The School of Liberal Arts proudly hosted a 2-day, Australian Research Council (ARC) supported 
conference: Understanding and Explaining Skilled Performance: Looking Across Traditions, on 26-27 February 2020.
The conference focused on evaluating explanatory proposals about the cognitive basis of skilled performance, as well as considering what non-analytic philosophical traditions of thought and practice – phenomenology, pragmatism and Japanese Dō – can contribute to our understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.
The event provided an excellent opportunity to develop and disseminate research that will be published in the Synthese special issue connected to the School’s current ARC Discovery project – Mind in Skilled Performance.
In order of appearance, the speakers were:
- Yuko Ishihara (Ritsumeikan University): Skilled performance of distancing (Ma’ai) and the Philosophy of Kendo and Noh Play
- Tetsuya Kono (Rikkyo University): Skilled performance qua skilled being: Ueda Shizuteru on Renku and dialogue
- Katsunori Miyahara (University of Wollongong): Skilled agency and no-mind
- Carlotta Pavese (Cornell University): Might there be practical concepts?
- Ian Robertson (University of Wollongong): Between Skills and Saviour-Faire
- Daniel D. Hutto (University of Wollongong): The habitual basis of skilled performance
- Michael Kirchhoff (University of Wollongong): Skilful Activity and Predictive Processing: A Formal Argument for Non-representationalism
- Miguel Segundo-Ortin (University of Wollongong): Neither mindful nor mindless: Ecological psychology and skilled performance
- Shaun Gallagher (University of Memphis/University of Wollongong): Cleaning up the mesh: Integrating multiple factors in skilled performance
- John Sutton (Macquarie University): Commentary on Shaun Gallagher’s presentation
- Wayne Christensen (University of Barcelona): Meshed cognitive and automatic control in skilled action
The conference finished with a Theory meets Practice panel, involving Dennis Hemphill (Victoria University/La Trobe University), Sarah Pini (Macquarie University), and Phillip Slater (Sydney Conservatorium of Music). The panelists discussed and explored how the ideas presented in the main set of talks might be applied in a more practical way, seeking links between theory and practice with an eye on potential applications.
Sadly, one of our invited speakers, Jesús Ilundain-Agurruza (Linfield College) was unable to deliver his talk as he meet with an accident on the eve of the conference. On a happier note, once 
recovered, he delivered a version of talk – Virtuosic Performance on the Spot: On Improvisation and Expertise – to the School’s Staff-Student retreat in May 2020.
After-the-event feedback was positive. Caroltta Parvese wrote “I had an amazing time in Australia. Thanks for organising a terrific conference on skilled performance where I learned so much and finally met many amazing philosophers working on this topic on this part of the planet. Travelling during an epidemic has been stressful but the awesome conference, Wollongong’s outstanding beaches, a beautiful Sydney … as well as the terrific food made it all worth it.”
Kelly Cross, of Sydney FC, remarked “Excited to see that the academic world is exploring similar topics of interest to us as practitioners”.
Phil Slater, of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a finalist in the ARIA Awards and Australian Music Prize, wrote to say, “it was really inspiring and important to me. I’m very interested in maintaining some sort of relationship with what you are developing at UOW, so, will keep my eyes and ears open for any future seminars to attend.”