Dr. Michael Schwab, Royal College of Art, London
Dr. Sabine Flach, SVA, School of Visual Arts, New York City
Maureen Jeram, Berlin
Dr. Aikaterini Fotopoulou, King's College London
Venue: Royal College of Art,
Kensington Gore,
London SW7 2EU,
UK
Dates: 10 & 11 June 2011
Click here to download the conference exposé and the call for papers.
Conference Fee: £150 full/£60 reduced
Click here to book a place.
Imagination has long fascinated and divided the sciences of the mind. It is currently one of the most relevant issues for the sciences (medicine, neuro- and cognitive sciences and neuropsychoanalysis) to not only conduct research on the fact that we think and perceive, but rather on how, why and what we think and perceive. With this shifted emphasis the relation of the brain to the whole body has become relevant linking research on imagination to theories of embodiment.
Imagination is the most significant capacity of humans to interact with the environment. Just with imagination we are able to connect the past with the future, which forms the basis of decision-making processes. To understand the complex and highly determined processes of imagination, the Imagining Imagination International Conference provides an interdisciplinary perspective to understand how culture – images, music, language, poetry – influences and determines our imaginative world.
Speakers from a variety of disciples will share what imagination means to them and will discuss what a more imaginatory theory of imagination might add to our current understanding. The disciplines that are represented include the creative arts, the history of art, science and medicine and their respective histories, literature, cultural studies, to name a few. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the conference will clarify the highly subjective processes of imagination, making them visible and with that understandable. It will shed light on the capacity of imagination for societies to understand the interaction of an individual with its environment.