The British Society of Aesthetics is seeking to appoint two new ordinary members of the Trustees Committee, with effect from September 2014. We have received expressions of interest from four applicants, and their supporting statements are below.
All current BSA members are entitled to vote.
VOTING INSTRUCTIONS
Each member may vote for no more than TWO candidates. The two candidates with the most votes will be duly elected as Trustees.
Members’ votes can be registered EITHER by email, OR by post, OR in person at the BSA conference.
BY EMAIL
1. Compose a new message to admin@british-aesthetics.org with ‘Election Vote’ as the subject
2. Include (a) your name and (b) the names of your TWO preferred candidates in the body of the email.
3. The deadline for receipt of email votes is noon on Wednesday 17 September 2014.
BY POST
1. Print off the ballot paper provided here: Ballot_paper
2. Place a cross in the boxes next to the names of your TWO preferred candidates.
3. Place this paper inside an envelope with your name and signature, and nothing else, on the outside.
4. Place this envelope inside another envelope addressed to:
The Scrutineers for The British Society of Aesthetics
PO Box 271
Cheadle
SK8 9BU
5. Attach a stamp and return by post.
6. The deadline for receipt of postal votes is Wednesday 17 September 2014.
IN PERSON
Members attending the BSA conference at Oxford who have not already voted by email or post may vote in person if they prefer. Instructions will be provided in delegate packs. The deadline for voting in person is 18:30 on Friday 19 September 2014.
Any votes received after the closing date or not complying with the voting procedure will be invalid and will not be counted. Voting will be verified by independent scrutineers and the results of the election announced at the AGM on Saturday 20 September 2014.
CANDIDATES’ SUPPORTING STATEMENTS
Katherine Thomson-Jones
I have been a member of the BSA since 2003 when I completed my PhD at the University of Toronto and began teaching at Oberlin College. Since then, I have followed BSA news with great interest and I have been a dedicated BJA reader, referee, and contributor. In recent years, it has become easier for me to attend the BSA annual meeting, and I was pleased to organize one of the first BSA symposia, at last year’s meeting, on art and technology. At this year’s meeting, I will be giving a paper on digital cinema. This paper relates to my current research on the digital arts as well as my work in the philosophy of film. I am author of Aesthetics & Film (Continuum, 2008); co-editor (with Kathleen Stock) of New Waves in Philosophy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), and editor of Current Controversies in Philosophy of Film (Routledge, forthcoming). I have published articles and book chapters on digital cinema, cinematic narration, imagination, and ethical art criticism. My relevant administrative experience includes being a member of the ASA Program Committee (2011), being principal organizer and co-organizer for the Oberlin Colloquium in Philosophy (2006 and 2014, respectively), and having done extensive review and refereeing work. If I were to become a Trustee of the BSA, I would be particularly interested in working to promote diversity in the field and in bringing international attention to the vibrancy of the British aesthetics scene.
Lee Walters
I’m a permanent Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Southampton who works in Aesthetics, Metaphysics, and the Philosophy of Logic and Language.
My PhD thesis (2011) concerned the logic, semantics, and metaphysics of fictional characters and their names. Since then, I have developed part of this research to provide a more general treatment of the metaphysics of art with my 2012 BSA prize-winning essay ‘Repeatable Artworks as Created Types’. I’m continuing this work with papers on the autographic/allographic distinction and on the individuation of allographic works.
Aesthetics also represents a core part of my teaching. This year, I have designed and delivered an advanced undergraduate course focussing on my research on fictional names, the metaphysics of fiction, and truth in fiction. I’ll teach the course again next year. And this summer I’m leading a reading group on Levinson’s Music, Art, and Metaphysics.
I am an active member of the British aesthetics community, presenting my work on aesthetics in Aberdeen, Birmingham, London, Southampton, Stirling, and York. I am also referee for the BJA and PJA. I’ll be attending the BSA conference this year, and will attend all the BSA meetings over the next three years, if appointed. And I have a proven track record as a pro-active, effective, and enthusiastic administrator, both inside and outside academia. So, I am passionate about aesthetics, and have the commitment and know-how to join the BSA’s board of Trustees. I relish the opportunity to help support the British aesthetics community, if successful.
Dawn Wilson
I am a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Hull and have served one term as an ordinary member of the BSA Trustees Committee. My research interests include the Philosophy of Photography and Philosophy of Images. I have published on topics such as self-portraiture and photographic art and I am currently writing a book on the aesthetics of photography. Previously I worked alongside specialists from art history and theory on a three-year interdisciplinary project (‘Aesthetics After Photography’) and I am particularly keen to encourage the exchange of ideas among artists, historians, theorists and philosophers. As a member of the Anglo-German Picture-theory/Bildtheorie research group I am working to expand the Philosophy of Images as an area of research interest in the UK. I have served on script-reading committees for the BSA and recently initiated a survey of Master’s degree programmes to investigate how the BSA can further promote the study of aesthetics and philosophy of art at postgraduate level.