The ASA Welcomes New Board Members

The American Society for Aesthetics announces three new trustees elected by the ASA membership. The trustees will serve three-year terms from February 1, 2026, to January 31, 2029.

Antony Aumann is Professor of Philosophy at Northern Michigan University. He has published articles on aesthetics in venues such as the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Synthese, and Journal of the American Philosophical Association. His 2019 monograph was titled Art and Selfhood (Lexington Books). Aumann is a former president of the Rocky Mountain Division of ASA and co-organizer of the 2024 Existential Aesthetics Conference. He is also currently co-organizing the Eastern Division Meeting of the ASA. His goals as trustee are to create more opportunities for underfunded members of the profession, including graduate students, and to increase engagement with aestheticians outside the discipline of philosophy.

Shelby Moser is an Associate Professor (Lecturer) in the Division of Games at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on games and aesthetics. Her publications include “The Heaviness of Play in Heavy Metal Music” (forthcoming) and "Videogame Ontology: Constitutive Rules, and Algorithms" (2018). She earned her PhD from the University of Kent, Canterbury (2018). Shelby’s been an active member of the American Society for Aesthetics (ASA) since 2016. She'll serve as the annual meeting chair (2026), has served as co-editor of the ASA Newsletter (2017–2022), reviewed for the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, co-chaired the Pacific Division meetings (2019, 2020), and has participated in two ad hoc committees. With Tony Chackal, she received ASA support to organize a conference on the philosophy of street art (Fall 2025). She's also presented papers and joined panels at numerous Annual and Divisional meetings.

Elisabeth Schellekens is Chair Professor of Aesthetics at the Philosophy Department of Uppsala University, where she is currently Department Head. She received her PhD from Kings College London, holding appointments in London, Manchester and Durham before moving to Uppsala in 2014. Schellekens has published on conceptual art, aesthetic understanding, objectivism and subjectivism, Kant, intelligible beauty, and more. She currently leads the interdisciplinary research program, “Aesthetic Cognitivism and the Prospects of Criticism” (Templeton). Formerly Co-Editor of The British Journal of Aesthetics, she served 11 years on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. A regular participant at ASA meetings since 2002, Schellekens delivered the Richard Wollheim Memorial Lecture in 2023. Having overseen a period of considerable growth of the Aesthetics division at Uppsala, Schellekens has nurtured an environment in many respects unique in the subject. She has led numerous externally funded research projects and built a teaching syllabus which offers over a dozen Aesthetics courses every year. As trustee, she would put her experience of strengthening Aesthetics environments at the service of the ASA, and aim to build collaborations between the Society, its members and European grant infrastructure. Her primary goals include improving the visibility of Aesthetics within academic philosophy and the wider community.

Thanks to all the nominees who stood for election and to all the ASA members who voted.

Michalle Gal, Brandon Polite, and Sonia Sedivy will complete their terms as trustees on January 31, 2026. In December 2026, the members of ASA will elect three new trustees.