With just a few days before our opening keynote, we’d like to give you the chance to download our finalized programme book. It includes a welcome, a few words of practical information, an overview of the programme as well as full abstracts for all the keynotes and panel sessions.

You can download the book as a pdf but it will also be available in print as you register at the venue.

Janet Blatter’s abstract was unfortunately amiss when we compiled the book, but it can be downloaded separately here.

The third and final Cognitive Futures in the Humanities  2016 newsletter is here! This time, we concentrate on practical issues like travel, our Sunday reception, weather in Helsinki, local services, and wifi connectivity. Click here for the pdf.

The full conference programme is now available! Head here for a look and do let us now if there’s something amiss or if any clarifications are needed. We are looking to also publish the conference abstracts a little later. They will also be included in our printed programme book, available at the conference.

With regards to changes to the preliminary programme, unfortunately, one of our keynote speakers, Jean-Marie Schaeffer, will not be coming and another, Deirdre Wilson, will only be able to join us via Skype to deliver her keynote.

Additionally, we have now included a new round-table format in this year’s programme, featuring Peter Garratt, Pirjo Lyytikäinen, Anne Mangen, as well as José Filipe Silva, who runs the ERC project “Rationality in Perception: Transformation of Mind and Cognition, 1250-1550” at the University of Helsinki. At this round table, we will explore further some key issues of our field that were already addressed in the interviews in the newsletters: What is the role of history in the cognitive humanities? How are they situated in Europe and the world? And how do they relate to the challenges of the digital age? The round-table will take a discursive, open-ended format. We look forward to a lively discussion and hope you can join us.

The following information is also available as a pdf-file here.

Continue reading →

Peter Garratt answered our questions on the situatedness of literature, the development of cognitive humanities since his groundbreaking AHRC project in 2011, and more!

What do the disciplinary connections inherent in the field of cognitive humanities mean to you? How do you engage with these different methods of research and different forms of knowledge in your work?

There is so much one could say here so I’ll restrict myself to the thought that working with different forms of knowledge – different disciplines – can also mean working directly with other people. Networks and collaborations involve specific interpersonal dynamics and dynamism. And I say this to recognise a relationship between ‘disciplinary connections’ and the embodied interactions that service them. Continue reading →

The second installment of our Cognitive Futures in the Humanities  2016 newsletter is now available! It includes an editorial, an interview with keynote speaker Peter Garratt and provides information on our preliminary programme, various practicalities, and presents select sights in Helsinki near the conference. You can find the newsletter as a pdf-file here.

Pirjo Lyytikäinen took the time to talk with us about cognitive approaches, Finnish emotions, and the rise of cognitive humanities in the Nordic countries.

What do the disciplinary connections inherent in the field of cognitive humanities mean to you? How do you engage with these different methods of research and different forms of knowledge in your work?

I find the research done in many fields of cognitive humanities and even cognitive science outside the field of humanities utterly important in the endeavour to think anew the role and methods of literary studies especially in the context of the study of literature and emotions, which is my current field of interest. Continue reading →

Anne Mangen kindly talked with us about cognitive humanities, interdisciplinarity, e-readers, and more.

What do the disciplinary connections inherent in the field of cognitive humanities mean to you? How do you engage with these different methods of research and different forms of knowledge in your work?

Cognitive humanities, per se, is a new field to me. However, I have quite some experience with interdisciplinary research, most recently within a European research network (COST Action) in which more than 120 researchers from a range of disciplines (arts & humanities + social sciences + natural sciences and technology) are engaged in empirical research on the impact of digitisation on reading. Continue reading →

Our first newsletter includes an editorial, interviews with two of our keynote speakers (Pirjo Lyytikäinen and Anne Mangen) as well as information on registration, travel, and accommodation. You can download the newsletter in pdf-format here.

Look forward to the next issue in late April!

The selection of presentations for the Cognitive Futures in the Humanities 2016 has now been made, and notification e-mails have been sent. We received over 130 presentation proposals – thank you all for taking the time to write them!

The conference is now open for registrations. You can find the registration form and price information here, and information on travel and accommodation here.

See you in June!