We encourage scholars with genuine interest in philosophy of art and popular culture to send a max. 250 word abstract for reviewing no later than September 10, 2012 (extended deadline). All schools of philosophy and aesthetic theory (pragmatism, hermeneutics, semiotics, phenomenology, analytic aesthetics, cultural studies, etc.) are accepted.

As keynote speakers we are glad to have two distinguished scholars of contemporary aesthetics, Ted Cohen (University of Chicago) and Jos de Mul (Erasmus University Rotterdam) – both influential across the borders of philosophical schools!

The site will be the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia (www.vsvu.sk), and the conference is organized in cooperation with Aalto University, Finland (www.aalto.fi).

List of possible topics (which should not be seen as restrictive, but more as an invitation):
– avant-garde popular culture
– art from the point of view of popular culture studies
– aesthetic properties and concepts of popular culture
– popular culture, aesthetic education and art schools
– official popular culture (nazism, socialism, etc.)
– popular culture in post-communist countries
– the relation of aesthetics and cultural studies
– popular culture as a shared outsider (Americanization)
– European aesthetics of popular culture
– kitsch, trash, camp

Please send your abstracts to: popularculture@vsvu.sk

The conference language is English.

For any further questions, do not hesitate to contact the organizers:
Mr. Jozef Kovalcik (kovalcik@vsvu.sk) & Mr. Max Ryynänen (max.ryynanen@aalto.fi)