Mission and History
The Association for Philosophy and Literature (APL) fosters a global intellectual community that encourages and advances scholarly research at the intersections of philosophical, literary, cultural, textual, visual, medial, art, and aesthetic theories. Inspired by its history as the former International Association for Philosophy and Literature, founded in 1976 by Hugh J. Silverman, the APL continues to widen interdisciplinary dialogue, encouraging the exploration and articulation of many of the most vital and exciting recent developments in philosophy, literature, and the arts.
Annual APL conferences provide unique opportunities for dialogue and strategic readings, the articulation of contemporary themes and ideas, the exploration of various expressive arts, and the production of new theoretical discourses. Membership in the APL includes discounts on conference registration fees and conference hotels, as well as a free book from the ongoing Texture series which consists of uniquely focused volumes of essays related to the themes of previous conferences.
Recent conference themes and locations include the following:
(2021) Nature — Animal, Moral, Technological, MacEwan University (Banff, Canada)
(2019) Truth Fiction Illusion – Worlds and Experience (1st conference as APL) University of Klagenfurt (Austria)
(2013) Hospitalities: biopolitics / technologies / humanities (37th annual conference) National University of Singapore
(2009) Double Edges: rhetorics-rhizomes-regions (33rd annual conference) Brunel University
(2008) Global Arts / Local Knowledge (32nd annual conference) RMIT University, La Trobe University, University of Melbourne (Australia)
(2007) Layering: Spatial / Temporal / Textual / Visual (31st annual conference) University of Cyprus, Nicosia (Cyprus)
(2006) Between Three: Arts - Media - Politics (30th annual conference) University of Freiburg (Germany), University of Strasbourg (France), Beyeler Foundation (Basel, Switzerland)
(2005) Chiasmatic Encounters (29th annual conference) University of Helsinki (Finland)
Some past keynote or plenary speakers have included Rosi Braidotti, Pheng Cheah, Jacques Derrida, Steve Dixon, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Peter Greenaway, Sneja Gunew, Jack Halberstam, Steven Holl, Dominique Janicaud, Tracey Lindberg, Achille Mbembe, Mario Perniola, Jacques Rancière, Stelarc, Bernard Stiegler, and Slavoj Žižek.