Call for Participation: &ldquo\;Rethinking Anthropocentrism: New Technologies and More-
\nthan-Human Sensing&rdquo\;
\nLeiden (NL)\, May 18th\, 2026
\nEmerging sensing technologies can access a variety of data that are beyond the reach of human embodied perception. Consequently\, such technologies trouble the anthropocentrism of human embodied perception as the model for experience per se. However\, the mediation needed to make the sensed data accessible for humans still needs to be targeted at human perception\, thus potentially reintroducing anthropocentrism. This workshop aims to discuss to what extent anthropocentrism consequently still characterizes the sensing in such more-than-human assemblages. In a collaborative and hands-on approach\, it will connect embodied\, theoretical\, and technological perspectives in order to address this question.
\nContributions from neuroscientist Marta Calbi\, choreographer Stefania Ballone\, and curator Bart Grob will provide impulses to discuss the epistemic\, aesthetic\, and performative dimensions of such more-than-human sensing. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with thermal imaging technology in an exercise guided by Stefania Ballone and will get access to historical sensing technologies from the archive of Rijksmuseum Boerhaave\, provided by Bart Grob. Marta Calbi will offer a consideration of the implications of more-than human sensing for scientific purposes.
\nAddressed at PhD Candidates\, early career researchers\, as well as artists\, the workshop aims to be a first step in building a research network to foster cross-disciplinary exchange around more-than-human sensing. Interested researchers are invited to send an application in the form of a brief cover letter (300 words) outlining how their work connects to the theme of the workshop\, as well as a short biography (250 words)\, to Giulia Andreini (giuliandreini.94@gmail.com)\, Giulio Galimberti (giulio.galimberti@unimi.it) and Jonathan Kirn (j.b.kirn@uu.nl). Applications are welcome until March 31\, 2026.
\nSpots are limited. A partial reimbursement for travel and accommodation costs can be provided.
\nThe workshop is carried out in cooperation with Rijksmuseum Boerhaave and the Descartes \;Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities. It is supported by the \;Institute for Cultural Inquiry of Utrecht University and made possible through the financial support \;of the Descartes Centre and the van Oostrom Grant for young humanities scholars at Utrecht \;University.
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260514T114541Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20261029T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20261030T170000 SUMMARY:Melancholic historicity: lost pasts and past losses UID:20260522T050436Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/Brussels LOCATION:Utrecht\, Netherlands DESCRIPTION:Melancholic historicity: lost pasts and past losses
\nOrganizers: Katherina Kinzel and Robert Vinkesteijn
\nUtrecht University\, 29+30 October 2026
\nRecent reconceptualizations of historicity&mdash\;most notably in the work of Walter Benjamin and related thinkers&mdash\;have challenged the modern ideal of progress by foregrounding historical experiences of loss and destruction. These approaches question the assumption that history unfolds as a continuous movement in which past suffering is redeemed by future advancement. Instead of viewing the past as dead or completed\, they envision the past as a site of continuous unease and questioning within the present. Forgotten\, suppressed\, or destroyed pasts unsettle present self-understandings and expose their complicity in the ongoing reproduction of loss. \;
\nThis conference explores the question what a &ldquo\;melancholic&rdquo\; conception of historicity that is oriented around experiences of loss\, destruction and defeat looks like. What does it mean to think historically from a standpoint that refuses to forget or &ldquo\;accept&rdquo\; historical losses\, that interrupts linear temporality and breaks with the perpetuation of historical violence in the present. What is the political valence of different attempts at confronting historical loss? What constitutes a philosophically fruitful attitude to lost pasts (the pasts that have been forgotten or suppressed) and past losses (past experiences of loss\, injustice and defeat) that are haunting the present?
\nThis conference brings together \;critical approaches to the philosophy of history\, postcolonial perspectives on loss\, \;theoretical reflections on displacement and genocide\, accounts of ecological loss and destruction and psychoanalytic discussions of (historical) mourning and melancholia.
\nIf you would like to contribute as a speaker\, please send an abstract of maximum 500 words to r.w.vinkesteijn@uu.nl\, the deadline for abstracts is Saturday 28 February 2026. If you have further questions about the scope and topic of this conference\, do not hesitate to get in touch.
ORGANIZER;CN=Katherina Kinzel: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR