CURRENT CFPs

The WILLIAM JAMES SOCIETY (WJS), in conjunction with William James Studies, would like to announce that it will be offering its annual WJS YOUNG SCHOLAR PRIZE to the young scholar (within five years of the Ph.D.) who submits the essay that best explores the thought of James.

The prize will include: (1) the opportunity to read the paper during the WJS session at the 2025 meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division (2) $600 to subsidize travel to that meeting, and (3) publication of the paper in William James Studies.

Submissions should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines of William James Studies manuscript submission information (here). Please note that past recipients of the WJS Young Scholar Prize are not eligible to submit. All submissions must constitute new work not under consideration elsewhere. All papers must be submitted to WJS Secretary Stephen Bush by August 30th.

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Past CFPs

The prize will include: (1) the opportunity to read the paper during the WJS session at the 2019 meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division in New York City (2) $600 to subsidize travel to that meeting, and (3) publishing the paper in William James Studies.

Conference: The Pragmatist Turn and Embodied Cognition: Habit and Experience at the crossroads between Pragmatism, Neurosciences, and Social Ontology, 6-7 April, 2017, University of Parma, Italy
Deadline: January 20, 2017

Invited Speakers:

Vittorio Gallese (University of Parma)
Richard Menary (Macquarie University)
Daniel Hutto (University of Wollongong), TBC
Teed Rockwell (Sonoma State University)
Pierre Steiner (COSTECH/UTC, Paris)
Roberto Frega (IMM-CNRS, Paris)
Corrado Sinigaglia (Università di Milano)
Pentti Määttänen (University of Helsinki)
Arvi Särkelä (University of Luzern)

The aim of this conference is to account for the many facets of the role that pragmatism is nowadays playing as the main alternative to classical cognitive science, and the contribution that an interdisciplinary pragmatist approach could make to the renewal of social theory. The rediscovery of the contemporary relevance of classical pragmatist theories such as Dewey’s, Peirce’s, James’, and Mead’s will be a central issue. This topic will be addressed in a broad sense, dealing with the different aspects of the pragmatist turn involved by 4E cognitive science and their consequences for social sciences. A particular focus will be given to the fruitfulness of pragmatist notions such as ‘habit’ and ‘experience’ at the crossroads between social theory, neurosciences, and cognitive sciences.

The notion of habit and an understanding of experience as a process of habit formation constitute a major aspect of classical pragmatist approaches to cognition and social action. Still, since the middle of last century, representational and intentionalist models have hegemonized cognitive sciences, action theory and social ontology. More recently, the importance of the notion of habit as a viable alternative to current paradigms in some of these fields is being rediscovered.

The aim of this conference is to evaluate in particular the contribution that the reconstruction of classical pragmatist approaches to habit and experience such as Dewey’s, Mead’s, Peirce’s, and James’ could make to current debates in cognitive sciences and social theory. Which role could pragmatist insights play in overcoming mind/body, mind/world, perception/action dualisms that have dominated research programs of the last decades and only recently are starting to be tackled?

In particular, we would like to explore how a habit based notion of experience inspired by pragmatism, could make it possible to appreciate the continuity between sensory, motor, and social aspects of action, and offer fruitful theoretical tools to embodied approaches to cognition, including mirror neuron-based research on embodied simulation. Could such a habit based understanding of social action offer also an alternative to socio-ontological models of action based on the notion of collective intentionality? And could the pragmatist naturalistic understanding of experience be implemented by experimental approaches to aesthetic perception? In addressing such question, the Parma Conference will gather philosophers, cognitive scientists and social theorists.

The conference is part of a joint research program organized in partnership with the conference Pragmatism, 4E cognitive science, and the sociality of human conduct (Paris, 7-9 december 2016).

Organizers: Fausto Caruana (University of Parma, Department of Neurosciences), Italo Testa (University of Parma, Department of Humanities – Philosophy).

We invite proposals for oral communications. Abstracts of 400 words should be sent to organizers no later than January 20, 2017. Acceptance will be notified before February 1th 2017. There are no registration fees; but selected participants will have to cover their travel and staying costs by themselves.

Any question should be addressed to one of the two organizers, Fausto Caruana (fausto.caruana@unipr.it) or Italo Testa (italo.testa@unipr.it)

CALL FOR ABSTRACT
SPECIAL ISSUE OF WILLIAM JAMES STUDIES

“New Directions in William James and Literary Studies”
Deadline: August 15th

The William James Society and its peer-reviewed journal William James Studies invite abstract submissions from literary scholars with diverse interests and approaches to the life and work of William James for a special issue of the journal, “New Directions in William James and Literary Studies.”

Abstract paper proposals up to 300 words are due by August 15th. All submissions will conform to a strict timetable for publication for the May 2017 issue of William James Studies (for more see details below). Please submit abstracts or direct queries to both Dr. Todd Barosky (tbarosky@stmartin.edu) and Dr. Justin Rogers-Cooper (jrogers@lagcc.cuny.edu) by August 15, 2016.

We welcome submissions that examine James and his relationship to literature, broadly conceived, including those with interdisciplinary perspectives with possible orientations toward history and/or American studies. Papers might examine any number of the following:

James and the theory and practice of literary interpretation, both in his own time and in ours;
James and his relationship to modernism, realism, and other literary genres;
James and nineteenth and/or early-twentieth century aesthetic movements;
James’ philosophies of psychology, pragmatism, religion and literary authors/texts;
James and contemporary interpretive contexts, including critical race and ethnic studies, queer theories, new materialisms, and periodical/archival studies;

Authors should submit 300-word abstracts that outline a clear argument, identify relevant texts by James and others, and place their paper within a contemporary scholarly framework or conversation. Please note the following time-table for publication:

September 30: All authors notified of acceptance or rejection. Accepted authors affirm the publication time-table.
December 15: Authors submit roughly 3,000-5,000 word article in Chicago Style (16th edition).
January 15: All editorial feedback and suggestions for revision go back to authors.
Feb 15: Revised papers submitted for copy-editing.
March 1: Copy-editing and final revisions for publication.
May 15: Special Issue of William James Studies available for public.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Deadline: September 18th, 2016

William James Society’s group meeting at the APA-P,
April 12-15, 2017,
Westin Seattle,
Seattle, WA.

The William James Society invites paper proposals for its group session at the 2017 Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association. The Pacific Division meeting runs from April 12th to April 15th, 2017, and is being held at the Westin Seattle in Seattle, Washington. The date and time of the session will be announced at a later date, but group sessions are always scheduled in the evening.

Proposals may be on any aspect of James’s philosophical thought. We especially encourage papers that address traditionally overlooked features of James’s work, that connect James’s work to other disciplines, or that apply James’s thought to contemporary issues.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submissions will be accepted by email only. Email proposals to session organizer Kyle Bromhall at kyle.bromhall@outlook.com by September 8th, 2016. Please attach your proposal as either a Word document (.docx/doc) or in Portable Document Format (.pdf). In the body of your email, please include: author name(s); affiliation(s), if any; and, contact information for the corresponding author. All corresponding authors will be contacted by email by October 31st, 2016 regarding the status of their submission.

Proposals should be prepared for blind review, and be between 500 and 750 words in length (final papers should be approximately 3,500 words). Please do not send completed papers.

Kyle Bromhall, PhD
William James Society Liaison to the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association.

WJS Young Scholar Prize
Deadline: August 15, 2016

The WILLIAM JAMES SOCIETY (WJS) would like to announce that it will be offering its annual WJS YOUNG SCHOLAR PRIZE to the young scholar (within five years of the Ph.D.) who submits the essay that best explores the thought of James.

The prize will include: (1) the opportunity to read the paper during the WJS session at the 2017 meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division in Baltimore, Maryland, (2) $600 to subsidize travel to that meeting, and (3) the possibility of publishing the paper in William James Studies.

Submissions should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines (here) of William James Studies manuscript submission information. All papers must be submitted to WJS Vice President Henry Jackman and received by August 15th. After the submissions have been considered by the prize committee, the winner will be announced in late September.

2016 Meeting of the Bertrand Russell Society
Deadline: May 1, 2016

The Bertrand Russell Society (BRS), an international organization dedicated to the memory of the philosopher Bertrand Russell, will hold its annual meeting at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York from June 24 to June 26, 2016.

If you are interested in presenting a paper at the BRS Annual Meeting, please contact Dr. Timothy Madigan, President of the BRS, at tmadigan@rochester.rr.com – We welcome papers on any aspect of Russell’s life, thought, work, and legacy. We also welcome proposals for other activities that might be appropriate for the meeting (e.g., a master class on an essay by/about Russell). The abstract should be no longer than two paragraphs. The deadline for submission is May 1, 2016.

There is a time limit of 20 minutes for presentations. There will be an additional 20 minutes allotted for discussion.

Further details about the annual meeting (registration, etc.) will be posted at the Bertrand Russell Society website:
https://bertrandrussell.org/

William James and Literary Studies
Deadline: March 15, 2016.

In concert with an initiative of the William James Society to broaden scholarly interest in the life and work of William James, we seek paper proposals for the 2017 MLA Convention that address William James and literary studies, broadly conceived.

We welcome papers that examine James and his relationship to literature and the theory and practice of literary interpretation, both in his own time and in ours. Proposals may consider James’ relationship to modernism and other late-nineteenth and/or early-twentieth century aesthetic movements, including lines of influence between James’ philosophy of psychology, pragmatism and specific literary authors. We also invite proposals that aim to place James in contemporary interpretive contexts, including those that address critical race and ethnic studies, queer theories, new materialisms, and novel approaches to periodical or archival work.

The William James Society (WJS) is a multidisciplinary professional society that supports the study of, and communication about, the life and work of William James (1842-1910) and his ongoing influence in the many fields to which he contributed. We are currently interested in expanding the society’s engagement with disciplinary fields beyond philosophy and psychology. It’s hoped that the MLA panel may anchor a special issue of the peer-reviewed, online journal William James Studies.

Please submit abstracts up to 200 words to both Dr. Todd Barosky (tbarosky@stmartin.edu) and Dr. Justin Rogers-Cooper (jrogers@lagcc.cuny.edu) by March 15, 2016.