These days, my 2 years stay as a visiting post doc at the Center for Subjectivity Research comes to an end. It has been a great time of learning and also a great pleasure. The people working at or visiting the Center have provided me with valuable feedback and hints for my work on collective atmospheres and also – though in a less theoretical way – with an impressive example of a good working atmosphere.
During my stay, I have explored a couple of ideas related to the phenomenological notion of atmosphere and concerning the bodily dimension of affective sharing. The themes of the papers I worked on include the role of the feeling body in providing the background of object-directedness, a primitive ‘sense of us’ underpinned by the peculiar dynamic of bodily feeling and the affective background of one’s sense of solidarity with the other.
The generous funding of my stay by the German Research Community (DFG) also allowed me to organize two workshops hosted by the Center, Affective Spaces I and II, that took place in April and May this year. These workshops were dedicated to the discussion of various accounts of socially extended affective phenomena. Again, a great time of learning thanks to all the speakers, participants and, last but not least, those who helped me with the organization.
I am thankful for the various kinds of support everyone at the Center has given me. I would also like to thank DFG for funding my stay.