Understanding value XIi conference
Hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
Call for Abstracts for Understanding Value XIII
The CFA for this year's installment is now closed.
This conference is intended to provide the opportunity for speakers to share and develop their work in a welcoming and inclusive space, particularly those early in their academic careers. The conference is accepting talks on issues surrounding human values broadly construed. The notion of ‘value’ permeates many questions in and beyond philosophical discourse; as such, we welcome talks from any area of philosophy or interdisciplinary research. This includes, but is not limited to:
In addition to regular conference presentations, we are also hosting a Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) panel on the subject of healthcare injustices. We decided to add this panel as a way of explicitly making space for marginalised voices and for subjects of study that are not always visible in or welcomed by the mainstream philosophical community. Our hope is that bringing together speakers presenting on healthcare injustices from different angles will lead to a stimulating, intersectional discussion.
Under ‘minorities’, we recognise all groups who are underrepresented in the philosophical community, including but not limited to racialised people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, disabled people, people from a lower class background and women. The subject is intentionally broad so as to not limit the discussion to one branch of philosophy and give more people the opportunity to apply, as well as to foster a discussion featuring different perspectives on the subject.
In order to give everyone the opportunity to attend this session, and for speakers to get their word out to a larger audience than they would during parallel sessions, the MAP panel will take place during a keynote slot. The session will last 1.5 hours in total, starting with a brief introduction on the topic of discussion, followed by a 10-minute presentation by each of the four panellists. The next twenty minutes will be dedicated to a Q&A with a moderator, after which the discussion will be opened to questions from the audience for the final twenty minutes.
Format
The event will be held in-person, but we are aware that not everyone is able to attend in-person, so there will be a limited number of slots for online presentations.
Submission Instructions:
We welcome submissions from students studying at or above master's level and from researchers who have completed a PhD less than two years before the conference date. Regardless of whether they want to present on the MAP panel, we strongly encourage abstracts from students whose backgrounds are under-represented in their discipline.
Speakers presenting during parallel sessions will be allotted 20 minutes for their presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions. If you wish to present during a parallel session, please submit an abstract of up to 500 words. Submissions for parallel sessions are limited to one submission per applicant.
Applicants to the MAP panel are asked to submit an abstract of up to 500 words. Though applications for parallel sessions are limited to one application per person, applicants may apply for a parallel session and a seat on the MAP panel. However, these submissions must be on different topics and we will consider each abstract independently.
All abstracts must be prepared for blind review (i.e., remove all content that may identify you as the author), and sent to [email protected].
All submissions must be accompanied by a cover sheet, attached as a separate file containing the following information:
Additionally, we may be able to provide a childcare bursary to those who need it, though this is yet to be confirmed.
As mentioned, the organisers are eager to support researchers from backgrounds that are under-represented in their academic disciplines. To aid in this endeavour, if you believe that this description applies to yourself and wish to identify yourself as such, please include this information on your cover sheet as well.
Please ensure that all files are in PDF or docx format.
The submission deadline is April 25th 2025 at 23:59.
Accessibility
The conference will be held in the Diamond Building on the University of Sheffield campus, which has wheelchair access, lifts, hearing loops and accessible and gender-neutral toilets. For more information on accessibility, please visit the University of Sheffield website and the AccessAble website.
A quiet room will be available and we will aim to make presentations and handouts available ahead of time. All selected speakers will be contacted about any dietary restrictions. If you have additional accessibility requests or require accommodation, please don't hesitate to let us know via the abstract submission form or by directly emailing us if you wish to ask before submitting an abstract. We will try our best to accommodate your requests.
If you have any queries, feel free to contact us at [email protected].
We look forward to receiving your submissions!
