Tuesday 8 March 2011
New website
The Space, Sexualities and Queer Research Group has a new website - www.ssqrg.net - which is where all new announcements will be posted. Visit and add the site to your favourites today.
Thursday 3 June 2010
2nd Bi-annual Postgraduate Sex Work Conference
19th January 2011 University of Leeds
You are invited to attend a forum to hear current PhD work in progress, share ideas and build up networks.
This year we have the following speakers:
Debbie Jones (Swansea); Billie Lister (Stirling); Jo Mitchinson (Loughborough); Allan Tyler (Southbank); Sian Oram (London Sch of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine); Katie Cruz (Notts); Lynzi Armstrong (Victoria University of Wellington)
We will also have extra time for general discussion and an open session for people to give a 5 minute synopsis of their work/ideas/writing plans.
Places are limited to 50 so please book early.
The cost of the conference is £25. This includes refreshments and lunch.
Further information and a booking form can be found at:
http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/research/events/2nd-bi-annual-postgraduate-sex-work-conference/
You are invited to attend a forum to hear current PhD work in progress, share ideas and build up networks.
This year we have the following speakers:
Debbie Jones (Swansea); Billie Lister (Stirling); Jo Mitchinson (Loughborough); Allan Tyler (Southbank); Sian Oram (London Sch of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine); Katie Cruz (Notts); Lynzi Armstrong (Victoria University of Wellington)
We will also have extra time for general discussion and an open session for people to give a 5 minute synopsis of their work/ideas/writing plans.
Places are limited to 50 so please book early.
The cost of the conference is £25. This includes refreshments and lunch.
Further information and a booking form can be found at:
http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/research/events/2nd-bi-annual-postgraduate-sex-work-conference/
Friday 5 March 2010
Geographies of sexualities on the A Level Specifications
Whilst geographies of sexualities has been a staple on undergraduate curriculum and Geographical societies recognize groups such as the Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group, there has been a significant lacunae in school based geographies. Race/ethnicity, income and gender inequalities have long been part of school teaching about diverse societies, but issues of sexualities, equalities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people's lives are often been ignored.
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Women’s History Scotland, 2010 Conference, Women in/ on the Land(Scape): Gender, Space and Environment in Women’s and Gender History
15-16th October 2010, UHI Centre for History, University of the Highlands and Islands, Dornoch, Scotland, (Call for papers).
For this annual conference of Women’s History Scotland we will be in the Highlands; hence the focus of this event on women’s relationship with the land and landscape. We welcome proposals for papers (20 minutes) which engage with this theme over historical time and place.
Proposals are not limited to Scottish themes (though papers addressing Highland and Island themes are especially welcome) and we invite comparative and non-Scottish topics. We invite proposals from scholars at all stages of their careers and from independent researchers.
Topics may include (but are not limited to): Women in rural communities; women, gender and urban and rural space; gender relations and land-use; environmental change and its impact on gender relations; representations of women and men in the landscape; gender and landscape design and architecture; demography and the land; land ownership, gender and property; the gendering of work on the land.
Proposals (300 words) for 20 minute papers plus brief biography should be submitted to Karly Kehoe karly.kehoe@thurso.uhi.ac.uk by 1 May 2010.
For this annual conference of Women’s History Scotland we will be in the Highlands; hence the focus of this event on women’s relationship with the land and landscape. We welcome proposals for papers (20 minutes) which engage with this theme over historical time and place.
Proposals are not limited to Scottish themes (though papers addressing Highland and Island themes are especially welcome) and we invite comparative and non-Scottish topics. We invite proposals from scholars at all stages of their careers and from independent researchers.
Topics may include (but are not limited to): Women in rural communities; women, gender and urban and rural space; gender relations and land-use; environmental change and its impact on gender relations; representations of women and men in the landscape; gender and landscape design and architecture; demography and the land; land ownership, gender and property; the gendering of work on the land.
Proposals (300 words) for 20 minute papers plus brief biography should be submitted to Karly Kehoe karly.kehoe@thurso.uhi.ac.uk by 1 May 2010.
Tuesday 12 January 2010
Call for papers: Diverse Transitions
Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference: 1st-3rd September 2010, London.
Session co-sponsored by the following RGS-IBG research groups: Planning and Environment Research Group; Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group; Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group; and the Participatory Geographies Research Group.
