[ecrea] Cfp: Mind Reading as Cultural Practice

Mind Reading as Cultural Practice

International Conference to be held at the Institute for Cultural Theory 
and History, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, 22-23 March 2018

Convenors: Laurens Schlicht and Christian Fassung (Humboldt University 
Berlin, Germany), Simone Natale (Loughborough University, UK)

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, a wide range of 
technologies and techniques have been developed to generate knowledge 
about what people feel, think, wish, or plan. To give just a few 
examples, employ physiological evidence to establish if a subject is 
telling the truth or if s/he is lying; isubfields of psychology such as 
characterology are designed to identify and recognize certain types; and 
recently computing technologies employ algorithm and facial recognition 
software to make inferences about feelings and mental states.

Yet, relatively few attempts have been made to address such diverse 
practices in conjunction and connection with each other. This conference 
aims to fill this gap. Employing the concept of mind reading in a broad 
sense as designating any technique that helps to create knowledge about 
people’s feelings and states of mind, it aims to stimulate a critical 
debate about mind reading techniques as forms of knowledge and in regard 
to their political, social, and cultural dimension.

The conference’s objective is to promote a cross-disciplinary debate, 
taking into account also areas of knowledge that are often excluded from 
academic discourse, such as the occult practices of parapsychology or 
the practices of local police officers and marketing operatives. In this 
regard, speakers are encouraged to engage with a set of questions 
connected to the historical, epistemic and cultural dimensions of mind 
reading. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

– The design, production and use of technologies of mind reading. How 
were these technologies developed, and how did they inform the 
development of mind reading practices? Which functions did they have in 
terms of knowledge production and dissemination, and to what extent were 
they related to the development of discourses about technology, 
objectivity, subjectivity, and science?

– A perspective from historical epistemology: how are the objects of 
research on mind reading produced and shaped? What kinds of epistemic 
techniques are employed to generate knowledge about people’s state of 
mind, feelings, or about the veracity of their statements?

– The construction of subjectivity based on mind reading techniques: in 
certain specific contexts, modes of subjectivity such as the 
“psychopath” or the “neurasthenic” provided an important conceptual 
framework both for science, the legal system, and for people’s 
self-conception. How did the practices under consideration help to 
create, consolidate, or change modes of subjectivity?

– The cultural and political dimensions of mind reading: how did such 
technologies and practices contribute to re-shape political regimes? 
Which political and cultural roles did mind reading techniques play? How 
far and to what extent did mind reading have a transformative impact in 
the political arena and on broad economic and social phenomena?

Confirmed speakers include Christian Bachhiesl, Melissa Littlefield, 
Roger Luckhurst, Annette Mülberger, and Michael Pettit.

We welcome proposals for papers from all disciplines connected to the 
subject areas mentioned above. Those who wish to submit a paper should 
send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short CV or bio to the 
following address: (laurens.schlicht /at/ hu-berlin.de)

_Deadline: October 1st, 2017_



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