SAF is part of a large network of individuals and groups, academic or not, who are dedicated to the wider dissemination of aesthetics, be it in Scotland, or the rest of the world. We rely on this network of academics and practitioners to promote the work of our speakers and to highlight Scotland as a vibrant place for the study of aesthetics.
BSA
The British Society of Aesthetics generously funds SAF, along with many other exciting aesthetic projects, workshops and conferences in the UK. They organise the largest aesthetics conference in the UK, held annually in the Autumn.
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Aesthetics for Birds
Aesthetics for Birds is a popular blog about all things aesthetics, academic or not. It features high-quality and accessible posts written by experts in the discipline.
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ASA
The American Society of Aesthetics connects academics working in aesthetics throughout the US. They organise several large conferences a year and fund a variety of projects in the field.
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AERG
The Aesthetics and Ethics Research Group is was co-founded by our own founder Panos Paris, as well as by Adriana Clavel-Vázquez and Nils-Hennes Stear, who have also presented at SAF. Their aim is to promote philosophical research at the intersection of aesthetics and ethics.
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SPA
The Scots Philosophical Association promotes the research and teaching of philosophy in Scotland.
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Past Organisers
Clotilde Torregrossa
Clotilde's research is in aesthetics and metaphilosophy. She is currently Lecturer in Aesthetics at Uppsala University, in Sweden. She previously was an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, where she was an organiser for SAF.
Sam Heffron
Sam is currently completing his PhD at the University of St Andrews. His work sits at the intersection of aesthetics, philosophy of mind, perception, and language, with a special focus on film.
Eric Studt
Eric completed his PhD thesis, titled "Affective Engagement with Narrative" in 2023, under the supervision of Berys Gaut at the University of St Andrews.
Colin Troesken
Colin Troesken completed an MPhil in philosophy at the University of St Andrews, while serving as an organiser of the SAF (2021-2022). Colin’s dissertation focused on the relationship between cognitive and aesthetic value in virtual and digital media. Other research interests include social/political epistemology, the philosophy of imagination, and most recently the aesthetic value of interpersonal relationships.
Ash Watkins
Ash graduated with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of St Andrews and was an organiser for SAF from 2017 until 2020.
Panos Paris
Panos founded SAF with Nicole Hall in 2015 while studying for his PhD in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. He has published widely on topics including beauty, ugliness, virtue theory, and the aesthetics and ethics of TV series. Panos is a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Trustee of the British Society of Aesthetics, and the co-founder of the Welsh Aesthetics Forum.
Nicole Hall
Nicole co-founded SAF while pursuing her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Currently, she is head of operations in international relations at Institut d’Optique Graduate School.