Session convenors: Gavin Brown, Peter Kraftl, Jenny Pickerill and Caroline Upton (all University of Leicester, UK)
The concept of 'transition' has acquired increasing prominence in recent years amongst diverse constituencies of academics, policy makers and activists. The term is, perhaps, currently being discussed most in relation to 'sustainability transitions' (to a post-carbon society), particularly through engagements with the Transition Towns movement that seeks to create resilient localised economies as a grassroots response to climate change and peak oil. However, geographers have also discussed transitions in many other contexts. These include the management and planning of various processes of socio-technical transitions (Smith 2007); the legacies of post-socialist transitions (Pickles and Smith 1998; Bradshaw and Stenning 2004); young people's transitions to adulthood (Valentine 2003); and the experiences of trans people 'transitioning' from one gender identity to another (Lim and Browne 2009). In some of these contexts geographers have celebrated the potential of 'transition' as a process of progressive social change, while in others, geographers have done much to challenge the notion that transition is a universally beneficial (or even neutral) act. To date, little work has examined the inter-relationships between these diverse concepts of and perspectives on transition, or sought to directly compare different forms of transition and the distinct spatialities and temporalities involved in them. Thus, despite the diverse scales, networks, processes, communities and sites involved in contemporary transitions, there has been little attention to the diverse geographies of transition. The recognition that transitions can (and do) take many forms, prompts us to question both the contemporary emphasis on 'sustainability transitions' at the expense of other forms of transition, and the normative assumptions that are frequently made in discussions about sustainability transitions about the needs, interests and identities of the social actors involved.
Key to understanding diverse transitions is the notion of participation - who participates, whose voices are heard, who is marginalised by certain processes of transition? Moreover, such an approach requires us as geographers to get involved, be participatory ourselves, to examine how processes of transition actually operate, and in so doing enable our work, as geographers, to contribute to others' endeavours to diversify transitions processes.
This session seeks to do two things:
* To initiate a dialogue between diverse theories and concepts of transition
* To challenge the normative assumptions of many contemporary movements for sustainability transitions' to consider how they might better meet the needs of diverse publics (differentiated by age, class, dis/ability, ethnicity, gender, religion and sexuality etc.)
We welcome papers on a broad range of topics that address these themes from diverse perspectives. We also welcome both theoretical and empirical papers examining these themes.
Key words: transition, transformation, participation, diversity, sustainability
Please end abstracts of not more than 250 words to Gavin Brown at gpb10@le.ac.uk, by 12th February 2010.
Session co-sponsored by the following RGS-IBG research groups: Planning and Environment Research Group; Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group; Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group; and the Participatory Geographies Research Group.
Session convenors: Gavin Brown, Peter Kraftl, Jenny Pickerill and Caroline Upton (all University of Leicester, UK)
The concept of 'transition' has acquired increasing prominence in recent years amongst diverse constituencies of academics, policy makers and activists. The term is, perhaps, currently being discussed most in relation to 'sustainability transitions' (to a post-carbon society), particularly through engagements with the Transition Towns movement that seeks to create resilient localised economies as a grassroots response to climate change and peak oil. However, geographers have also discussed transitions in many other contexts. These include the management and planning of various processes of socio-technical transitions (Smith 2007); the legacies of post-socialist transitions (Pickles and Smith 1998; Bradshaw and Stenning 2004); young people's transitions to adulthood (Valentine 2003); and the experiences of trans people 'transitioning' from one gender identity to another (Lim and Browne 2009). In some of these contexts geographers have celebrated the potential of 'transition' as a process of progressive social change, while in others, geographers have done much to challenge the notion that transition is a universally beneficial (or even neutral) act. To date, little work has examined the inter-relationships between these diverse concepts of and perspectives on transition, or sought to directly compare different forms of transition and the distinct spatialities and temporalities involved in them. Thus, despite the diverse scales, networks, processes, communities and sites involved in contemporary transitions, there has been little attention to the diverse geographies of transition. The recognition that transitions can (and do) take many forms, prompts us to question both the contemporary emphasis on 'sustainability transitions' at the expense of other forms of transition, and the normative assumptions that are frequently made in discussions about sustainability transitions about the needs, interests and identities of the social actors involved.
Key to understanding diverse transitions is the notion of participation - who participates, whose voices are heard, who is marginalised by certain processes of transition? Moreover, such an approach requires us as geographers to get involved, be participatory ourselves, to examine how processes of transition actually operate, and in so doing enable our work, as geographers, to contribute to others' endeavours to diversify transitions processes.
This session seeks to do two things:
* To initiate a dialogue between diverse theories and concepts of transition
* To challenge the normative assumptions of many contemporary movements for sustainability transitions' to consider how they might better meet the needs of diverse publics (differentiated by age, class, dis/ability, ethnicity, gender, religion and sexuality etc.)
We welcome papers on a broad range of topics that address these themes from diverse perspectives. We also welcome both theoretical and empirical papers examining these themes.
Key words: transition, transformation, participation, diversity, sustainability
Please end abstracts of not more than 250 words to Gavin Brown at gpb10@le.ac.uk, by 12th February 2010.
