Sandra Laugier, Professor of Philosophy, Université de Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne and Scientific deputy director at the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (INSHS, Institut des sciences humaines et sociales) at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Professor at the University of Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France (until 2010).
Laugier has written extensively on J. L. Austin and L. Wittgenstein, as well as several aspects of American philosophy translated into a context for French readers (Emerson, Thoreau, Quine, ordinary language philosophy, above all Stanley Cavell). She writes a column for Libération . Her recent work focuses on moral philosophy, the ethics of care and everyday life, feminism and aesthetics, especially the themes of scepticism, popular culture, and ordinary life in and out of cinema and in popular culture (especially television) and social media. She has also stressed the leading role that the humanities and social sciences should take on issues of gender, humanism, and the ethics of care with the platform of the CNRS.
Results: Discussions sparked a plan to develop a network of research into social media and popular culture from both sociological and a philosophical perspectives, thereby pioneering a branch of “experimental” philosophy in which social theory will be developed and the humanities will be regarded as foundational. The envisioned research collaboration will include researchers at UCLA, Québec, Boston and Paris. Participating are Professors Juliet Floyd and James E. Katz (Boston University), Marie-Hélène Parizeau (Québec (Laval/Unesco), and Vanessa Nurock (University of Paris 8/EIPDAPO UCLA), as well as Sandra Laugier (Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne). Laugier has spearheaded an ANR and ERC proposal to collaborate on the study of philosophy of popular culture and television series.
Several interdisciplinary follow-up meetings occurred. The first was held at Boston University February 5, 2018, a “Day of Apparatgeist” (see below). The second follow-up meeting was held on philosophy and new media at UCLA February 9-10, 2018, entitled “Media Immersion and Forms of Life”, sponsored by the UCLA Center for Russian and European Studies. This served as a meeting with exchange of research to aid in the development of the collaborative research network around the theme of media immersion. Organizing this event were Professors Vanessa Nurock (Paris 8/EPIDAOP UCLA), Davide Panagia (Associate Professor & Vice Chair for Alumni Outreach, Department of Political Science, UCLA).
We are grateful to the Center for the Study of Europe, Boston University for Co-Sponsoring this Event.
