CFP: THINKING TOGETHER - Interdisciplinary Workshop on Collective Memory and Collective Thinking

Much of our memories, narratives, and knowledge are social in character: collectively generated and interdependent. To a large extent, the philosophical discourses on these issues – questions of how we ‘think together’ – have been conducted separately. Thinking together: Interdisciplinary Workshop on Collective Memory & Collective Knowledge attempts to bring these discourses into dialogue and, what is more, tap into related debates occurring in philosophy, cultural history and indigenous studies to deepen our understanding of the fundamentally social aspect of who we are and how we make sense of ourselves and the world around us.

The aim of Thinking Together is to be an interdisciplinary effort to share and explore innovative ways to understand collective thinking and collective knowledge to stimulate the reflection on their role as valuable sources of knowledge for different humanistic, social, and scientific disciplines. 

Confirmed speakers: 

• Nicolas Bullot (Charles Darwin University)
https://researchers.cdu.edu.au/en/persons/nicolas-bullot

• Kellie Pollard (Charles Darwin University)
https://researchers.cdu.edu.au/en/persons/kellie-pollard

• Rob Wilson (University of Western Australia)
https://robwilsonphilosophy.com/ 

• Glenda Satne (University of Wollongong)
https://philpeople.org/profiles/glenda-satne 

• Anne Schwenkenbecher (Murdoch University)
https://philpeople.org/profiles/anne-schwenkenbecher

• Alberto Guerrero Velázquez (University of Western Australia) https://philpeople.org/profiles/alberto-guerrero-velazquez

Online speakers:

• Alessandro Portelli
https://independent.academia.edu/PortelliAlessandro

• John Sutton (Macquarie University)
https://johnsutton.net/

Presentations

This workshop aims to bring together participants from at least four areas: Philosophy (social epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of memory), Cognitive sciences, Indigenous studies, and History. In addition to the invited speakers, a number of slots will be allocated for scholars and researchers to conduct 45 min presentations (25 min for presentation + 20 min for Q&A) on the workshop’s topics. 

Topics include (but are not restricted to) the following:

• The epistemic value of collective knowledge and collective memory
• Relevance of collective memory for Historiography
• Extended cognition and collective thinking
• Collective Memory and Identity
• Non-western epistemologies and community knowledge
• Collective epistemology and collective beliefs
• 4E cognition and collective thinking
• Metaphysics and ontology of collective remembering 

Abstract submission:

Authors should submit a 400 – 500 words paper proposal (excluding references) by 16 August 2023 outlining the main argument. Please submit your abstract on the webpage:

      The call for papers is now closed.

Proposals addressing emergent discussions, interdisciplinary views, and new perspectives will be prioritized. Postgraduate students, early career researchers, and members of underrepresented minorities are particularly encouraged to participate. The participation of members of communities, social groups, and independent researchers that use diverse forms of collective thinking as a cultural feature in their work (such as indigenous collectives or historical memory researchers) will be highly appreciated.

Organisers: 

• Alberto Guerrero Velázquez (University of Western Australia) https://philpeople.org/profiles/alberto-guerrero-velazquez

• Anne Schwenkenbecher (Murdoch University)
https://philpeople.org/profiles/anne-schwenkenbecher

Sponsors:

• Australasian Association of Philosophy

• International Social Ontology Society

• Society for Applied Philosophy

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