We owe a significant portion of our knowledge about the world—whether in history, science, or our understanding of divinity and one another—to the testimony of others. Some testimonies are readily accepted, while others are subjected to intense scrutiny. Drawing the line between a reliable testimony and a questionable one is among the many challenges we aim to address. This conference is a transdisciplinary endeavor that explores the act of testifying and examines how it is conceptualized across various fields. The aim of our gathering is to investigate, in a dynamic manner, different perspectives and approaches within the domains of history, law, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and beyond.

Schedule:

Thursday, May 29th (hybrid), Titu Maiorescu Hall

10:00 am – 10:10 am Opening remarks

10: 10 – 10:50 Carlotta Gallani, Upsalla University, Testimonial knowledge through unsafe testimony. Notes on Lackey’s reply to Goldberg

10:50-11:05 Coffee Break

11:05 – 12:05 Constantin Stoenescu, University of Bucharest, Testimony and Nonpropositional Knowledge (keynote lecture)

12:05 -14 Lunch Break

14:05- 14:45 Rashad Rehman, Center for Bioethics, Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH, The Problem of Intertestimonial Disagreement: A Case Study

14:45 – 15:25 James Gillard, University of Texas at Austin, A Testimonial Theory of When To Believe LLM Outputs (online)

15:25 – 16:05 Aisha Qadoos, University of Birmingham, Bearing Witness (online)

16:05 – 16:30 Coffee Break

16:30 – 17:10 Ileana Dascălu, University of Bucharest, Digital storytelling and the experiential turn in understanding cultural heritage

17: 10 -17 50 Ionuț Tudor, University of Bucharest, The Testimony of human rights

Friday, May 30th (online)

16:30 – 17:10 Sandra Brânzaru, University of Bucharest, Testimony and knowing what it’s like –VR and bots

17:20- 18:00 Iulia- Mihaela Gheorghe, West University of Timișoara, Testimonial Narratives in the Digital Age: Exploring the Impact of Digital Addiction and Digital Abilities on Student Performance

18:10 – 18:50 Laida Arbizu Aguirre, University of the Basque Country, Trauma, Power, and the Epistemic Double Bind: Resisting Credibility Reconfigurations in GBV Testimony

19:00- 20:00 Duncan Pritchard, University of California, Irvine, Understanding Fake News, Keynote lecture

20:00- 20:10 Concluding remarks