UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH STUDIES
SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY
generously supported by the British Academy and Birbeck College
Languages of Emotion:
a multidisciplinary colloquium
22 - 23 October 2004
The increased academic interest in the subject of emotion in the last five years has been striking. The impact of new neurobiological theories of emotion coupled with a marked turn in the field of history to contextualise emotion has had an immense impact on English literary and cultural studies alike. Moreover, the notable work achieved on the philosophy of the emotions has given rise to numerous studies rooted in theology, musicology, aesthetics and visual culture and production. This weight of fresh scholarship on emotion provides a solid foundation for the conference, which brings together key critics in the humanities and sciences. ‘Languages of Emotion' will provide a forum for a number of leading scholars, variously interested in emotion, to discuss their work and ideas before an audience.
[Provisional Programme]
DAY ONE, FRIDAY OCTOBER 22
9.45 - 10.15 Registration
10.15 Introduction, Professor Isobel Armstrong
10.30 – 12.30 Debates in Neuroscience and Beyond (Chair, Dr Emma Mason)
Professor Edmund Rolls, Professor of Experimental Psychology, Corpus Christi, University of Oxford
‘What is Emotion? The Brain and its Mechanisms’
Respondents: Professor Jonathan Bate, Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick;
Dr Samuel Guttenplan, Reader in Philosophy (Birkbeck)
12.30-1.00 Discussion
1.00 - 2.00 Lunch
2.00- 4.00 Histories (Chair, Professor Isobel Armstrong)
Professor James Chandler, Barbara E. Franke and Richard J. Franke Professor of English, Director, Franke Institute, University of Chicago
‘Sentimental Vehicles’
Respondents: Professor Anne Janowitz, Department of English, Queen Mary,University of London;
Professor Carolyn Williams, Department of English, Rutgers University
4.00- 4.30 Discussion
4.30 - 5.00 Tea
5.00- 7.00 Philosophy and Aesthetics (Chair, Dr Emma Mason)
Professor Susan James, School of Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London
‘Passions and Striving: Power in Languages of Emotion’
Respondents: Dr Tom Armstrong, Composer, Visiting Lecturer, University of Surrey;
Dr Michaela Giebelhausen, Architectural Historian, History of Art Dept, University of Essex
7.00-7.30 Discussion
DAY TWO, SATURDAY, OCT 23
9.30 - 10.00 Registration
10.00 -12.00 Emotions in Theory (Chair, Professor Isobel Armstrong)
Professor Rei Terada, University of California, Irvine
‘Euphoria and Utopia: Magical Thinking in Arendt and Others’
Respondents:; Professor Mary Jacobus, Grace 2 Professor of English, Churchill College, Univ. of Cambridge
Professor Cora Kaplan, Department of English, University of Southampton
12.00-12.30 Discussion
12.30 - 2.00 Lunch
2.00-3.30 Visual Emotion (Chair, Dr Emma Mason)
Dr Richard Meyer, University of Southern California
'Representing the Passions form Bamberg Cathedral to Bill Viola'
Respondents: Dr Margot Finn, Department of History, University of Warwick;
Professor Lynda Nead, School of History of Art, Film and Visual Media, Birkbeck
3.30 - 4.00 Tea
4.00 – 6.00 Concluding Panel
Full Plenary Panel, All Speakers and Respondents: Forum subsequently open to Delegates
Chair, Dr Peter De Bolla, King’s College, University of Cambridge
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Conference organizers:
Isobel Armstrong, iarmstr@fas.harvard.edu and Emma Mason, Emma.Mason@warwick.ac.uk
Conference Venue and Enquiries: Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, Senate House (3rd Floor), Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU (No smoking building)
Conference Registration Fee : £50 Standard ; £25 Concessions and Members of IES
Tel: 020 7862 8675, Fax: 020 7862 8720, email: ies@sas.ac.uk, web: www.sas.ac.uk/ies