ETHOLOGY, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS: THE SCIENCE OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CREATIVINESS


September 23-27, 2026
Erice, Sicily, ITALY


Workshop Organizers

Conference goals

Augusto Vitale (ex-Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma)
Simone Pollo (Università di Roma 'La Sapienza')

Purpose of the Workshop

Conference goals

The overall purpose of the Workshop is to discuss how ethological studies have influenced different non-scientific disciplines, such philosophy, literature, movies, and various forms of artistic expressions. the idea is to look at how the teachings of the great figures of ethology can be traced in humanistic and artistic expressions.

Speakers & Topics

Marco Gamba

Bizarre meetings: rock music and nonhuman primates

Arnaud Gerspacher

“Kanzi and the Commons of Creativity”

Thomas Lamarre

Anthropomorphism and Animation

Akira Lippit

Like Cats and Dogs, 'Cata Doxa'

Paolo Pecere

Describing Umwelten: Jakob von Uexküll and his legacy in literature

Simone Pollo

What is it like to be a philosopher? Ethology and philosophical imagination

Andrea Ravignani

The origins and evolution of music

Jessica Ullrich

From Science to Aesthetics. Ethology’s Resonance in Contemporary Art

Giorgio Vallortigara

Novels, Brains and Animals

Augusto Vitale

Gary Larson and the Far Side of Ethology

Registration and Abstract Submission