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CURRICULUM VITAE

Teaching | Some Professional Activities | Honors
Recent and Forthcoming Lectures | Biographical References


Education

B.M., with distinction, 1953. Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester

M.A., 1955. Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. Thesis: "The Fugue in the Orchestral Works of Bartok"

Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1962, State Univ. of New York at Buffalo. Dissertation: "Logic and Social Doctrine: Dewey's Methodological Approach to Social Philosophy"


Teaching                     to top of page

Professor Emeritus, Long Island University, 1992-present

Seventh International Summer School of Applied Aesthetics on "Aesthetics of the Unseen," Assikala, Finland, 18-23 August 2002.

Seminar in environmental aesthetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 27 September - 1 October 1999

Prima Escuela Interamericana de Estudios Avanzados en Estetica e Historia de las Artes. Santiago, Chile. 11-15 January 1999

Six International Summer Schools of Applied Aesthetics: Lahti, Finland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Newport, R.I.; Uppsala, Sweden., Siikaniemi, Finland 1995-2002

University of Louisville: Bingham Professor of Humanities, Spring 1994

C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University: Assistant Professor, 1962-1965; Associate Professor, 1965-1970; Professor, 1970-1992. Professor Emeritus, 1992-present

Sarah Lawrence College: Social Science Faculty, 1966-1968

State University of New York at Buffalo: Teaching Fellow, 1958-1960; Instructor, 1960-196l; Lecturer, 196l-1962

Visiting appointments at San Diego State College, summer 1966; Hofstra University, summers 1971, 1974; New School for Social Research, 1981, 1982


Some Professional Activities                     to top of page

International Board, International Research Center for Aesthetics and Art Theory(IRCA) University of Rome "Tor Vergata" (Italy), 2011- .

The Journal of Studies on Metropolitan Culture, member of editorial board.

Founding Editor, Contemporary Aesthetics, an on-line journal of aesthetics, 2003-2017

Ambiances Journal, Scientific Committee, 2012-present.

President, International Association for Aesthetics, 1995-1998

Secretary-General, International Association for Aesthetics, 1987-1995. Executive Committee, 1984- 2001

International Institute for Applied Philosophy, President, International Advisory Committee, Lahti, Finland, 1993-present

Director, International Summer Schools of Applied Aesthetics in 2002, 1997, 1996, and 1995

Editorial Board, New Sound, International Magazine for Music, 2000-present

Editorial reviewer for Dance Research Journal, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, other journals and many scholarly presses

Advisor, and Chairman, International Advisory Committee, International Association for Aesthetics, 1995-1998

Secretary-Treasurer, American Society for Aesthetics, 1978-1988

Organizer and Chair, The Long Island University Committee on Reorganization (trustees, faculty, and administrators), 1983-85

Director, The Long Island University Continuing Seminar on "The Ethical Dimensions of Management Decisions," 1977-1980

Originator and Co-director, The Friday Society, C.W. Post, (1976-1980)

Chairman of three AAUP Hearing Committees, 1976. Philosophy Department Chair, C.W. Post/Long Island University, 1963-65

Co-editor, with Colin Martindale, of "Foundations and Frontiers in Aesthetics," a series of philosophical and psychological works for Baywood Press

Consultant to Scenic Spots and Historical Sites, environmental magazine published in P.R. China (in Chinese)


Honors                     to top of page

Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, 2011

Honorary Guest Professor, Wuhan University, P.R. China, 2004-2007

Honorary Life Member, International Association for Aesthetics, 2002

Membre du Comité d'Honneur de la Société française d'Esthétique, 2000

Honorary Member, Sydney Society for Literature and Aesthetics, 1999

Honorary Member, Finnish Society of Aesthetics, 1997

President, International Association for Aesthetics, 1995-1998

The 1992 Long Island University Trustees Award for Scholarly Achievement for Art and Engagement


Lectures                     to top of page

Keynote lecture, "Poetics of Landscape?" forthcoming, Annual Conference of the Nordic Society for Aesthetics 2024.

Lecture, "Thinking Landscapes: Where is the Landscape?" University of Lisbon online conference, "Thinking Landscapes," June 2, 2023.

Keynote lecture, "Aesthetic Engagement, Ecoaesthetics, and Contemporary Art," invited lecture, International Conference on Ecoaesthetics and Contemporary Art at Nanjing University School of Arts, Nanjing China, December 10-11, 2022.

