Atmospheres of Shared Emotion

Over the last twenty years or so, the concept of atmosphere has flourished within phenomenological research. Inspired by the works of Hermann Schmitz, Gernot Böhme, and Tonino Griffero, the concept of atmosphere has played an influential role in contributing to debates in phenomenological psychopathology, philosophy of mind, and aesthetics. Despite this surge of interest, the role that atmospheres play in contributing to cases of shared emotions remains neglected. This oversight is all the more surprising given the potentially powerful explanatory role atmosphere can play in helping clarify the complex structure of shared emotion. The aim of this workshop is to explore the intersection between shared emotion and atmospheres by bringing together leading and emerging scholars in the field.  

Topics include:  

• Defining and conceptualizing atmospheres.
• The methodology of studying atmospheres.
• The relation between atmosphere, mood, and aura.
• The role atmospheres play in the politics of emotion.
• The spatial and embodied aspects of atmospheres.
• The function of contagious emotions in atmospheres.
• The relation between atmospheres and the “staging” of shared emotions.

Confirmed invited speakers:

• Tonino Griffero (University of Rome)
• Gernot Böhme (Technical University of Darmstadt)
• Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos (University of Westminster)
• Joel Krueger (University of Exeter)
• Thomas Szanto ( University of Jyväskylä)
• Jan Slaby (Freie Universität Berlin)
• Ingrid Vendrell Ferran (University of Basel)

Guest speakers:

• Gerhard Thonhauser (Freie Universität Berlin)
• Lucy Olster (University of Exeter)
• Maximilian Gregor Hepach (University of Cambridge)
• Valeria Bizzari and Veronica Iubei (Heidelberg University Hospital)
• Mikkel Bille (Roskilde University)
• Stamatina Kousidi (Politecnico di Milano)