Chasing Rhythm: Encounters at the Edge of Academic and Epistemological Traditions

Chasing Rhythm: Encounters at the Edge of Academic and Epistemological Traditions.
International Symposium on Rhythm

Margaret St. Lecture room, School of Art, Birmingham City University, Birmingham UK

29.05.2019 9am-5pm
 
This Symposium acknowledges, records and responds to a period of revived interest in the philosophical understandings and methodological affordances of the category of rhythm across a range of subjects and disciplines. 

The history of the study of rhythm is in itself denoted by a rhythmic cadence, as historian of rhythm, philosopher and social theorist Pascal Michon observes (2016).Michon identifies three fundamental periods of rhythmic renaissance: a first one, in ancient times, coinciding with the so called Hellenization of culture, characterised by a surge in written communication (Eikelboom, 2018). A second one, in modern times, that charted the social, economic and cultural effects of the Industrial Revolution; and a third, contemporary one, that coincides with the intensification of globalization as we are currently experiencing it, but whose origins can be traced back to the twentieth century (Bachelard, 2000; Benveniste, 1966; Meschonnic, 1982). 

It is the latter that frames and situates the themes explored in this Symposium, allowing us to interrogate the historical, cultural and societal conditions and moods that seem to invite and propel the return of rhythm. In particular, the Symposium aims to introduce novel theoretical and methodological explorations of rhythm within adult education & higher education; sociology; urban studies; cultural-historical research; critical, contextual and media studies. 

Embracing a variety of theoretical-methodological approaches and moving beyond traditional disciplinary ‘enclosures’, this one-day International Symposium asks four fundamental questions: 

• Why has Rhythm ‘always haunted our tradition, without ever reaching the centre of its concerns’ (Derrida, 1989)?
• What is ourrelationship to Rhythm and how does Rhythm interact with us (Eikelboom, 2018)? 
• What future trajectories and cross-disciplinary pathways informed by rhythm can we envision?  
• Can and should rhythm(analysis) help overcome traditional disciplinary boundaries and aspire to philosophical/methodological centrality, alongside well-known categories such as time, space, consciousness and language? 
  

Invited Speakers:
Michel Alhadeff-Jones, Professor in Adult Learning & Leadership, Columbia University, New York; Psychosociologist & Rhythmanalyst at the Temporalities, Rhythms & Complexity Lab, Sunkhronos Institute, Geneva.
Dawn Lyon, Reader in Sociology, University of Kent.
Yi Chen, Lecturer in Contextual and Theoretical Studies, University of the Arts, London (UAL).
Julian Henriques, Director of the Topology Research Unit (TRU), Goldsmiths, London. Film producer, writer-director and sound artist.
Sunil Manghani,Professor of Theory, Practice & Critique, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton. 
Filip Vostal, Researcher, Institute of Philosophy, Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
 
Conference Convenor
Dr. Fadia Dakka, Research Fellow 
Deputy Director of CSPACE, Birmingham City University 
Contact: fadia.dakka [at] bcu.ac.uk 
 
Register at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-symposium-on-rhythm-chasing-rhythm-encounters-at-the-edge-of-academic-epistemological-tickets-59947570798

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