Experience Research and the Play of Presence and Absence

Experiences are investigated across a wide range of disciplines. Yet there is no consensus on what is meant by experience, nor on the appropriate methods for its study. This conceptual and methodological plurality presents both a challenge and an opportunity: how can we understand the diversity of approaches within experience research, and how can meaningful dialogue be fostered across differing philosophical and methodological traditions?

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.
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Event information

Time

Wed 18.11.2026 - Fri 20.11.2026

Venue location

Tellus Backstage

Location

Linnanmaa

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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?

Please register for the conference and for the pre-workshop no later than November 9: https://link.webropol.com/s/KoFe2026-rekisteroityminen

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). Scientific board: MTh Juan Castillo Noboa (UMU), KT Katja Castillo (OY), YTM Anna-Emilia Haapakoski (LY), dosentti Juha Himanka (LY), FT Jukka Keski-Filppula (OUKA), dosentti Taina Kyrönlampi (OY), FT Raisa Lantto, Prof. Silja Nikula (LY), KM Pauli Sitomaniemi (OY), FT Anna Suorsa (OY), dosentti Teemu Suorsa (OY), dosentti Jarkko Toikkanen (OY), HTT Virpi Tökkäri (LY), KT Elina Viljamaa (OY), FT Ira Virtanen (UEF).

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Program:

(Title of the presentation in Finnish -> presentation in Finnish)

Wednesday 18.11.2026 17:00-18:30 / Tellus Brisk

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Thursday 19.11.2026

12:30 Konferenssin avaus / Tellus Backstage

12:45-13:45 Dosentti Jussi Backman (HY): Läsnä- ja poissaolon dynamiikka todellisuuden kokemisessa / Tellus Backstage

13:45-14:00 Kahvitarjoilu-Coffee / Tellus Backstage

14:00-15:00 Temaattiset ryhmät I

  • Enter/Exit 1: Writers and readers / Tellus Stage
  • Poissaolo ja osallisuus / Tellus Chill
  • Röntgenkuvia elämästä ja kuolemasta - pedagoginen filosofia leikin tilana / Tellus Backstage

15:10-16:10 Dosentti, mestarikansantanssija Petri Hoppu (OAMK): Merkitys ei asu tanssijassa eikä katsojassa – se leikkii välissä / Tellus Backstage

16:20-17:50 Temaattiset ryhmät II

  • Physical and virtual encounters / Tellus Stage
  • Erityinen leikki / Tellus Chill
  • Piilotetut kokemukset 1 / Tellus Backstage

19:00-22:00 Dinner (at your own cost): De Gamlas Hem Hotel & Restaurant

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Perjantai 20.11.2026

9:00-10:15 Paneelikeskustelu: Todellisuuden tutkimus ja leikki / Tellus Backstage

10:30-11:30 Temaattiset ryhmät III

  • Enter/Exit 2: Players and consumers / Tellus Backstage
  • Leikkiä hengellä ja hengen leikki 1 / Tellus Brisk
  • Keho, leikki ja rajat / HUM330

11:30-12:30 Lounas

12:30-13:30 Dosentti Marjaana Kangas (LY): Leikillisyys ja hybridiäly korkeakoulussa ja työelämässä / Tellus Backstage

13:30-13:45 Kahvitarjoilu-Coffee / Tellus Backstage

13:45-15:15 Temaattiset ryhmät IV

  • Leikkiä hengellä ja hengen leikki 2 / Tellus Backstage
  • Piilotetut kokemukset 2 / Tellus Brisk

15:15-15:45 Päätöskeskustelu / Tellus Backstage

Created 28.5.2026 | Updated 12.11.2026