Friday, April 10, 2015

Sheila Lintott, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Women's and Gender Studies presents "Getting Along Beautifully: The Aesthetics of Friendship"


The Faculty Colloquium Committee announces our final event of the 2014-15 academic year!  On Tuesday, April 14th in the Gallery Theatre, Sheila Lintott, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Women's and Gender Studies presents

Getting Along Beautifully: The Aesthetics of Friendship




Glossing the aesthetic aspects of friendship, as we too often do, impoverishes our understanding of the value and meaning of friendships, relationships which animate and give structure to our lives. The friendships we forge and those we forgo, the friendships we cultivate and those we lose, these varying and variable relations can broaden our experiences, intensify our feelings, and help our self-understanding and self-creation.  I shall investigate the aesthetic aspects of friendship, for example, how cultivating and enjoying friendship invites creative and relatively free expressions of self, the ways aesthetic taste factors into with whom we are friends, and the manner in which friendships can help to harmoniously round out a life.

A reception in Arches Lounge (Langone 304) will precede the talk, beginning at 4:30, and featuring the finest food and wine. Professor Lintott's lecture will begin in the Gallery Theater at 5:15. Afterwards, we will reconvene in Arches Lounge for a final round of refreshing adult beverages, delightful hors d'oeuvres, and stimulating conversation. We should be able to complete our agenda in time to attend the Solidarity Ceremony planned by BSG and other student clubs and organizations (beginning at 6:30 on the Quad).  Let's stand with our students in solidarity, and against racism and exclusion.

    Thanks to our speakers and our audience for another exciting year exploring the diverse interests and accomplishments of the Bucknell faculty. It has been quite a journey!  Our call for papers for next year's series is open until April 22. Please consider submitting a proposal for a lecture--the work of the faculty make this series what it is.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Professor Leddington Awarded John Fisher Memorial Prize in Aesthetics

It's been a good year for Professor Jason Leddington. Not only did he receive tenure in February — he will begin his tenure as Associate Professor next year — but he just won the John Fisher Memorial Prize in Aesthetics for his paper "The Experience of Magic". The paper will be published in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, the leading aesthetics journal, and he will be presenting it at the 2015 meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics in Savannah, Georgia.

From the prize description:
The American Society for Aesthetics sponsors the bi-annual John Fisher Memorial Prize in Aesthetics. The prize is awarded to an original essay in aesthetics, created in memory of the late John Fisher, editor of The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism from 1973 to 1988.

The Prize is offered to foster the development of new voices and talent in the field of aesthetics.
You can read a recent draft of the paper here.