2nd Annual Conference on Aesthetic Development

The 2nd Annual Conference on Aesthetic Development will take place on November 20, 2025, at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main.

The conference explores how children engage with visual art, music, dance, theater, and literature, and how aesthetic experiences and creativity evolve across development.

Keynotes:
Julia F. Christensen (Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics)
Rhett Diessner (online; Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, US)
Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (University of Tübingen)
Daniel Müllensiefen (University of Hamburg)

We welcome submissions from various perspectives and disciplines that address the development of aesthetic responses, experiences, judgements, performances, and productions. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Early psychological precursors of aesthetic judgments and productions.
• Developmental trajectories of aesthetic appreciation and artistic creativity.
• The role of social, emotional, and cognitive development in shaping aesthetic responses and productions.
• Differences in aesthetic experiences and productions between children and adults.
• Comparative studies on aesthetic development across different art forms.
• The potential for a unified theory of aesthetic development or related organizing principles.

The Call for Abstracts is closed.
Further information on how to register is available on the conference website