Category Archives: Association for Adorno Studies

Recap of the 9th Annual Meeting

12 Monday Jun 2023

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The 9th annual meeting of the Association for Adorno Studies took place in the beautiful coastal city of Brighton, UK, in early May. The meeting was held over two days in the venues of the Leonardo Hotel (May 5th: Brighton Station; May 6th: Brighton Waterfront). It was the first time since 2019 that the AAS was able to hold its annual meeting. It was very exciting to reconnect in person and to see so many new speakers and participants join our adventure.

Our thanks go to the Centre for Social and Political Thought of the University of Sussex for hosting the event. A very special thanks to Gordon Finlayson and Marina Lademacher for all the work they invested in organizing this wonderful event with such a stimulating and high-calibre program! The meeting was very well attended (we counted over 45 participants) and convened speakers and participants from several countries, including the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Brazil. Amongst other things, this year’s program offered a concentration of remarkable papers on Adorno’s aesthetics and philosophy of music, which made for a very sustained and thought-provoking conversation over two days. The last day ended with a much-anticipated author-meet-critics panel devoted to Iain Macdonald’s What Would Be Different. Thanks to Taylor Carman, Peter E. Gordon, Iain Macdonald and Nick Walker for the fascinating exchanges!

We held our business meeting on the second day of the event at lunch time, as is our custom. While members of the AAS met a number of times more or less informally during our pandemic hiatus, this was our first formal business meeting since 2019. Surti Singh (President) and Pierre-Francois Noppen (Vice-President) co-chaired the meeting. They shared news about recent developments in the AAS and submitted a number of points for discussion. Significant changes have happened over the last three years. And we have many people to thank for their help and their efforts in making these changes possible. Here’s an overview:

First, Martin Shuster and Kathy Kiloh (founders of the AAS, former President and Vice-President of the AAS, respectively, as well as founders and editors Adorno Studies since its inception) stepped down from the journal in 2021. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to both of them for their long and dedicated service and their extraordinary commitment to the AAS. Since then, a new editorial team has formed (Samir Gandesha, Johan Hartle, Antonia Hofstätter, Han-Gyeol Lie and Stefano Marino) along with a new editorial board. The new editors have been very busy preparing the relaunch of Adorno Studies at Mimesis Press. Antonia Hofstätter, who was present at the meeting, relayed some very exciting news (and shared some visuals!) about the next issue. Stay tuned! The event will be publicized on this blog.

Second, the AAS has been working on the transfer of this blog to a new server at UC Berkeley (thanks to Robert Kaufmann, Debarati Sanyal and Dan Blanton). The details should be announced soon. In the meantime, if you wish to be added on the mailing list of this blog, please contact Pierre-François Noppen directly (pf.noppen@usask.ca).

Third, we have announced that our executive is to be renewed at our 2024 meeting. It is worth noting that, on the model we agreed upon in 2012 at our first meeting (Johns Hopkins University), members of our executive serve three-year terms. While the pandemic upset our plans for a renewal of the executive, we are pleased to return to our pre-pandemic model with three-year commitments.

Fourth, we discussed a number of options for next year’s meeting (2024). The location will be announced by the end of the summer on this blog. We are also thrilled to announce that Peter E. Gordon has very graciously agreed to host our 2025 meeting at Harvard University.

All of this bodes very well for the future of the AAS!

Here’s the complete schedule of this year’s meeting.

And here are some pictures that were shared with us:

AAS 2023 Meeting @ U. Sussex May 5-6

25 Saturday Mar 2023

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The 9th Annual conference of the Association for Adorno Studies:

May 5th – 6th 2023 in Brighton, UK.

Host: Centre for Social and Political Thought, at the University of Sussex.

Funding: the Mind Association, The Aristotelian Society of GB, and the School of Media Arts and Humanities at the University of Sussex.

We have an event brite invitation for the first 50 places.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-association-for-adorno-studies-9th-annual-conference-tickets-578956383127

Venues:

Friday 5th of May, Leonardo Hotel Brighton. 101 Stroudley Road, Brighton, BN1 4DJ, GB Telephone: +44(0) 1273 862 121.

Email: brightonconference@leonardohotels.com

This hotel is right by Brighton Railway Station.

Saturday 6th of May, Leonardo Hotel, Brighton Waterfront. Kings Road

Brighton, BN1 2GS, GB Telephone: +44(0) 1273 206 700.

Email: brightonwaterfrontconference@leonardohotels.com

This hotel is on the Seafront.

