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About The Centre

Who we are

The CRPLA provides a unique forum for the exchange of research expertise and for cross-departmental enquiry into the intersections between philosophy, literature and the arts. Its goal is to promote philosophical reflection both on and in these subject areas, while drawing on the expertise of subject specialists to put pressure on philosophical assumptions that might otherwise pass unquestioned in the ‘philosophy of art’, ‘philosophy of literature’, etc. The intended upshot is genuinely interdisciplinary research that poses new questions and proposes new theories and methodologies that would not have arisen within any of the separate subject domains, had these been left to their own devices and assumptions.

The departments formally affiliated to the Centre include Philosophy, English and Comparative Literary Studies, French, German, Italian, History of Art, and Film & Television Studies. However, all members of the University and the wider community are normally welcome to attend our events. If you would like to be added to our mailing list please email Sarah dot J dot Taylor at warwick dot ac dot uk; for all other inquiries about the work of the Centre please email the Director, Dr Eileen John, eileen dot john at warwick dot ac dot uk, or Professor Daniel Katz, d.katz@warwick.ac.uk

The Centre is run by Co-Directors, Diarmuid Costello, and Nick Lawrence, with the assistance of the other members of the CRPLA Managing Committee. For a full list of colleagues associated with the work of the Centre please click here.

What we do

The CRPLA has a dynamic programme of events that promote cross-disciplinary research; we organize regular seminar papers and workshops throughout the academic year. More occasionally we also organize special lectures and major international conferences. Our annual programme of events is supplemented by the contributions of distinguished Visiting Scholars. The diversity of the Centre's research is reflected in the list of current and former Associate Fellows, most of whom have contributed at some stage to the Centre’s programme of events.

As a complement to its interdisciplinary research programme, the CRPLA is closely associated with both undergraduate degree in philosophy and literature. Members of the Centre are actively involved in teaching on the Undergraduate Degree in Philosophy and Literature and on the one-year taught MA in Philosophy and Literature and contribute to the Doctoral Programme in Philosophy and Literature.

Site image credit: detail from 'Futuristic City', photograph by Marie van Vollenhoven.