The BSP now invites abstracts for our 2023 Annual Conference convened with Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. In-Person: 29-31 August 2023.
Call for Papers:
Lived Experience in Theory and in Practice
The British Society for Phenomenology Annual Conference 2023
Department of History, Politics and Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
In-person Tuesday 29 to Thursday 31 August 2023 (3 days)
CfP deadline: Saturday 24 June 2023 (midnight UK)
Call for Papers is now closed
We are delighted to announce that this year’s BSP Annual Conference will be on the topic of lived experience.
We aim to raise anew the question of lived experience, both in the theory and practice of phenomenology. We call for contributions from those who apply this concept in their practice, those who seek to develop that conception, and those ground it in the history of the phenomenological tradition. We will also welcome submissions that treat adjacent topics, in their theory, history and application.
The idea that the lived experience must be listened to, captured, and enhanced has gained force in recent decades. HR departments are asked to cater to the lived experience of their employees. Universities are asked to consider the lived experience of their students. Multiplexes market their tickets on the basis of the lived experience of being in a cinema, rather than simply streaming at home. In politics, the recognition of the epistemic power of an individual’s lived experience has helped some marginalised groups that have been overlooked fight for justice, but has left others ridiculed and persecuted for disclosing a lived experience that challenges the assumptions of the powerful.
This term, whose provenance takes it back to the earliest of phenomenological thinking, has become embedded in the firmament of contemporary thinking; is it still rooted in the fundamental questions raised by phenomenology, or has it ‘been delivered over to self-evidence’? Does the concept require a phenomenological renewal? What are the limits of its application? Is it key to phenomenology’s contribution to the sciences, or has phenomenological research gone beyond this concept? Does ‘lived experience’ still have the power to help us understand the reality of a post-pandemic global age?
The BSP Annual Conference is an interdisciplinary conference. We welcome abstracts from multiple perspectives, from practitioners and philosophers (including both the European / Continental and Anglo-American / Analytic traditions), and from postgraduate researchers. Areas include, but are not limited to:
- History and Theory of Phenomenology (perception, the body, sexuality, emotion, ethics and morality, key thinkers in the history of phenomenology, feminism, gender, race, existentialism, philosophy of religion, phenomenological theology, philosophy of technology)
- Health and Social Care (medicine, medical humanities, physiotherapy, maternity, disability)
- Mental Health and Psychological Theories (psychology, psychotherapy, psychiatry, childhood development, trauma studies)
- Public Policy and Society (education, policing, law, economics, politics and international relations, science and technology [STEM])
- Philosophy and history of philosophy, from Western, Asian, African, and South American traditions
- Critical phenomenology and critical theory, phenomenology of race, gender, class
- Under-read texts in the history of phenomenology and philosophy
- On female phenomenologists and philosophers
- Art (fine art, photography, video games, poetry, literature, film, architecture, music)
The British Society for Phenomenology Annual Conference is a longstanding and respected feature of the UK academic scene, providing a friendly and supportive forum for inter-disciplinary discussion. This year we are partnering with the Department of History, Politics and Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Conference Directors:
Dr Keith Crome, principal lecturer in philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK; president and impact director of the BSP.
Dr Matthew J. Barnard, lecturer in philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Format:
- The conference will be an in-person event at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
- The conference will last for three days, and papers will be organised into themed panels across a single track or double track depending upon submissions and acceptances.
- As well as standard single authored and presented papers, we welcome single papers from multiple authors. The latter can be presented either by one author, some authors, or all authors.
- We welcome pre-constituted themed panels of two to four papers.
- Presentations should be 20 minutes and there will be time after each paper for Q&As.
- Written versions of the presentation should be made available to the organisers just in advance of the conference to help with attendee inclusivity and accessibility.
- All presenters have the option to have their presentations audio recorded to be considered for release as a weekly episode of the popular and well-subscribed BSP Podcast.
Submission Advice and Process:
- We are an open and welcoming society, and our aim is to create a convivial, inclusive environment for audience engagement with phenomenology by philosophers and practitioners. Abstracts and papers should be composed with accessibility in mind.
- Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words, and you should also provide a short biography of no more than 100 words.
- For multi-authored papers to be presented by just one of the authors, we need a single submission with all the following authors details in the ‘Notes’ field: title, name, institution, biography. For multi-authored papers to be presented by multiple authors, each person presenting should individually submit the paper to the system, each of them including the following other authors details in the ‘Notes’ field: title, name, institution. This is to ensure we have all the presenter details for the programme for both situations.
- We welcome pre-constituted panels of two to four papers. An abstract should be submitted for each paper. In addition, each submission should be accompanied by the title and a panel topic overview (200 words maximum), as well as the names of all panel participants. This is to enable cross-referencing.
Submit abstract:
Call for Papers has ended / Abstract submission system is now closed
Selection process:
- The deadline for the submission of abstracts is Saturday 24 June 2023 (midnight UK).
- Anonymised abstracts will be peer reviewed by members of the BSP conference committee from the BSP and the Department of History, Politics and Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
- Each year, we receive more abstracts of quality than for which we are able to provide space. From the shortlist, the review team selects what they believe to be the best of these for presentation during the event with an eye to the aims and objectives of the conference, the society and its co-organisers.
- We intend to inform participants if they have been successful on or just after the weekend of 1-2 July 2023.
- Due to the quantity of abstract submissions, while we notify everyone on the outcome of their submission, we do not supply individual feedback on those which are unsuccessful.
General registration information – dates, costs, what’s included, financial assistance:
- The conference registration system will open soon after we inform participants of the outcome of their submissions, in early July 2023.
- The conference fee this year will be £150.
- To attend BSP events, speakers and delegates need to be members of the British Society for Phenomenology. If you are not already a member, membership (full and discounted, £40 and £20 respectively) will be added to the conference fee. When you become a member, you receive access to the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology online for one year. JBSP Online publishes around 25 new research articles a year, and membership includes access to 50+ years of the JBSP. You can become a member at any time, for more information please visit our membership page.
- The registration fee includes morning and afternoon coffee with pastries, and lunch (vegetarian and vegan options), as well as WiFi access. The registration does not include the (optional) conference meal or accommodation.
- Presenter registration is required by 31 July 2023 (midnight UK) in order to facilitate organising, timetabling, and promoting the event.
- Financial assistance will be on offer during speaker registration: attendance assistance is open to student, early career researchers (ECRs), unwaged, low income, and emeritus speakers; there is also assistance for all speakers with childcare needs. Attendance and childcare assistance are not mutually exclusive; all are however limited, and if there are more eligible applicants than we can fund, the decision will be made by the conference committee on the strength of the application. We also have a special BSP President’s discretionary bursary, which, under exceptional circumstances, a significant bursary may be offered for people with disabilities or financial issues. Again, funding is limited and the decision will be made by the conference committee on the strength of the application.
More information and questions:
- You can find more information as it becomes available on the BSP2023AC conference website.
- If you have any questions about the conference, please email: [email protected]