ESA Executive Committee Elections 2025

The upcoming ESA Assembly in Athens will select six new members for the ESA Executive Committee.

Candidates interested in running for these positions should submit a one-page narrative CV to secretary(at)eurosa.org by 1 June 2025. The CV should include relevant information such as education, publications, research interests, and other academic achievements.

The term of the executive committee member is three years, and it can be extended to another three years. The main responsibility of a committee member is to take part in reviewing the ESA conference abstracts in each January-February. Other duties and responsibilities are determined collaboratively among the committee members.

The executive committee members who are stepping down include: Adam Andrzejewski (Poland), Tereza Hadravová (Czech Republic), Regina-Nino Mion (Estonia), Vítor Moura (Protugal), Elena Tavani (Italy), and Iris Vidmar (Croatia). To maintain international representation, the ESA executive committee must be composed of members from diverse countries. The current distribution of responsibilities and country affiliations of ESA executive board members can be found on this link.

CANDIDATES

Vinícius de Aguiar
University of Lisbon (CFCUL) / Centre for the Study of the Sociology and Aesthetics of Music (CESEM) – PORTUGAL

I am a Lisbon-based early-career scholar working at the intersection of musicology and philosophy, with a particular interest in the interplay between aesthetics and technology. I hold a PhD from the University of Lisbon in Philosophy of Science, Technology, Art, and Society (awarded with the highest distinction in 2022, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology). My BA and MA were completed in Brazil, in the areas of musicology and philosophy of mind, respectively. My current research focuses on the relationship between aesthetics and artificial intelligence.

After my PhD, I joined CFCUL – Centre for Philosophy of Sciences of the University of Lisbon as a postdoctoral researcher in 2023, where I also served on the Executive Committee, managed two short-term research projects, and co-organized the unit’s major international conference that year.

In 2024, I was awarded a six-year research contract under the highly competitive Stimulus for Scientific Employment program of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. This position is hosted by CESEM—Centre Music Studies at NOVA University of Lisbon, where I currently serve as co-coordinator of the research group “Critical Theory and Communication.” In this role, I help steer research initiatives that critically engage with aesthetics and media culture. These include conference organization, yearly meetings, and grant applications.

My publications since my PhD studies have focused primarily on music and technology from the standpoint of philosophical aesthetics, particularly within continental traditions such as critical theory, phenomenology, semiotics, and philosophical anthropology. Recent work includes a philosophical critique of music recommender systems (Topoi, 2024), a book chapter on music, gestures, and artifacts (Springer, 2024), and a forthcoming chapter on Alfred Schütz, aesthetics, and the attention economy (Brill, 2025). I also co-edited a special issue on AI aesthetics for the journal Semeiosis (2023), contributing an article on the epistemic implications of music platforms.

Beyond publications, I have contributed to the research community through various forms of editorial and peer-review work. From 2019 to 2021, I served on the editorial board of Kairos – Journal of Philosophy & Science, acting as liaison between authors, reviewers, and the publisher (De Gruyter). I have acted as a peer reviewer for journals including Synthese, The Slovak Journal of Aesthetics, and Semeiosis. I have also co-organized international workshops on AI aesthetics (2022–2023) and presented at interdisciplinary public-oriented events such as the Portuguese Symposium on Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence (2024).

Looking ahead, I expect to publish and present the results of my current research on philosophical issues in AI aesthetics. I also aim to deepen collaborations with the international community of aesthetics researchers, contributing to a more substantial and conceptually grounded debate on contemporary issues at the intersection of aesthetics, technology, and society.

Martina Frongillo
eCampus University – ITALY

I have long admired the Society’s work and its commitment to promoting philosophical research in aesthetics across disciplines and perspectives. Its conferences and initiatives have served as a continuous point of reference in my academic journey.

My research is deeply rooted in philosophical aesthetics, with a particular focus on the theoretical status of the artistic image. What especially drives my inquiry is the tension between the visible and the invisible — the way images can reveal what exceeds phenomenality. I am especially interested in the sacred icon and its contemporary developments, including abstraction, and how these forms challenge both conceptual closure and representational reduction. I am currently developing several publications on these themes, some of which are under peer review in prominent journals in the field.

I hold a BA in Philosophy from the University of Florence, where I wrote my thesis on Nietzsche’s The Gay Science under the guidance of Professors Fabrizio Desideri and Mariagrazia Portera. I then pursued two MA degrees at VitaSalute San Raffaele University in Milan: one in Theory and History of Art and Image, and another in Contemporary Philosophy, working closely with Professor Massimo Donà. My academic training also includes time at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and the Institut Catholique de Toulouse, where I am currently completing a dualdegree programme in Philosophy.