Anne Thompson, Onyx Crisp
Members of the Understanding Value Organising Committee
This conference is intended to provide the opportunity for speakers to share and develop their work in a welcoming and inclusive space, particularly those early in their academic careers. The conference is accepting talks on issues surrounding human values broadly construed. The notion of ‘value’ permeates many questions in and beyond philosophical discourse; as such, we welcome talks from any area of philosophy or interdisciplinary research. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Ethics (meta-, normative, and applied)
- Aesthetics (including the philosophy of literature, film, fine arts, and so on)
- Epistemology (individual or social)
- Feminism or queer philosophy
- Political philosophy
- Philosophy of science
- Philosophy of medicine
- History of philosophy
- Philosophy of religion
- Meta-philosophy and metaphysics
In addition to regular conference presentations, we are also hosting a Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) panel on the subject of healthcare injustices. We decided to add this panel as a way of explicitly making space for marginalised voices and for subjects of study that are not always visible in or welcomed by the mainstream philosophical community. Our hope is that bringing together speakers presenting on healthcare injustices from different angles will lead to a stimulating, intersectional discussion.
Under ‘minorities’, we recognise all groups who are underrepresented in the philosophical community, including but not limited to racialised people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, disabled people, people from a lower class background and women. The subject is intentionally broad so as to not limit the discussion to one branch of philosophy and give more people the opportunity to apply, as well as to foster a discussion featuring different perspectives on the subject.
In order to give everyone the opportunity to attend this session, and for speakers to get their word out to a larger audience than they would during parallel sessions, the MAP panel will take place during a keynote slot. The session will last 1.5 hours in total, starting with a brief introduction on the topic of discussion, followed by a 10-minute presentation by each of the four panellists. The next twenty minutes will be dedicated to a Q&A with a moderator, after which the discussion will be opened to questions from the audience for the final twenty minutes.
Format
The event will be held in-person, but we are aware that not everyone is able to attend in-person, so there will be a limited number of slots for online presentations.
Submission Instructions:
We welcome submissions from students studying at or above master's level and from researchers who have completed a PhD less than two years before the conference date. Regardless of whether they want to present on the MAP panel, we strongly encourage abstracts from students whose backgrounds are under-represented in their discipline.
Speakers presenting during parallel sessions will be allotted 20 minutes for their presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions. If you wish to present during a parallel session, please submit an abstract of up to 500 words. Submissions for parallel sessions are limited to one submission per applicant.
Applicants to the MAP panel are asked to submit an abstract of up to 500 words. Though applications for parallel sessions are limited to one application per person, applicants may apply for a parallel session and a seat on the MAP panel. However, these submissions must be on different topics and we will consider each abstract independently.
All abstracts must be prepared for blind review (i.e., remove all content that may identify you as the author), and sent to [email protected].
All submissions must be accompanied by a cover sheet, attached as a separate file containing the following information:
- Author(s)'s name(s)
- Email address(es)
- Institutional affiliation(s)
- Whether you would like to present online or in person
- Three keywords on the topic of your talk
- The title of your talk
- Whether the submission is for a parallel session or the MAP panel (if you are applying to both, please indicate which title corresponds to which session)
- Whether you require any special accessibility arrangements not mentioned in the abstract or on the webpages linked below
Additionally, we may be able to provide a childcare bursary to those who need it, though this is yet to be confirmed.
As mentioned, the organisers are eager to support researchers from backgrounds that are under-represented in their academic disciplines. To aid in this endeavour, if you believe that this description applies to yourself and wish to identify yourself as such, please include this information on your cover sheet as well.
Please ensure that all files are in PDF or docx format.
The submission deadline is April 25th 2025 at 23:59.
Accessibility
The conference will be held in the Diamond Building on the University of Sheffield campus, which has wheelchair access, lifts, hearing loops and accessible and gender-neutral toilets. For more information on accessibility, please visit the University of Sheffield website and the AccessAble website.
A quiet room will be available and we will aim to make presentations and handouts available ahead of time. All selected speakers will be contacted about any dietary restrictions. If you have additional accessibility requests or require accommodation, please don't hesitate to let us know via the abstract submission form or by directly emailing us if you wish to ask before submitting an abstract. We will try our best to accommodate your requests.
If you have any queries, feel free to contact us at [email protected].
We look forward to receiving your submissions!
Anne Thompson, Onyx Crisp
Members of the Understanding Value Organising Committee