Though Brighton has a lot of other hotels, the conference takes place during the Brighton Festival so rooms will be at a premium and will book up early. Here are some other good hotels we recommend.

Artist Residence Hotel (Regency Square – Central Brighton)

Hotel du Vin (Close to Brighton Sea front)

Harbour Hotel (Brighton Seafront. There is no harbour)

Drakes Hotel (boutique Hotel – Kemp Town)

Blanch House (boutique Hotel – Kemp Town)

PROGRAMME

Thursday May 4th 7.30 p.m. Wine Reception and Book Launch Leonardo Hotel Waterfront, Brighton

Friday 5th May – Leonardo Hotel, Brighton Station

8.45 coffee and tea

Meeting Room

9.20-11.00

Lydia Goehr, Adorno on work, analysis, and critique

Antonia Hoffstätter, Adorno and Gerhard Richter’s Birkenau paintings.

11.00-11.30 coffee and tea

11.30-1.10

Andrew Bowie            Adorno on Music

Fumi Okiji.                 Adorno on Music

1.10-2.30 – lunch – Business Meeting

2.30-4.10

Emily Shyr: “Revealing a Schubertian Constellation: Re-reading Adorno’s ‘Schubert’ through Benjamin”

Roman Thomassen: “Black Metal as Aestheticizing of the Present”

410-4.30

4.30-6.10

Bruno Carvalho. Adorno on Suffering

Adriano Lotito: Adorno on Work

Drinks and Conference Meal tbc

8.45 Coffee reception, Leonardo Hotel, Brighton Waterfront

9.20-11.00

Lars Rensmann “How Nature Matters: Environmentalism after Arendt and Adorno”

Kathy Kiloh “Involvement and Animal Desire”

11.00-11.30 Coffee and Tea

11..30-1.10

Salima Nait Ahmed: “Adorno and Sartre on Anti-Semitism: A Comparison of Frankfurt School and Existentialist Approaches to Racialization”

Estelle Ferrarese TBC

1.10-2.30. Lunch

2.30-4.30

Panel discussion on Iain Macdonald’s What would be different? Figures of Possibility in Adorno”

Taylor Carmen

Peter E Gordon

Nick Walker

Iain Macdonald

Thanks–

03 Wednesday Mar 2021

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Henry Pickford and the Association presenting us with a framed version of the first issue of Adorno Studies at the annual meeting at Duke University in 2017.

This isn’t a strictly Adorno related announcement but has more to do with the administration of the website and the future of the society. After almost a decade of administering the website (our first post was 12/5/11, which now seems like a lifetime ago!), and of 4 years of editing the journal, Kathy and I are writing to let everyone know that we will be stepping down in these roles.

We are both exceedingly grateful to the community that has arisen and so incredibly happy to have met all of the people we have met across the world, but, for both of us, it is time to step away and allow the association and the website to take on new forms and projects. As of now, as the executives of the Association, Surti Singh and Pierre-François Noppen will take over administration of this site.

In the near future, we anticipate that they will be able to announce new ventures and partnerships for both the association and journal. In the meantime, we send everyone reading best wishes and gratitude.

Most sincerely,

Martin Shuster

Kathy Kiloh

9th Annual Meeting of the Association for Adorno Studies Details

27 Thursday Feb 2020

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Venue – University of Sussex, Falmer Campus
Date: May 1st/2nd, 2020
 
Friday 1st of May Gardner Tower Attenborough Centre
Saturday 2nd of May Arts A 108
 
Speakers
 Peter Dews (University of Essex)
 Estelle Ferrarese (Université de Picardie, Jules Verne)
 Kathy Kiloh (OCADU)
 Asaf Angerman (Kentucky University)
 Phillip Hogh (University of Oldenburg)
 Konstantinos Kavoulakos (University of Crete)
 Mahon O’Brian (University of Sussex)
 Nick Walker (University of Essex/Cambridge)
 Jacob Bard-Rosenberg (University of Cambridge)
 Iain Macdonald (University of Montreal)
 Lydia Goehr (Columbia University)
 Antonia Hofstätter (TYSKA-SU)
 Bruno Carvalho (São Paolo)
 Antoine Athanassiadis (UCD)
 Robert Ziegelmann (Humboldt)
 Jessica X. Daboin (Paris VIII)
 Sabrina Muchova (Charles University, Prague)
 Eric-John Russell (Kingston University)
 Robert Engelmann (Vanderbilt University)
 Hingley (Hertford College, Oxford)
 Robert Howlett (Sheffield University)
 Gabriel Toupin (University of Motreal)
 Aurelia Peyrical (Paris-Nanterre University)
 Lea Geckle  (Université de Picardie Jules Verne)
 
