Renaissance Society of America

Panel Title
Imaging the body, imaging knowledge

Recent developments in the cognitive sciences and pragmatist philosophy suggest that the body, being the basic medium of perception, represents the primary apparatus for knowledge and aesthetic experience. Moving beyond the duality of body and mind, somatic philosophy attempts to delineate a new relationship between body, ethics and aesthetics: somaesthetics. While the discourse has already found fruitful ground in contemporary art, Shusterman concedes that the roots of his somaesthetic philosophy may be found in Ancient Greek and Renaissance Humanist philosophy. This call for papers intends to explore the relationship between body and aesthetic experience in the Early Modern Period. We invite papers that will address and expand beyond any of the following issues: Can somaesthetics be historicized and if so, what similarities and differences emerge in the responses between the early modern and the contemporary viewer? Can Renaissance representations of the body suggest new ways of thinking about perception, seeing, knowledge and other embodied functions? How and why does the viewer engage with representations of the body? Do Early Modern representations of the body suggest a gendered aesthetic experience?

Please submit your abstract (up to 150 words) and a short CV (including affiliation and contact information) no later than May 31, 2012 to:
Dr. Liliana Leopardi, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, liliana.leopardinyu.edu, and Dr. Angeliki Pollali, DEREE-The American College of Greece, apollaliacg.edu

Speakers must be members of the Renaissance Society of America at the time of the conference.

Please consult the RSA website for further information: http//www.rsa.org