SUSANNE K. LANGER: Artistic Angles, Philosophical Circles, Poetic Dots, and Technical Lines

The Susanne K. Langer Circle hosted at Utrecht University will collaborate in 2026 with the Research Unit Architecture Theory and Philosophy of Technics (ATTP) at TU Wien and the Institute Vienna Circle at the University of Vienna in realizing its third bi-annual conference: 

SUSANNE K. LANGER: Artistic Angles, Philosophical Circles, Poetic Dots, and Technical Lines

Vienna, 26–29 May 2026

This conference seeks interdisciplinary perspectives on the thought of logician and philosopher of the arts Susanne K. Langer (1895-1985), which spanned the domains of language, mathematics, the arts, life, and mind through logical analysis and synthesis, embodied cognition and symbolic projection.

The symbolistic paradigm central to Langer’s philosophy is gaining increased attention, and the international network of the Susanne K. Langer Circle continues to foster fresh perspectives on her work, while promoting its ongoing relevance and scholarly continuation. Our conference in 2026 will take place at TU Wien and the University of Vienna, with a local focus on architectural humanities as well as Vienna’s historical relevance for analytic philosophy.

We invite scholars from the humanities, the arts, and sciences to contribute papers on topics spanning philosophy, technology, architecture, artistic and speculative research, theoretical or technological approaches. 

As a cross-disciplinary conference, we welcome contributions from fields, including but not limited to:

Aesthetics, Anthropology and Ethnology, Archaeology, Architecture, Biosemiotics, Biotechnology, Communication Theory, Symbol Theory, and Semiotics, Computer Science, Creativity Studies, Historiography, History of Ideas (20th century history of philosophy: Cassirer, neo-Kantianism, pragmatism, philosophy of science, The Vienna Circle), Information and Computing, Life Sciences, Literary Criticism, Logic and the Theory of Knowledge, Media Theory, Music(s) and Musicology, Pedagogy and, Educational Thought, Performing Arts and Performance Theory, Philosophy of Art and Art Criticism, Poetry, Popular Culture and Cultural Studies, Programming , Psychology (Cultural, Gestalt, Developmental, Clinical, Humanistic), Social and Political Theory, Visual and Sonic Arts, Women's, Gender and Queer Studies. 

Call opens: 1 September 2025 
Please submit abstracts of 300–400 words (Chicago Manual of Style), including full name, contact information, affiliation and academic title (if applicable) to: 

[email protected]

Deadline: 1 October 2025 
Notification of acceptance: 30 October 2025

For further information, visit the Langer Circle website: https://langercircle.sites.uu.nl/
For updates on the program, please register as a member: https://langercircle.sites.uu.nl/register/

Organized in collaboration with the Research Unit Architecture Theory and Philosophy of Technics ATTP at the Vienna University of Technology and the IVC Institute Vienna Circle at the University of Vienna, this conference illuminates the history and relevance of Susanne K. Langer's philosophy—demonstrating how her thought continues in contemporary debates in philosophy, aesthetics, the arts, and science, and how it is linked to the city of ideas, Vienna.

Conference Committee: Prof. Vera Bühlmann (AT), Dr. Lona Gaikis (AT), Dr. Matthew Ingram (USA), Prof. Randall E. Auxier (USA), Prof. Christian Grüny (DE), Dr. Tereza Hadravová (CZ).