The BSP Executive welcomes Katrin Joost, Jessica Stanier, Zoe Waters, and Mark Wright to the society’s brand new events team.
The British Society for Phenomenology is delighted to announce the formation of a new BSP events team. The aim of the team will be to expand and diversify our offerings with a yearly cycle of engaging academic events. Currently, the BSP convenes an Annual UK Conference at the end of summer, and in the future this will be part of a whole series of events with an International Symposium, the Manchester Winter Public Lecture, and Online Events.
To build the team, the society reached out to our membership and interviewed for the roles of chair to each of the different events. We congratulate Katrin Joost, Jessica Stanier, Zoe Waters, and Mark Wright in becoming the new chairs in their respective areas, and look forward to working with them over the coming years.
Mark Wright – Chair of the UK Annual Conference
(Bangor University)
Mark is currently working on a PhD entitled ‘Nietzsche, Christianity, and the will to power (as concept) as a spiritual approach to life’, under the supervision of Professor Lucy Huskinson at Bangor University. With an interest in humanity and emerging technologies, Mark is also an active member and contributor to the AI & Society working group at Bangor exploring human freedom and flourishing through the uses of AI in creative practice. As well as his involvement with academia, Mark works at Royal Sun Alliance and as part of his role chairs the Low Risk Deals Committee and SME Deals Review, both integral to the way the business manages itself.
Jessica Stanier – Chair of the International Symposium
(University of Exeter)
Jessie is a PhD researcher of phenomenology, ageing, and older age. This work draws together her theoretical interest in critical Husserlian phenomenology with her ethical and methodological interests in working with participants on qualitative research. Her supervisors are Dr Robin Durie, Dr Felicity Thomas, and Professor Luna Dolezal at Exeter’s Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health. Jessie has co-hosted and chaired several academic conferences over recent years, including the BSP’s very successful online conference with the University of Exeter in 2020, ‘Engaged Phenomenology’, for which she also set the theme. As well as having studied at and collaborated with universities outside the UK (including an MA in Philosophy at KU Leuven, Belgium in 2018), Jessie has held previous roles in marketing and journalism.
Zoe Waters – Chair of Online Events
(Newcastle University)
Zoe is a teaching assistant and PhD student at Newcastle University. Her research assesses the role of embodiment implicit in feminist Silvia Federici’s work to explore the way in which the category of ‘woman’ has been constructed to uphold capitalist forms of dominance. Zoe’s supervisors are Dr Tina Chanter and Dr Lorenzo Chiesa. Having founded the Philosophy Across Disciplines conference in 2017, Zoe has organised and chaired this internationally recognized event annually ever since; and was also a member of the team behind the British Postgraduate Philosophical Association (BPPA) 2021 conference.
Dr Katrin Joost – Chair of Manchester Winter Public Lecture
(Leeds Trinity University)
Katrin has recently taken up a new post at Leeds Trinity University, before which she was teaching contextual studies at the University of Cumbria as well as coordinating the MA in Photography. Grounded in Husserlian phenomenology, Katrin’s research interests centre on the philosophy of photography, photographic theory, media philosophy, and post-phenomenology. She has published widely in the field, and, more recently, has also become an exhibiting artist. Her practice explores the nature of temporality, focusing on the juxtaposition of stillness and movement in panoramic landscape photography. Previously, she organised a biannual conference series called Visualising… bringing together theorists and artists to discuss contemporary themes as seen through the prism of photography. Within this Katrin also collaborated with artists and organisations to create parallel exhibitions to these conferences, extending their reach beyond the academic realm.
Mark, Jessie, Zoe, and Katrin will initially work with our current Head of Engagement to deliver the 2022 Annual UK Conference with the University of Exeter: ‘Engaged Phenomenology II: Explorations of Embodiment, Emotions, and Sociality’. They will then go on to take up their roles as chairs with the Executive Committee and commence our full year of annual events for 2023.
Please join us in wishing the new team all the best!