International Interdisciplinary Workshop Online | 26-27 August 2026

Evidence, Experience, and Authority in Contested Knowledge 

Organised by Dr Lucia Assenzi (PH Tirol) & Dr Matteo Polato (Manchester Metropolitan University) 

When we want to convince others of our beliefs, we usually offer arguments, and, crucially, evidence. Sometimes this evidence is mundane and undisputed; more often it is complex, contested, or ambiguous. But what happens when claims concern phenomena that, by their very nature, resist empirical verification?

Photographs of flying saucers, leaked documents allegedly exposing global conspiracies, first-person accounts of divine visions, yeti footprints, testimonies of spirit communication, ectoplasmic residues of Spiritualist séances: in many discourses, evidence is central to credibility even when no evidence in the strict “scientific” sense can exist. Yet such claims are rarely presented as groundless. Instead, elaborate forms of justification, authentication, and evidential reasoning emerge.

This interdisciplinary workshop explores how evidence is constructed, negotiated, and evaluated in discourses about phenomena that inherently evade empirical proof. This is particularly timely, as recent political and technological developments are reshaping narratives, demanding renewed scrutiny of how evidence is framed, contested, and weaponized.

Download the programme here

Join the Online Workshop:

Wednesday 26th August:  Evidence, Experience, and Authority in Contested Knowledge – day 1

Thursday 27th August: Evidence, Experience, and Authority in Contested Knowledge – day 2