Lecture, "Conflicting Traditions," Comparative Aesthetic Modernity: Dialogue and Theories, The Ninth International Form on Marxist Aesthetics, Durham University, UK, 12th April, 2021.

Lecture, "Aesthetics and the Arts of Engagement," International Symposium: Controversy and Construction of Contemporary Aesthetics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, December 18, 2020.

Plenary presentation, "Reflections on the Aesthetics of Violence," via Skype at the 21st International Congress of Aesthetics "Possible Worlds of Contemporary Aestheitcs: Aesthetics between History, Geography and Media." The University of Belgrade, Serbia, July 22-26, 2019.

Keynote lecture, "Reflections on the Aesthetics of Violence," via Adobe Connect at the 2019 Graduate Conference "Philosofest: Practical Philsophy & Philosophical Practice," University of Ottawa/St. Paul University, Canada, March 1-3, 2019.

Lecture, "Reflections on the Aesthetics of Violence," Marxist-Socialist Series, Univeristy of Maine, 28 February 2019.

Panel paper, "Whose Everyday? On the Cultural Aesthetics of Everyday Life," Panel on Saito, Aesthetics of the Familiar ASA, Toronto, 11 October 2018. Read by Larry Shiner.

Keynote lecture, "Music as a Paradigm of Social Aesthetics," Social Psychology Colloquim, University of São Paolo, São Paolo, Brazil. Lecture via Skype, 27 September 2018.

Keynote lecture, "Objects into Persons: The Way to Social Aesthetics," conference on Social Aesthetics and the Treatment of Patients, Sigmund Freud University, Vienna, 19 May 2017

Keynote address, "The Case for Social Aesthetics," Seminar of Social Aesthetics: Perspectives on Art and Engagement, Univeristy of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Presentation via Skype, 10 November 2016.

Keynote paper, "Aesthetic Engagement in Video Dance," Engagement: Philosophy and Dance, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 10 September 2016.

Skype presentation, "The Subversion of Beauty," XX International Congress of Aesthetics, Seoul, Korea, 27 July 2016.

Lecture "The Subversion of Beauty," Marxist-Socialst Lecture Series, University of Maine, 14 April 2016.

Symposiast "Aesthetics and Environmental Engagement/Sustainability," Questioning Aesthetics, Rhode Island School of Design, 11 March 2016.

Keynote lecture, "The Cooptation of Sensibility and teh Subversion of Beauty," Emancipation Conference, Fordham University, New York, 28 February 2015.

Keynote speaker, Colloque international, Des formes pour vivre l'environnement: Théorie, expérience, esthétique et critique politique, Paris, France 1-2 October 2015.

Keynote lecture, Emancipation Conference, New York, 28 February 2015.

Keynote speaker, Colloque international, Des formes pour vivre l’environnement: Théorie, expérience, esthétique et critique politique, Paris, 1-2 October 2015.

Respondent to panel on Sensibility and Sense and Aesthetics beyond the Arts, annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics, San Antonio, TX, 31 October 2014.

"Thoreau's Aesthetics of Nature," annual meeting of the International Association of Environmental Philosophy, New Orleans, LA, October 2014.

"Thoreau's Aesthetics of Nature," American Society for Aesthetics annual meeting, San Diego, CA, 2 November 2013.

"The History of the ICAs and the IAA," 19th International Congress of Aesthetics, "Aesthetics in Action," Krakow, Poland, July 22, 2013.

"Aesthetic Engagement," Introduction to Panel on Aesthetic Engagement, 19th International Congress of Aesthetics, "Aesthetics in Action," Krakow, Poland, July 22, 2013.

"Environmental Sensibility," invited paper for 2nd International Congress on Ambiances, Montreal, 21 September 2012.

“The Transformations of Aesthetics,” invited paper for international conference on “Aesthetics Towards Everyday Life: East and West,” Changchun, P.R. China, Sept. 1-3, 2012.

“Aesthetics from the Benign to the Diabolical,” Maine Writers Series 2012, Castine, Maine, August 15, 2012.

"Aesthetic Sensibility," international conference on "Aesthetics and Art: Tradition and Pdresence," Xuzhou, China, 20 May 2012.

"Ideas for an Ecological Aesthetics," Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 17 May 2012.

"From Structure to Experience: Re-thinking Architecture from the Art of Building to the Art of Shaping Environmental Experience," lecture at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Cambridge, MA, May 4, 2012.

Camden Philosophical Society, March 20, 2012.