At present, I am a PhD candidate in Medium and Mediality at eCampus University, under the supervision of Professors Giovanni Sgrò and Francesca Pola. I am also a member of ICONE, the European Research Center in History and Theory of the Image, directed by Prof. Pola. In 2024, I was awarded a fellowship by the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici in Naples to participate in the seminar series Fulgide Parvenze: Filosofia dell’Immagine. In the upcoming academic year, I will join CEHTA (EHESS, Paris) as a visiting scholar, working with Professor Giovanni Careri on a co-supervised research project.

Across my studies, I have consistently explored the philosophical and symbolic power of images—how they can act not merely as representations, but as sites of relational meaning. My first MA thesis (Estetica del Sacro. Evadere il Concetto, Rivelare il Mistero) examined the icon’s symbolic capacity to open up a space beyond transcendental thought. My second (Trinità e Rappresentazione tra Cristianesimo e Postmodernità. Per un’Estetica Trinitaria) proposed a shift from representational to relational aesthetics, drawing from the Trinitarian paradigm underpinning Christian visuality. My doctoral project, The Relational Paradigm of the Image, furthers this investigation by weaving together philosophical reflection and art historical inquiry—from sacred icons to contemporary abstract works.

It would be a true honour for me to contribute to the European Society for Aesthetics as a member of its Executive Committee. I see this as not only a chance to share my expertise and enthusiasm, but also to take part in shaping a vibrant and inclusive intellectual community. I am eager to support the Society’s activities and help foster meaningful dialogues at the intersection of theory, art, and image.

Michalle Gal
Shenkar College – ISRAEL

I am a Professor of Philosophy at the Unit of History and Philosophy of Art and Design at Shenkar College. I previously served as Chair of the Unit of History and Philosophy and Chair of the Graduate Thesis Program. I specialize in the philosophy of design and art, visual ontology and perception, metaphor theory, art and cognition, modernism, and formalism. My current project, “Visualism,” develops an Externalist Aesthetics by exploring the visual sphere as a context for addressing human nature, praxis, and theories of reality, while re-examining the conceptualist-cognitivist school in philosophy and aesthetics.

I have been very active in the international aesthetics community. Since 2022, I have served as a trustee on the board of the American Society for Aesthetics, where I also chair the Nominations Committee and am a member of the Divisions Committee. I have edited several special issues in aesthetics, each of which involved close collaboration with many scholars in the field. I have also co-organized international research groups, workshops and conferences on aesthetics and participated in numerous events, including delivering keynote lectures. Additionally, I have developed an international online course in the philosophy of design which was attended by thousands of students from around the world, and taught a seminar in the philosophy of design as a visiting professor. I have published books, edited volumes, and essays. I am also a peace activist. The European Society for Aesthetics is especially important to me, and I am committed to devoting my time and experience to its work.

Julia Langkau
University of Geneva – SWITZERLAND

Julia Langkau received her PhD in philosophy from the University of St Andrews in 2013, with a dissertation on philosophical methodology and the role of intuitions. She studied philosophy, linguistics, and psychology at the University of Zurich. Since 2022, she has been Assistant Professor at the University of Geneva. She held research and teaching positions at the University of Fribourg, the University of Zurich, the University of Konstanz, the Europa-Universität Flensburg, and the University of Miami.

Julia’s research focuses on topics in the philosophy of mind, particularly imagination and empathy, as well as in aesthetics, where she works on fiction, creativity, and literary experience. She has published on the relationship between fiction and empathy, fiction and imagination, and literary experience. She is co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Imagination and Creativity (forthcoming, with Amy Kind). Julia leads the Geneva Research Group Creativity and Imagination and is a member of Thumos and the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences.

Julia regularly organizes workshops and conferences related to her research and is involved in interdisciplinary collaborations on imagination, creativity, and the experience of art and literature. She presents her work at academic conferences across Europe and internationally, and is also engaged in public philosophy through talks and events aimed at broader audiences.

João Lemos
NOVA University Lisbon – PORTUGAL / University of Turin – ITALY

My name is João Lemos. I hold a PhD and a BA in Philosophy (University of Porto, 2015 and 2008), as well as a BA in Sound and Image (Catholic University of Portugal, 2004).

Currently, I am working as a postdoc at the University of Turin, where I am undertaking a two-year research project (2025-27) on Kant and Art, funded by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. In contrast to existing works on Kant and Art, my project focuses on Kant’s knowledge of and experience with the arts, and its full significance to his theory of art as presented in the Critique of the Power of Judgment. The first output of this project will be a special issue on Kant and Art that I am guest-editing for Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics (forthcoming in October 2025).

Before moving to Turin, I worked as a postdoc research fellow at NOVA University Lisbon (2019-25), where, in addition to lecturing several courses, I coordinated the Lisbon Kant Group. My experience also includes lecturing at the University of Porto and the Catholic University of Portugal, as well as academic stays at NYU (2017), UNESP (2017-18), Cambridge (2019), and more recently, Rijeka (2024).