Confirmed Participants
 Fabian Freyenhagen (University of Essex)
 Prof. J G Finlayson (University of Sussex)
 Dr. Surti Singh (American University of Cairo)
 Dr. Pierre-François Noppen (University of Saskatchewan)
 Prof. Brian O’Connor (UCD)
 
General information:
 Traveling to Sussex University is easy. Here is some information on
 how to get here.
 https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/directions
 
 Here is a Campus Map: 
 https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/campus/map
 
Accommodation:
 
 Participants at the AAS conference are responsible for booking 
 their own accommodation. There are many hotels to choose from in
 Brighton though bear in mind that it is the Brighton Festival and 
 the May Bank Holiday, so best book early.

 I have arranged for their to be a Conference Discount Rate at 
 Jury's Inn. They have two hotels. One is by the station. This is
 convenient for travelling to and from the airport, and the Falmer 
 Campus. The other is on the Sea Front, which is a 6 minute taxi 
 ride, or 15 minute walk from the station. Rooms at the station 
 hotel are less expensive.
 
 If you select the hotel you want put in the group code <EVENT> 
 into the booking site, it will give you a 20% discount
 
 NB. May 1st is a bank holiday in England and the start of the  
 Brighton Festival. Consequently there is pressure on rooms so book  
 A.S.A.P.

 Jurys Inn, Brighton, 101 Stroudley Rd, Brighton BN1 4DJ
 Phone: 01273 862121
 https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/brighton-city
 
 Jury's Inn Kings Rd, Brighton BN1 2GS
 Phone: 01273 206700
https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/brighton-waterfront/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local
 
There is very limited campus accommodation available 
to book at the Institute of Development Studies https://www.ids.ac.uk/ 
 

Recap of the 8th Annual Meeting

03 Thursday Oct 2019

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On April 26th and 27th 2019, the Association for Adorno Studies convened its 8th annual meeting at the University of São Paulo’s beautiful campus. The meeting was officially opened with remarks by host Vladimir Safatle, Surti Singh, and Pierre-François Noppen. It was the Association’s first meeting in Latin America and a welcome exposure to Adorno studies in Brazil. The well-attended meeting featured a strong program with speakers from Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The papers included excellent engagements with Adorno’s philosophy and aesthetics, as well as timely inquiries into the relevance of Adorno’s thought for current social and political issues. 

Amid threats to academic freedom and invectives against cultural Marxism, our meeting coincided with Bolsonaro’s April 26th announcement on twitter that budgetary cuts would directly target philosophy and sociology. With the humanities facing an uncertain future, and colleagues and students in a dubious position, the meeting embodied a spirit of solidarity. Subsequently, a 30% cut to all university budgets was announced and the situation remains precarious today, with some universities uncertain about how they will conclude their current semesters. 

During our business meeting, held on the second day, we discussed the general aims of the Association, possibilities for publication in the Association’s journal, Adorno Studies, plans for next year’s meeting with several options in Europe, and the future possibility of returning to Latin America.

On behalf of the entire Association, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Vladimir Safatle and Eduardo Socha for being such generous hosts, navigating us through the fascinating city of São Paulo, and for all their work and organization into making this yet another successful and productive meeting. 

For more information about cuts to education in Brazil, Vladimir Safatle’s article is here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/brazils-conservative-revolution/.

And here are some photos of the event:

Recap of the 7th Annual Meeting

24 Thursday May 2018

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Earlier this month (May 4-5, 2018), members of the Association for Adorno Studies gathered at the American University in Cairo for our 7th annual meeting. As summer was taking a early start in Egypt – with temperatures surging to 40°C/104°F! – the meeting was held in the sumptuous (and cool) Oriental Hall of the Tahrir Square Campus.

Surti Singh (our host), Robert Switzer (Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at AUC) and Pierre-François Noppen (our outgoing President) opened the meeting with remarks. (Our outgoing Vice-President, Roger Foster, couldn’t attend the meeting this year.) Speakers from Canada, the US, Norway, France, Brasil and Egypt were invited to present their latest work on Adorno. The sharp, insightful and thought-provoking papers fueled open and very stimulating discussions throughout the meeting. Continue reading →