Ecole doctorale CUSO - version française
Call for Abstracts
Phenomenology today
Historical and Systematic Perspectives
CUSO doctoral school, 19–24 July, 2026
Monte Verità
Congress Centre Stefano Franscini
Ascona (TI)
CUSO teaching staff/plenary speakers
Nicolas De Warren (Pennsylvania State University)
Thomas Fuchs (University of Heidelberg)
Sara Heinämaa (University of Jyväskylä)
Michelle Montague (University of Texas at Austin)
Kevin Mulligan (University of Geneva)
Hans Bernhard Schmid (University of Vienna)
Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth College)
Organiser : Guillaume Fréchette (Université de Genève)
Co-organiser : Olivier Massin (Université de Neuchâtel)
Organisateurs exécutifs :
Hannah Kirchner (Université de Genève)
Bruno Poli (Université de Genève).
About the doctoral school
The CUSO doctoral school is an initiative of the Conférence des universités de la Suisse occidentale and is meant for doctoral students from the universities of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Fribourg, and Lausanne. This doctoral school and the conference of which it is a part aim to explore phenomenology’s identity and vitality in the 21st-century. Phenomenology has long been regarded as one of the central legacies of 20th-century philosophy, but its historical development and ongoing diversification have rendered its unity increasingly opaque. While phenomenology emerged as a rigorous method for describing conscious experience, it has continuously evolved through dialogue with other philosophical traditions, empirical sciences, and socio-political movements. Its resulting pluralism raises a fundamental question: what, if anything, still unites phenomenology today?
This question raises two sets of issues. The first is historical: how should phenomenology be defined and reconstructed as a tradition? Is it best understood as a movement anchored in key figures such as Brentano, Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Stein or rather as a set of methodological commitments that continue to animate contemporary thought?
The second set of issues is systematic. It asks in which philosophical domains the phenomenological tradition continues to offer distinctive insights, and what problems it is uniquely positioned to illuminate. While phenomenology originated in the analysis of consciousness and intentionality, it now addresses a wide range of questions concerning linguistic, social, moral, and political life. The doctoral school and the conference will examine how phenomenological approaches shed light on philosophical problems while engaging not only with other traditions within philosophy, e.g., analytic philosophy or (post)-critical traditions, but also with other academic disciplines.
Accordingly, the doctoral school will foreground a series of core themes that exemplify phenomenology’s continuing relevance as a philosophical approach. These include its contributions to the philosophy of mind, epistemology, value theory, political and social philosophy, psychopathology, and metaphysics. By situating phenomenology within this constellation of philosophical subfields and key substantive questions, the doctoral school aims to underscore its ongoing significance.
Specific objectives of the CUSO Doctoral School
The CUSO Doctoral School is intended for doctoral students preparing a thesis in the field of phenomenology, as well as those working in one or more of the fields listed above. In the latter case, those who wish to give an oral presentation of their work are expected to pay particular attention to issues that are relevant to phenomenological research, whether from a historical or systematic perspective. In both cases, those who wish to give an oral presentation of their work in the context of the Doctoral School must prepare a presentation in English lasting approximately 30 minutes, followed by a Q&A of approximately 15 minutes. In both cases, those who wish to give a presentation are expected to submit 1) a short abstract of no more than 500 words and 2) a synoptic abstract of approximately 1,500 words in which the thesis and the arguments used to defend it are clearly presented and sufficiently detailed so that the proposals can be evaluated in terms of i) their relevance, both from a historical and systematic point of view, ii) their clarity, iii) their argumentative rigor, and iv) their originality (in descending order of importance). It is also possible to enroll in the doctoral program without submitting an oral presentation. However, it should be noted that priority will be given to candidates who have submitted an oral presentation proposal that has been accepted by the evaluation committee.
Contributed Talks
The papers may be on any topic related to phenomenology. They should aim at clarifying what phenomenology is, articulating the contributions it can offer to philosophy and other disciplines, and assessing its past, present, and future.
Contributed talks of the CUSO doctoral school will run in parallel sessions. The conference will feature a number of invited contributions, including presentations by the plenary speakers listed below.
Venue and Schedule
The conference will take place at the Congressi Stefano Franscini at Monte Verità in Ascona, a historically significant site that has long been associated with avant-garde art, political movements, and the humanities (for more information on the venue, see www.monteverita.org).
The conference is conceived as a five-day residential meeting held from Monday, July 20, to Friday, July 24, with participants arriving in Ascona on Sunday the 19th and departing on Friday the 24th.
Costs
There are no registration fees for the event. However, the cost of full board at Monte Verità is 225 CHF per day (approximately 250 EUR). Arrival on the 19th of July and departure on the 24th correspond to a 5-day full-board stay.
Bed and board will be fully covered for the selected CUSO participants, i.e. doctoral students registered in philosophy at one of the following universities: University of Geneva, University of Neuchâtel, University of Fribourg, University of Lausanne.
Submission
After registering on the CUSO website
https://www.cuso.ch/activity/?p=863&uid=8581
Please submit the following documents to by 31 March 2026:
Decisions will be communicated by the end of April 26.
Organising Team for the conference:
Guillaume Fréchette (University of Geneva), main organiser
Marta Jorba (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Alessandro Salice (University College Cork)
Hamid Taieb (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
Íngrid Vendrell Ferran (Universität Marburg)