The 2014 Annual Meeting was held at St Anne’s College, Oxford, on 19-21 September. It was the second time that the conference had the new format that included parallel sessions as well as symposia. These were designed to increase participation and diversity, and again proved very successful.
Sixty-six papers were submitted, which is an all-time record, and 20% more than the number of papers last year. Thirty-six of these were from students. Because of the extremely high average quality of the student papers, I added two student paper sessions (instead of two regular paper sessions). Total delegate numbers are a record 90, thanks to a marked increase in ordinary delegates – 41 compared with 25 in 2013 and 32 in 2012.
There were three symposia: one on experimental philosophy and aesthetics, one on aesthetic intuitions and one on fiction and the sciences. The biannual Richard Wollheim lecture was delivered by Jenefer Robinson (University of Cincinnati) and the keynote lecture was delivered by M.G.F. Martin (University College, London and University of California, Berkeley). The Empson Lecturer was supposed to be Peter Greenaway, who unfortunately had to cancel in the last minute.
Of the 32 speakers this year, 25 are from outside the UK (16 of 33 last year) and 14 are women (12 last year). The winner of the prize for best student paper was awarded to Jenny Judge (Cambridge), for her paper ‘Musical Metre’.
Bence Nanay, University of Antwerp and Cambridge University
