University of Basel, Sept. 13-15, 2012         [download poster & flyer]

Keynote Speakers
Graham Harman: "The Next Avant-Garde"
N. Katherine Hayles: "Speculative Aesthetics"
Steven Shaviro: "Non-Phenomenological Aesthetics"

Scope & Aims
This conference engaged with the recent speculative turn in continental philosophy and aesthetics. Hosted by the University of Basel’s Department of English, the conference was particularly interested in the implications of what could be termed the new speculative aesthetics for literary and cultural studies. Through academic talks, an Editors' Panel, and an Art Event, we staged a three-fold encounter: between aesthetics and speculation, between speculative realism and its (possible) precursors, and between speculative realism and art and literature.

See Ridvan Askin's interview (in German) and report on the conference as well as Peter Burleigh's review of our Art Event "The Nonhuman."