"Changing Landscapes," Keynote lecture at “Transition Landscapes/ Paysages en Transition,” International Conference, Lisbon, Portugal 7 October, 2011.

“Languages of Environmental Aesthetics,” International Association of Environmental Philosophy, Nijmegen, Netherlands, June 2011.

“Nature and Habitation in a Chinese Garden,” the 9th IIAA International Summer Conference on Environmental Aesthetics, Lahti, Finland, June 2011.

“The Cultural Aesthetics of Environment,” International Association of Environmental Philosophy, Montreal, 7 November 2010.

“The Language of Environment,” 18th International Congress of Aesthetics in Beijing, August 12, 2010.

“The Aesthetic Politics of Environment,” 18th International Congress of Aesthetics in Beijing, August 10, 2010.

“Spinoza – Religious or Philosophical Heretic?”, University of Maine at Orono, November 19, 2009.

“ Reconsidering Scenic Beauty: Aesthetic Judgment in a Global Context,” “Gimme Shelter – Global discourses in aesthetics,” IAA/DAF/NGE, University of Amsterdam, October 10, 2009.

“Aesthetic Considerations in Landscape Design,” Wageningen University, The Netherlands, October 12, 2009.

“The Aesthetics of Experience,” Jagellonian University, Krakow, Poland, October 15, 2009.

“Appreciative Experience,” University of Lower Silesia, Wroclaw, Poland, October 17, 2009.

“An Aesthetic Urban Ecology,” Tongji University, Shanghai, October 20, 2009.

“Distant Cities: Thoughts on an Aesthetics of Urbanism,” Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China, October 21, 2009.

“An Aesthetic Urban Ecology,” International Conference on “Ecological Aesthetics and Environmental Aesthetics: Dialogue and Communication between China and the West,” Shandong University, Jinan, China, October 22, 2009.

“Art, Terrorism, and the Negative Sublime,” keynote lecture at conference on Art and Terror, Ohio University, 15 May 2009.

“A New Approach to Judging Scenic Beauty,” University of Helsinki, 24 March 2009.

“Celestial Aesthetics,” plenary lecture at “Celestial Aesthetics: The Aesthetics of Sky, Space and Heaven,” the 7th International Conference on Environmental Aesthetics, Heinävesi, Finland on 28 March 2009.

“Making Theory, Making Sense, Comments on Ronald Moore’s Natural Beauty,” Sixty-sixth Annual Meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics, Northampton, MA, November 7, 2008.

"The Negative Aesthetics of Everyday Life," 8th International Summer School of Applied Aesthetics on "Everyday Aesthetics," Lahti, Finland, June 17, 2008.

"The Art of Knowing a Landscape," Re-enchantment & Reclamation, Lancaster University, UK, June 13, 2008.

Commentator, "Releasing the Art Experience," panel on museums and aesthetic education, American Society for Aesthetics annual meeting, Los Angeles, CA , Nov. 9, 2007.

"What Titles Don’t Tell," lecture-demonstration, XVII International Congress of Aesthetics, Ankara, 9 July 2007.

"The Soft Side of Stone," International Conference on the Aesthetics of Stone and Rock, Koli, Finland, 14 June 2007

"Aesthetic Engagement and the Human Landscape," International conference on Ecological Art and Sustainable Landscapes, Paris, 9 May 2007.

"Aesthetics and Environment," University of Maine at Orono, 1 February 2007.

"Dancing with Words," American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, 28 October 2006.

Dialogue with Steven Rosen on his book, Topologies of the Flesh. Conference on Science, Philosophy and Embodiment, CUNY Graduate Center, New York City, 25 July 2006.

"Distant Cities: Thoughts on an Aesthetics of Urbanism" International Institute of Applied Aesthetics (IIAA) international summer school in environmental aesthetics and philosophy on Urban Spaces, Everyday Experience and Well-Being, Lahti, Finland, 19 June 2006.

Respondent to panel (with Allen Carlson and Renee Conroy) on Aesthetics and Environment: Variations on a Theme, American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, Philadelphia, PA, 7 April 2006.

“Religion and the Religious,” Castine Unitarian Church, Castine, ME, November 6, 2005.

Respondent to panel on Re-thinking Aesthetics and Aesthetics and Environment (with Cheryl Foster and Eva K.W. Man) at the annual meeting of The American Society for Aesthetics, Providence, RI, October 22, 2005.

