Spinoza and Aesthetics conference

spinoza research network

SPINOZA & AESTHETICS/SPACE
Friday April 21, 2017

INTRODUCTION | JB Shank | University of Minnesota 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

WORKSHOP I | Arun Saldanha | University of Minnesota: Spinoza’s Geography of Bodies: Global Capitalism and the Responsibility to Revolt
Respondents| Harshit Rathi + Joseph Bermas-Dawes  11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

LUNCH BREAK 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

WORKSHOP II | Peg Rawes| University College London: Dissimilarity: Spinoza’s Ethical Ratios and Housing Welfare. Respondents| Anjali Ganapathy + Austin Young  2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

COFFEE BREAK 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

WORKSHOP III | Susan Ruddick| University of Toronto: A/Synchronic Earth: Spinoza and the Spatial Aesthetic of the Anthropocene. Respondents| Kai Bosworth + Lindsey Weber   4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

135 Nicholson Hall | University of Minnesota

For information: Cesare Casarino: casarino@umn.edu, Anjali Ganapathy: ganap002@umn.edu
Co-sponsored by the Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World; the Department of…

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Peg Rawes’ recent events

On 19 November 2016, Peg presented a co-authored conference paper with Dr Doug Spencer (Westminster) on ‘Material and Rational Feminisms’  at Architecture & Feminisms: Ecologies/Economies/Technologies, AHRA (Architectural Humanities Research Association) 2016, KTH Stockholm. The audience was international and included around 50 academics, students, and architectural professionals.

On 9 January 2017, she gave an invited talk on the film at London Architecture School to 35 postgraduate students and academics.

On 19 January 2017, she gave an invited talk on the film to Architectural Interdisciplinary Studies, UCL, to around 25 students and academics.

On 14 February 2017, Peg participated in ‘The House that Philosophy Built’, a panel organized by The Forum (LSE) to a public audience of around 75. The talk is now available on the Forum’s Blog at:  http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/theforum/the-house-that-philosophy-built/.

The House that Philosophy Built

14 February, 6:30-8:30 PM, London

Readers might be interested in this free event next week, featuring Peg Rawes.

Speakers
Juliet Haysom, Artist and Tutor, The Architectural Association, London
Kristen Kreider, Professor of Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Peg Rawes, Professor in Architecture and Philosophy, University College London

Chair
Shahidha Bari, Lecturer in Romanticism in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow

This panel will consider the ways in which philosophers have engaged with architecture and explores how architects have thought philosophically about their own work.  Are there are philosophical ideals at the heart of civic building projects and social housing programmes? What are the principles of good design and how could a three dimensional space represent an idea? Is the primary purpose of a building aesthetic, social or moral?  Do we judge a building on the beauty of its structure, the practicality of its form or the human interaction it enables?  And how should we imagine the skyline of the future?

Full details: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/theforum/forthcomingevents/the-house-that-philosophy-built/

Screening to Aberdeen City Council

Beth Lord screened Equal by Design to Aberdeen City Council’s planning department on 17 January 2017. The audience of around 20 followed up with a lively discussion of some of the issues in the film – including the suggestion that the next phase of the project should propose some practical Spinozistic solutions to the housing crisis.

Recent screenings in Scotland

On 10 November 2016 Equal by Design was screened for a meeting of around 15 members of the Scottish Young Planners’ Network (part of the Royal Town Planning Institute) in Edinburgh. The screening was followed by a discussion with Beth Lord, Adam Lang of Shelter Scotland, and Nikola Miller of Homes for Scotland.

In October 2016, a screening and discussion were held at the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Early Modern Studies.

Further screenings at University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council are coming up in the new year.

Shelter In-house Screening

Tuesday 19 July: Peg Rawes, Adam Low and Martin Rosenbaum attended an in-house screening at Shelter (UK), and hosted by Deborah Garvie, for staff from London and Shelter Scotland. The discussion took in the current political context, the need to bring out positive approaches to tackling the issues (e.g. Land Trusts or examples of good practice from the EU/International housing contexts), and the value of ‘reason’ for engendering better notions of wellbeing and self-determination across society.

Equal by Design Levitt Bernstein Architects in-house screening

Peg Rawes showed the film at the Levitt Bernstein Architects, as part of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, on Monday 4 July.  Partner, Jo McCafferty, and colleagues took part in a conversation which considered the potential for the project to build alliances in the profession and also with other partners/stakeholders, especially, around health issues. The film’s themes struck a chord with the practice, known for its thoughtful housing projects. Dan Liston commented here: ‘The issues in the film are highly relevant to much of the work we do in our Practice and resonated with many of us on a personal level. It proved to be highly motivating and thought provoking at a time when the concerns raised could not be timelier.’

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