition and comparative psychology? What are some of its overlaps and points of divergence?</li>\n</ul>\n<p><strong>We welcome contributions from theoretical and empirical researchers&mdash\;philosophers and scientists alike&mdash\;interested in fostering interdisciplinary dialogues on comparative behavioral biology and its theoretical and methodological foundations.&nbsp\;</strong><strong></strong></p>\n<p><strong>We invite submissions of abstracts </strong>(<strong>max. 500 words</strong>\, excluding references). Abstracts must include personal information (affiliation\, contact info). Please send the abstracts to Gianmaria Dani (<a href="mailto:gianmaria.dani@kuleuven.be">gianmaria.dani@kuleuven.be</a>) and Alejandro F&aacute\;bregas-Tejeda (<a href="mailto:alejandro.fabregastejeda@kuleuven.be">alejandro.fabregastejeda@kuleuven.be</a>). <strong>Deadline</strong>: July 14th 2025. <strong>Notifications of acceptance</strong>: July 18th 2025.</p>
ORGANIZER;CN=Gianmaria Dani;CN="Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda";CN=Grant Ramsey:
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