This is the first time the symposium will take place outside of the United Kingdom.
The sixth annual Animation and Public Engagement Symposium (APES19) will take place at Texas Tech University from Sep. 19-21. Thirty-eight presenters from 11 countries will participate in this prestigious event. APES19 is part of the long-term plan to develop animation studies at the Texas Tech School of Art, housed within the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts. The symposium is free and open to the public. This is the first year that APES has taken place outside of the United Kingdom. APES will now take place at Texas Tech biennially.
The symposium originated in the context of the groundbreaking research fostered by Healing Education Animation Research Therapy (HEART), a center in the United Kingdom that investigates the processes and outcomes of animation practice in therapeutic, educational and informative ways within a variety of public contexts. By bringing together international scholars working on similar areas of interest, APES ensures wider dissemination and major public impact for HEART's work.
“As an artistic practice and medium, one that is pervasive in our digitized everyday life, animation embodies the art and life paradigm and bridges the gap between the arts and STEM disciplines,” said Jorgelina Orfila, associate professor in the School of Art. “APES showcases Lubbock scholars and practitioners whose research demonstrates how art interacts with technology and science and influences all aspects of our lives. APES19 also is an important step in establishing Texas Tech as a hub for animation studies.”
APES19 will have two renowned keynote speakers; Bella Honess Roe (University of Surrey, U.K.), an authority on documentary animation, will offer “Animated Documentary as Public Engagement,” while the foremost specialist in animation and neurosciences, Dan Torre (RMIT, Melbourne, Australia), will present “Thinking Through Animation.”
APES is an annual forum that offers an alternative view of the potential of animation beyond artistic expression, entertainment or publicity, and identifies new terrains that bridge animation with society at large. At APES, scholars and practitioners share their research and experiences in the field of animation as a therapeutic practice and an educational tool, as well as a platform for social engagement, and discuss ways of advancing and promoting interest in this area of studies.
APES19 is endorsed by HEART, the Animation Academy in the U.K. and Loughborough University's School of Design and Creative Arts in the U.K. The symposium is made possible by the generous support of the Texas Tech Office for Research and Innovation, the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts, the Humanities Center at Texas Tech, the Ryla T. & John F. Lott Endowment for Excellence in the Arts through the School of Art, the Art History Program in the School of Art, the Tech Art History Society (TAHS) and the Society of Animation Studies (SAS).
For more information, visit the symposium webpage.
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