"Teaching Appreciation," "Art Education and Aesthetic Education," "Appreciation as Aesthetic Engagement," and "Nature as Human Environment," University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finland, January 17-19, 2005.

"Thoughts on an Aesthetic of Stone," University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland, January 20, 2005.

"Aesthetics without Purpose," XVI International Congress of Aesthetics, Rio de Janeiro, July 2004.

"Beauty and the Way of Modern Life,” keynote lecture at conference, “Beauty and the Way of Modern Life,” Wuhan, China, 14 May 2004.

"Aesthetic Embodiment," American Philosophical Association, Boston, MA, December 2003.

"Embedded Embodiment," American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, October 3, 2003.

"Living a Rural Aesthetic," Fifth International Conference on Environmental Aesthetics, Home Polytechnic Lepas, Hämeenlinna, Finland, August 2003.

"Can Aesthetics Be Applied," International Conference on Applied Aesthetics, Wuhan, China, 12 June, 2003.

"Is Greasy Lake a Place?" University of Joensuu, Finland, April 1, 2003.

"Aesthetic Approaches to Rural Aesthetics," University of Joensuu, April 3, 2003.

"Embodied Music," lecture-performance, State University of New York College at Purchase, 24 October 2002.

"Sense Perception and Sensory Imagination," Seventh International Summer School of Applied Aesthetics on "Aesthetics of the Unseen," Siikaniemi, Finland, 18-23 August 2002.

Chair of session, "Medieval/Renaissance Thought & Art," "Platonism, Neoplatonism, & Literature" conference, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 29 June 2002.

"Religion without Theology," Castine Unitarian Church, 23 June 2002.

"The Aesthetic in Place," Lancaster University, U.K., 20 April 2002.

"Aesthetics in Place," keynote lecture for conference on Constructing Place, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., 12 April 2002.

"Ending and Beginning: A New Years Resolution" Castine Unitarian Church, 30 December 2001.

"The Idea of a Cultural Aesthetic," XVth International Congress of Aesthetics, Tokyo, Japan, 27 August 2001.

"Experience as Aesthetic," American Society for Aesthetics annual meeting, Minneapolis, 25 October 2001.

"The One and Many Faces of Love," Castine Unitarian Church, Jan. 28, 2001.

"Making Rough Places Plain," American Society for Aesthetics, 58th Annual Meeting, Reno, Nevada, October 27, 2000.

"Notes for a Cultural Aesthetic", International Seminar "Place and Location II" Culture and Landscape, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, October 13, 2000.

"The World from the Water," Fourth International Conference on Environmental Aesthetics, Rantasalmi, Finland 17 June 2000.

"Ways of the Garden," Landscape Design and Experience of Motion Symposium, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., 19 May 2000.

"Embodied Music," American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 24 March 2000.

"Is There Life in Virtual Space?" State University of New York at Buffalo, 27 Jan 2000.

"Creative Appreciation," Academy of Art, Tallinn, Estonia, 4 October 1999.

"The Measure of the Earth," five lectures on environmental aesthetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 27 September - 1 October 1999.

"Musical Embodiment," International Institute of Applied Aesthetics Summer School, Sätra Brunn, Sweden, 5 August 1999.

"On Getting Along Beautifully: Some Ideas on Social Aesthetics," American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, Towson University, Towson, MD, 19 March 1999.

"The Art of the Piano," Lecture-Demonstration, American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, Towson University, Towson, MD, 20 March 1999.

"An Introduction to Environmental Aesthetics: Five Lectures," Prima Escuela Interamericana de Estudios Avanzados en Estetica e Historia de las Artes Santiago, Chile. 11-15 January 1999.

"In Praise of Imperfection," Castine Unitarian Church, Castine, Maine, 27 December 1998.

"What Makes Dance Dance?" American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, Bloomington, IN, 6 November 1998.

"Paths to the Landscape," International Federation of Landscape Architects, Central Region Symposium, Athens, Greece, 8 September 1998.

"Re-thinking Aesthetics," Presidential Address, XIV International Congress of Aesthetics, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1 September 1998.

"The Fluid Environment," 4th International Summer School of Applied Aesthetics, Lahti, Finland, 24 August 1998.

"Environmental Aesthetics," Sanart III: Symposium on Art and Environment, Ankara, Turkey, 20 October 1997.

"Art and the Future of Aesthetics," keynote address, Second Latin American Congress of Aesthetics, Rio de Janeiro, 14 September 1997.

