Experience Research and the Play of Presence and Absence
This conference invites researchers from a variety of fields and career stages to engage in a shared reflection on the methods, practices, and epistemological foundations of experience research. The program will consist of invited keynote lectures and thematic working groups, in which discussions will be shaped by participant contributions. A pre-conference event for doctoral researchers will take place on Wednesday afternoon, 18 November 2026.
Event information
Time
Thu 19.11.2026 - Fri 20.11.2026
Venue location
University of Oulu, Linnanmaa Campus
Location
The overarching theme of the conference focuses on play as a fundamental dimension of human experience. We invite participants to explore the roles and meanings of play across diverse contexts: from childhood to technological innovation, from artistic making to the formation of social and political relations. What might it mean to speak of the play of natural phenomena such as the northern lights, or of linguistic play in poetry and translation? How are games of power structured in interpersonal relations, political arenas, or the experience industry? And what happens when the stakes of the game extend to life and death?
A second thematic strand concerns the play of presence and absence. Experience brings certain things into view while leaving others concealed. In practices of hiding and revealing, the visible and the invisible, the audible and the silent, the known and the unknown are continuously negotiated. How might these dynamics be conceptualized within experience research? What kinds of methodological and philosophical insights emerge from attending to what appears—and what does not appear—in experience?
We warmly encourage contributions from both academic and artistic perspectives. Submissions may draw on phenomenological, narrative, performative, practice-based, or other relevant approaches. The conference aims to foster an open and interdisciplinary space for dialogue among researchers of experience.
Submission guidelines. Please submit an abstract of approximately 250 words for an individual presentation, or a proposal for a thematic panel, by 14 September 2026 via the submission form:
https://link.webropol.com/s/kofe2026 You are welcome to present both in English and in Finnish. Notifications of acceptance will be sent during the week beginning 21 September 2026.
Practical information. The conference is free of charge. Travel, accommodation, and meals are at participants’ own expense.
Credits for doctoral researchers. Doctoral researchers may earn 1–2 ECTS credits by: participating in the symposium, presenting their own research (1 ECTS), and submitting a 2–4-page reflective journal based on conference sessions (1 ECTS). Please agree on the credits in advance with your principal doctoral supervisor.
Organizers. The conference is organized by the Phenomenological Experience Research Network (PhenEx), in collaboration with the University of Oulu Graduate School (UniOGS).
Download the conference poster