Call for Papers: Geographies of Privilege
RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, 1-3 September
Sponsored - Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group
There is a vibrant and diverse range of research agendas focussed upon the often invisible or unspoken power relations which construct positions of privilege. This diversity of approaches includes, but is not limited to, examinations of; gendered privilege; heteronormativity; homonormativity; whiteness and privilege in post-colonial contexts; intersectionality of privilege; and the experience of 'being' privileged. Geographies of privilege have the potential to critically engage with the ways in which power relations provide benefits and resources for some individuals at the same time as marginalising others and thus have an important and growing relevance for contemporary society.
This session aims to discuss geographies of privilege recognising the diverse range of contexts, conceptualisations and methodologies this may entail. It seeks to encourage dialogue between various agendas and an appreciation of the intersections between multiple strands of work in this field. The session invites papers which focus on geographies of privilege, including but not limited to heteronormativity; homonormativity; whiteness and privilege in post-colonial contexts; intersectionality and privilege; and privileged identities; as well as methodological discussions on how privilege can be studied and investigated. We welcome a broad range of theoretical and methodological interventions in this developing field.
Abstracts of approximately 250 words can be submitted to Glen Noble, University of Brighton (g.s.noble@brighton.ac.uk). Deadline for submissions is 10th February 2010. Please include your name, institution, contact email address and technical requirements (projection, sound etc).
Sponsored - Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group
There is a vibrant and diverse range of research agendas focussed upon the often invisible or unspoken power relations which construct positions of privilege. This diversity of approaches includes, but is not limited to, examinations of; gendered privilege; heteronormativity; homonormativity; whiteness and privilege in post-colonial contexts; intersectionality of privilege; and the experience of 'being' privileged. Geographies of privilege have the potential to critically engage with the ways in which power relations provide benefits and resources for some individuals at the same time as marginalising others and thus have an important and growing relevance for contemporary society.
This session aims to discuss geographies of privilege recognising the diverse range of contexts, conceptualisations and methodologies this may entail. It seeks to encourage dialogue between various agendas and an appreciation of the intersections between multiple strands of work in this field. The session invites papers which focus on geographies of privilege, including but not limited to heteronormativity; homonormativity; whiteness and privilege in post-colonial contexts; intersectionality and privilege; and privileged identities; as well as methodological discussions on how privilege can be studied and investigated. We welcome a broad range of theoretical and methodological interventions in this developing field.
Abstracts of approximately 250 words can be submitted to Glen Noble, University of Brighton (g.s.noble@brighton.ac.uk). Deadline for submissions is 10th February 2010. Please include your name, institution, contact email address and technical requirements (projection, sound etc).
Call for Participation: Interactive/Participatory session: 'Doing Geography, Doing Gender'
RGS-IBG Annual Conference, 1 – 3 September 2010, London
Sponsored by the Women and Geography Study Group, the Participatory Geographies Research Group, and the Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group
2010 sees the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Women and Geography Study Group. To complement the paper sessions sponsored by the Study Group, WGSG, along with the PyGyRG and SSQWG, are sponsoring a NO PAPERS ALLOWED session on gender and/in geography. We invite participants from all disciplinary areas, at all stages of their careers, to come and take part. In particular we are seeking:
Sponsored by the Women and Geography Study Group, the Participatory Geographies Research Group, and the Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group
2010 sees the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Women and Geography Study Group. To complement the paper sessions sponsored by the Study Group, WGSG, along with the PyGyRG and SSQWG, are sponsoring a NO PAPERS ALLOWED session on gender and/in geography. We invite participants from all disciplinary areas, at all stages of their careers, to come and take part. In particular we are seeking:
- short contributions that reflect on the themes 'doing geography, doing gender'
- visual presentations involving photography, film, and artworks in any media
- audio presentations involving music, spoken word, etc.
- short fiction, poetry and essays (your own, or someone else's work that you would like to share within the context of the session)
- any other type of performative/performance based contribution
- individual or collaborative contributions
Please feel free to set the mood. Perhaps reflect on your own research experiences/practices; evolution of feminist geographical approaches; research on gender, sexuality and other intersections of identity; care/work/life; moments from the classroom; moments from your 'fieldwork'; gender and/in geography futures and how we all 'do' geography. PowerPoint and media presentation facilities will be available but are by no means expected; alternative presentations and departures from the standard paper format are warmly welcomed! We will find a way to exhibit work that is presented in whatever way is appropriate. If you have an idea but you don't know if it is achievable, please get in touch with us so we can work with you and the RGS-IBG to make it happen. If you would like to take part in this session but are at a distance from the conference please let us know and we will try to find a way to enable you to contribute.
We are hoping that the contributions will lead to a lively discussion on doing geography\doing gender, so please feel free to attend even if you are not planning to make a presentation.
Contact Kendra Strauss (kendra.strauss@ges.gla.ac.uk) or Nicola Thomas (Nicola.J.Thomas@exeter.ac.uk) if you are interested in participating.
Keywords: WGSG, Gender, Participatory, Practice
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