Phenomenology’s Presence: The 4th Annual University of Sussex Graduate Conference in Phenomenology

Phenomenology’s Presence: The 4th Annual University of Sussex Graduate Conference in Phenomenology. June 13th – 14th 2013

What is presence for phenomenology? Where is phenomenology, at present? Does phenomenology privilege presence? And what of absence?

We are welcoming submissions for the 4th annual University of Sussex graduate conference in phenomenology. The themes of the last three years have progressed through phenomenology’s beginnings, ends, and methodology. This year the conference will approach the ambiguous status of phenomenology’s presence.

We invite abstracts from those working in, around, or critically engaging with phenomenology, broadly construed. We also encourage abstracts from those working outside philosophy departments. This is in keeping with the theme of the conference in that we hope to question the typical place and presence of phenomenological research.

Husserl’s famous battle cry calls thinking to return to the ‘things themselves’, that which is given, or that which presences and is present. Yet, this very challenge, the question of presence, has drawn quite different responses from those thinkers who have engaged with the inheritance of phenomenology. Now more than ever, phenomenology must contend with a scientific world view which describes the world by that which is withheld and yet underpins all that is given. Does phenomenology present an alternative? Should it? Or is the future of phenomenology more one of absence than presence?

This conference provides graduate students the opportunity to present for twenty minutes and receive questions and feedback for an additional twenty minutes each. It is a two-day conference, organized by graduate students for graduate students. It is organized as a single ‘stream’, ensuring that every speaker has the opportunity of addressing all delegates. We aim to bring together postgraduates engaging in original research on phenomenology and related branches of philosophy and to promote contemporary studies in this field.

Keynote speakers:

- Professor Béatrice Han-Pile (University of Essex, UK)

- Professor Robert Bernasconi (Pennsylvania State University, US)

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Phenomenology and temporality
• Phenomenology and truth
• The presence or absence of phenomenology in other disciplines (aesthetics, ethics, cognitive science, politics, psychoanalysis, etc)
• Phenomenology and absence (death, loss, sleep, the unconscious)
• The presence or absence of phenomenology in academic philosophy today
• The “metaphysics of presence”
• Phenomenology and ambiguity

Submissions:

Submissions should be made via the conference website (http://www.sussexphenomenology.com) no later than the 7th April.

(Click here for submissions. Also send a copy of your (300words) abstract to the conference mail address ([email protected]) in MS Word format.

Useful information:

The conference will be held at the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Notifications of acceptance will be issued by 21st April.

Speakers shall be allocated 40 minutes in total: 20 minutes in which to deliver their talk and 20 minutes for Q&A. This format allows graduate students to receive ample feedback on their work.
The conference fee is £30 for each accepted speaker.
This event is open to and free for the public.
Further information concerning travel and accommodation, can be found at the conference website ( http://www.sussexphenomenology.com ).

For any inquiries you can connect us via conference e-mail address:

[email protected]