Calendar | Conference

Affects, Moods, Emotions, and Belonging, ICNAP – Tenth Annual Meeting

Montréal, 31 May- 3 June 2018

CFP is closedOriginal Call for Papers

The Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists (cf. http://www.icnap.org) is committed to cultivating connections between teachers, students, and researchers in phenomenology across the disciplines. Founded in 2008 by colleagues from Architecture, Communicology, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology, ICNAP’s annual conferences have been enriched by contributions of colleagues from Education, Environmental and Sustainability Studies, Literature, Musicology, Nursing and Health Care, Social Work, and Psychiatry. Findings in other fields are also expanding our horizons.

We are now pleased to announce that the topic of our Tenth Annual Meeting will be Affects, Moods, Emotions, and Belonging. The conference will take place at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Canada, May 31–June 3, 2018. The event will be supported by UQAM’s Philosophy Department. We invite educators, scholars, social scientists, psychologists, and health practitioners from all areas, backgrounds, and disciplines who engage in theoretical and practical research on issues concerning affects, moods, emotions, or belonging to participate.

Our featured conference speaker will be:

ROBERTA DE MONTICELLI, Professor for Philosophy of Personhood and Director of PERSONA, Research Center in Phenomenology and Science of the Person, San Raffaele University, Milan (Italy)

Professor de Monticelli will speak on the topic: Feeling as Self-Revealing Experience

Our featured Husserliana speaker will be: DENIS FISETTE Professor for Contemporary German Philosophy and Philosophy of Mind at the University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada, and Correspondent to the Husserl-Archives, Paris

Professor Fisette will speak on the topic: Husserl on Emotions and Moods

We welcome not only theoretical studies but also, and especially, applied research, particularly that which is conducted by using phenomenological methodologies, as well as reflective discussions of affects, moods, emotions, and belonging generally. Our organization is interdisciplinary and phenomenological, so we aim to organize a conference that generates an inclusive and rigorous dialogue.

A distinctive feature of ICNAP is its practice of bringing together people based both on the depth of their knowledge of and on the level of their interest in phenomenology. We equally welcome established scholars and new students to share their experiences and explorations of topics from a phenomenological perspective. We offer workshops on phenomenological methodology, the theory and practice of phenomenology, and clinical applications of phenomenology. We seek to bring more scholars and practitioners into phenomenological work, and to expand the work of phenomenologists beyond historical investigation and textual exegesis.

Presentation of the conference theme for 2018

Lived experience is not reducible to intellectual experience alone. Through various states of mind, we relate affectively to life, experience it in different moods, and react emotionally to various circumstances and situations. At critical moments, we become aware, on the one hand, that we belong to a place or to a social group. On the other hand, we can experience not belonging to a place or group with which we are associated. These terms – “affect”, “mood”, “emotion”, and “belonging” – refer to the various qualities of experience that we would like to explore as the topics for this year’s conference.

The conceptualization of affects, moods, and emotions, as well as of the subjective phenomenon of belonging or not belonging, first and foremost raises the question of the nature and description of these experiences. What kind of phenomena are they? How to describe them? What role do they play in consciousness? Are they more than mere feelings? What is their relation to intentional objects? In the case of belonging or not belonging, for instance, what is their relation to identity? Do these experiences involve acts of judgment? Are they already cognitive or how do they relate to cognitive experiences? Do they play any normative role, for instance, in aesthetics, ethics, politics, or economics? What is their linkage to action or social action?

As these experiences are very diverse, the question also arises of a consistent typology. Do we have phenomenological grounds to justify each of these concepts, and what are they? Shall we treat all these terms under the same generic concept – such as a type of perceptive or intuitive content – or not? The same question arises about the subcategories of these terms. How should we explore the diversity of affects, moods, or emotions that one can possibly experience? And what are the different affective and emotive dimensions that characterize belonging or not belonging? How shall we categorize each of them? Can we conceptualize them under some generic categories, for instance, considering whether they possess a positive or a negative, or an attractive or a repulsive, content when they are phenomenologically examined? Or should we oppose any kind of reduction to such a binary perspective?

These are of course only a few suggestions regarding the problems and questions that could be raised in relation to the conference theme.

Submission guidelines

We accept proposals for papers, panels, and posters. Participants have 30 minutes for presentation and 20 minutes for discussion. We welcome volunteers to serve as moderators. Please indicate whether you are willing to serve in this function.

Paper submissions should consist of two separate documents. The first document should include the title, a 250–500 word abstract of the paper, the presenter’s name, discipline, and contact information. The second document should contain, for anonymous review, only the title of the paper, the abstract, and the presenter’s discipline.

Panel submissions should also consist of two documents. The first document should include the titles of the panel and papers, a rationale of 250–500 words for the panel, abstracts of 250–500 words for the papers, the names of the chair and presenters, their respective disciplines, and their contact information. The second document should contain, for anonymous review, only the titles of the panel and papers, the rationale for the panel, the abstracts of the papers, and the disciplines of the presenters. Panels are limited to 3 presenters.

Poster submissions should follow similar guidelines as paper and panel submissions.

Priority will be given to papers that demonstrate a solid familiarity with, or a genuine interest in, phenomenology. Interdisciplinary papers are also encouraged. Proposals that address other issues beyond the central focus on the four conference topics are also very welcome. As our 2018 conference will be held at the University of Quebec at Montreal, we also welcome proposals in the French language.

Deadline and contact information

Please send submissions as email attachments to George Heffernan (george.heffernan@merrimack.edu). Please put ICNAP SUBMISSION in the subject line, and format submissions in Word.doc or Docx (not PDF) to facilitate anonymous review. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2018. Notifications of acceptances will be sent by March 31, 2018. Please address all logistical inquiries (regarding, e.g., travel, lodging, etc.) to Siegfried Mathelet (siegfried_mathelet@hotmail.com).

Conference fees

The conference fee of $175.00 (US currency) covers participation as well as dinner on Friday June 1st, 2018. Refreshments will be served throughout the Conference.