My main research activity revolves around Kant, aesthetics and philosophy of art. My latest articles in the British Journal of Aesthetics and the Kantian Review are published in the most distinguished journals in my field. My approach to Kant’s theory of art in these studies was primarily conceptual, which the proposed project aims to complement through contextual, historically-informed analyses.

I have presented my research at nearly 50 scientific events, over half of which were international, including established venues such as Uppsala’s Higher Seminar in Aesthetics and the annual conference of the European Society for Aesthetics. I also have extensive experience in organising and co-organising international conferences and workshops, such as the Lisbon Annual Conference on Kant’s Aesthetics (Lisbon, 2022-24) and the workshops Kant and Negative Aesthetics (Pavia, 2023) and Disinterestedness (Cambridge, 2019).

Ancuța Mortu
University of Bucharest – ROMANIA

I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of French at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Romania. I received my Ph.D. in Aesthetics from the EHESS, Paris. Previously, I held postdoctoral fellowships at Freie Universität Berlin, The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, New Europe College – Institute for Advanced Study, and Masaryk University.

My research focuses on the cognitive underpinnings of art appreciation across the fields of aesthetics, literary theory, and anthropology of art. I have recently been involved in a project led by Jakub Stejskal at Masaryk University where I researched modes of aesthetic engagement in the ritual context, more specifically in small-scale societies from Oceania. I have published in journals including Nouvelle revue d’esthétique, RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, Review of Philosophy and Psychology, and The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, and am the guest editor, together with Jakub Stejskal and Mark Windsor, of the British Journal of Aesthetics 2024 Special Issue on Remote Art. Current projects include a monograph on aesthetic human cognition.

My priorities for the ESA would be to work towards encouraging submissions that expand the field of aesthetics and bring to the fore the worldwide diversity of aesthetic and artistic practices.

Enrico Terrone
University of Genoa – ITALY

Enrico Terrone is Professor of Aesthetics at Università di Genova and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council (ERC) project “The Philosophy of Experiential Artifacts”. He received a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino and then a PhD in Philosophy from the Università di Torino. He taught “History of Film and Film Criticism” at Università del Piemonte Orientale and “Philosophy of Engineering” at Politecnico di Torino. He was research fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg (Bonn), Gerda Henkel fellow at FMSH (Paris), visiting researcher at Institut Jean Nicod (Paris), and Juan de la Cierva fellow at LOGOS (Barcelona).

His areas of inquiry are aesthetics, the philosophy of film and the philosophy of technology. He published papers in international journals such as The British Journal of Aesthetics, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Analysis, Erkenntnis, Ergo, The Philosophical Quarterly, Synthese. With Luca Bandirali, he co-wrote the book Concept TV – An Aesthetics of Television Series. He has been an active contributor to the ESA since 2012. He has presented papers at the annual conferences in Braga and Guimaraes (2012), Prague (2013), Barcelona (2016), Warsaw (2019), Tallinn (2022), Budapest (2023), Naples (2024), and will be presenting at the forthcoming conference in Athens.

Uku Tooming
University of Tartu – ESTONIA

Uku Tooming is an Associate Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics, University of Tartu, Estonia. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tartu in 2014, following an MA in the Anthropology of Religion and a BA in Philosophy, both from the same institution. Tooming also has substantial postdoctoral experience, including serving as a JSPS International Research Fellow at Hokkaido University (2020–2021) and Hiroshima University (2019–2020). He was also a Fellow in Philosophy at Harvard University from 2017 to 2019, under the supervision of Richard Moran.

His research interests focus on the connection between imagination and desire, epistemic justification through memory and imagination, aesthetic reasons and aesthetic identity, self-knowledge of desire, the nature of pleasure, and the concept of good bad art. His recent papers have been published in journals such as Analysis, Noûs, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Estetika, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Philosophy and the Mind Sciences. Some of his work has been co-authored with Kengo Miyazono from Hokkaido University.

Tooming often presents papers at international conferences has been invited to give talks in places such as Jerusalem, Giessen, Salzburg, Antwerp and Grenoble. Since 2021, he has regularly presented at ESA meetings.

In 2025, Tooming received the Professor Peeter Tulviste Memorial Fund Prize for outstanding teaching and research, and for the contribution to the advancement of Estonian society. In 2022, he was part of a team that was awarded the University of Tartu Teaching Award for creating and teaching the course “Managing Your Studies: A Survival Guide” for first-year students.

He is the principal investigator for the research project “Imagination in Cognition: Contemporary and Ancient Perspectives (2025–2029)”, funded by the Estonian Research Council.

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