"The Fluid Environment," 3rd International Summer School of Applied Aesthetics, Newport, 4 August 1997.

"Beauty and the Good Life: Some Relations between Ethical and Aesthetic Values in Environmental Philosophy," Mukkula Seminar, Lahti, Finland, 6 June 1997.

"Getting Along Beautifully: Ideas for a Social Aesthetics," annual conference of the Slovenian Society for Aesthetics, Ljubljana, 18 June 1997.

"Aesthetics and Environment," University of South Florida, 13 September 1996.

"The City as Wilderness," International Summer School on "The City as Cultural Metaphor," Copenhagen, Denmark, 19 August 1996.

"The Aesthetics of the Forest, Some Observations on Aesthetic Management," Second International Conference on Environmental Aesthetics, Punkaharju, Finland, 12 June 1996.

Commentator on "Femme fleur/Femme fatale: Woman, Nature, and an Aesthetic of the Ugly," by S. Gandell, American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, Corning, NY, 30 March 1996.

"Metapragmatism and the Future of American Philosophy," Department of Philosophy, Soong-Sil University, Seoul, Korea, 19 Nov. 1995.

"Toward an Aesthetics of Environmental Design," Department of Landscape Architecture, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 29 Nov. 1995.

"Aesthetics and Environment," invited lecture at International Symposium, Annual Meeting of the Korean Society for Aesthetics, Seoul National University, 24 Nov. 1995.

"A Different Sense of Community," Castine Unitarian Church, Castine, ME, 24 Sept. 1995.

"Sacred Environments," Castine Unitarian Church, Castine, ME, 24 June 1995.

"Body-Place-Environment," XIII International Congress of Aesthetics, Lahti, Finland, 3 August 1995.

"Negative Aesthetics: The Human Touch and the Beauty of Nature," First International Summer School of Applied Aesthetics, Lahti, Finland, 12 August 1995.

"Negative Aesthetics: The Human Touch and the Beauty of Nature," American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, 1 April 1995.

"Metapragmatism and the Future of American Philosophy," Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy annual meeting, Bentley College, Waltham, MA, 4 March 1995.

"Appreciating Art and Appreciating Nature," Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT, 15 November 1994.

"Appreciating Art and Appreciating Nature," University of Toledo, 30 November 1994.

Chair, session on the Sublime, American Society for Aesthetics, 52 Annual Meeting, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, 27 October 1994.

"Engaging the Landscape: Reflections on Environmental Creativity," at "Meeting in the Landscape," First International Conference on Environmental Aesthetics, Koli, Finland, 21 June 1994.

"Recent Developments in American Aesthetics," Peking University, Beijing, P.R. China, 25 October 1993.

"Deconstructing Disney World," also graduate seminar on "Recent Developments in American Aesthetics," Shandong University, Jinan, P.R. China, 22 October 1993.

"The Aesthetics of the Architectural Environment," Zhejiang University, Hanzhou, P.R. China, 20 October 1993.

" Where Goes American Aesthetics," Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, P.R. China, 13 October 1993.

"Architecture and the Aesthetics of Continuity," University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 30 Sept 1993.

"The Aesthetics of Engagement," Academy of Visual Arts, Helsinki, Finland, 29 Sept 1993.

"Aesthetics and Community," Finnish Society for Aesthetics, Helsinki, Finland, 29 Sept 1993.

"Some Thoughts on the Aesthetics of Design," Lahti Institute of Design, Lahti, Finland, 27 Sept 1993.

"The Environment as an Aesthetic Paradigm," Conference on Environmental Education, Voipaala, Finland, 24 Sept 1993.

"The Aesthetics of Engagement," Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, May 1993.

"Recent Developments in American Aesthetics," Philosophical and Cultural Research Centre 'EIDOS, " St. Petersburg, May 1993.

"The Aesthetics of Environment," Cobble Court Bookshop, Litchfield, CT, Jan. 15, 1993.

Commentary on R. Ginsberg, "The Aesthetics of the Nap," American Society for Aesthetics meeting, Philadelphia, PA, Oct. 29, 1992.

"Beyond Disinterestedness," XII International Congress of Aesthetics, Madrid, September 1-5, 1992.

"Deconstructing Disney World: The Postmodern Aesthetics of the Theme Park," Friday Society, C.W. Post, 22 April 1992.



Biographical References                      to top of page

Who's Who in America

Directory of American Scholars

Who's Who in the East

Who's Who in American Education

Dictionary of International Biography

Contemporary Authors