IASESP
International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place
Previous Calls for Papers
Conference Information/Registration
Towson University: April 25-27, 2008
Conference Theme: Tourism
The Conference seeks to foster an Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary conversation on tourism. Presentations are to be 25 minutes with an additional 10 minutes for questions and discussion. Papers may be submitted for possible publication. Panels are welcome.
No other life-form but the human tours. Touring, then, should reveal something about that being of which one of its possibilities is to tour. Is touring a fundamental structure of human existence, or, is it a socio-historical construct, or both? As the human is an earthbound creature, touring should at the same time reveal something about earthly embodiments. What is it about the earth that draws us to tour? As all worldly-horizons of human beings manifest as spatial productions, the world of touring modifies spatial organizations and thus presents denizens of the earth as well as processes, relations, events, etc. of the earth from the perspective of that world. What is the nature of the world of touring? What kinds of spatial productions does it entail? We inevitably speak about the earth as the wherein of human dwelling. What can tourism reveal about human dwelling, what does it reveal about the places of human dwelling, and what does its reveal of the relation of human to earth? We encourage conference participants to develop further interesting lines of questioning and to share their interpretations and insights with fellow members of our association.
Some possible topics (all germane topics are welcome!):
|
toured other adventurers, relaxers . . . commodification of travel camp sites, cruise ships disneyfication eco-tourism encountering “the locals” exotic travel “getaways” |
toured places gendering of tourism genius loci and scenery safari, surfing, golfing simulacra of touring tourism and powe tourist economies tourist embodiments tour guide |
sacred sites tourist accommodation tour advertisement tour symbolisms tourist traps scenic highways vacation and vacuity vacation voyeurism virtual tourism |
DUQUESNE uNIVERSITY: April 27-29, 2007
Built Spaces: Earth-Sky and Human Praxes
The material expression of the human life-world is constructed by establishing patterns oriented through, and by, the earth-sky relation. Human socio-cultural praxes manifest spatially through establishing the fundamental spatiality, “a level”—an equilibrium that is formed through the collusion of the upright posture of the lived-body and the earthly horizon, marking the measure of the earth-sky relation and human experience.
Presentations may address any aspect of spatial production as long as the aspect of “builtness” is taken into consideration. In other words socio-cultural events are patterns that are always interlocked with materially expressed spatial patterns. The phenomena that we want to address in this conference concern our built environments. What is it to build? What is a building, or buildings? How do we build? How does building open a world, limit a world, destroy a world, protect a world, or enliven a world? What are the many forms of human dwelling about which building must address? How can we build a better world? Who builds and why? What do certain forms of building do for us, or to us?
Suggested Sub-topics: (these topics are not exhaustive; they are meant only to spark your own thinking)
| Indigenous Dwellings and
Spatial Constructions Sacred Sites The Genius Loci of Built Places Architectural Design and Urban Planning Megalopolis, Sprawl, Smart Growth Neighborhood Bar, Playgrounds, Plazas, Lawns The Politics of Built Space Developers and Development Zoning Laws Instant Worlds Le Corbusier, Venturi, Bauhaus Building in the Margins |
Vernacular Building Intimate Spacings Unique Places Suburbs, Ruburbs New Urbanism Dance Floors, Sidewalks, Stadiums The Sociology of Built Space Superstores Environmental Protection Main Street Ruskin, Vitruvius, Lynch Preservation and Renewal |
Towson University: April 28 - 30, 2006
Globalization: Reconfigurings of World Space
The International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place will hold its Second Annual Conference at Towson University, Towson, Maryland, on April 28-30, 2006. The Conference seeks to foster an interdisciplinary/ transdisciplinary conversation on the present, past, and future global reconfigurings of World Space. It will examine the presuppositions, implications, and consequences of the geographical reconfigurings of the world. Abstracts are invited from any academic discipline as well as non-academic professionals and activists.
Possible topics: Spatial Reconfigurings of . . .
Environment/Ecology: wild/domestic; environmental impact of globalism; genetic modification
Political: private/public; northern/southern hemisphere political tensions; power distributions in developed, developing, undeveloped regions and nations
Economics: new distributional patterns of wealth; global economies; globalizing markets, forms of economic organization, globalizing corporations
Cultural Arts: architecture, art, theatre, and music in a globalized world
Anthropological: the impact of globalization on peoples and cultural identities
Religion: religious tensions in the globalized world, new religious forms, religious sites
Sociology: new roles, stratifications, mobilities in the globalized world, new forms of association
Law: global law; legal boundaries; global justice
Communication: the role of new technologies, new forms of communication
Philosophy: competing paradigms of globalization; the sense of globalism
Towson University: April 29 - May 1, 2005
Symbolic Meanings of Spaces/Places
The International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place will hold it's Inaugural Annual Conference at Towson University, Towson, Maryland April 29 - May 1, 2005. Our theme is Symbolic Meanings of Spaces/Places. Abstracts are invited from all those who are interested in the theme of the Conference.Some possible topics:
Symbolism in human landscapes (forest, river, mountain, sky, rock, cloud, animal, beach, ocean, wilderness, earth, cave, etc.)
Symbolism in human landscapes (nation, mall, skyscraper, restaurant, garden, hell, heaven, stadium, school, cemetery, prison, temple, pyramid, television).
Towson University: April 30 - May 2, 2004
Ecoscapes
The conference organizers have coined the word, ecoscapes, to refer specifically to the geographical moment of ecology, or, to state it another way, the spatial relations comprising environments. J. B. Jackson remarks that the suffix, ‘scape,’ is essentially the same as ‘shape.’ ‘Scape’ also indicates something like an organization or system. ‘Eco’ has to do with habitat or environment. So, ecoscapes concerns the geographical shape of environmental relations and interrelations.
Papers are to address the spatial configurations of the relations that form particular landscapes. Spatial relations are constitutive of a geographical matrix that includes human-natural-artifactual-virtual components. Any combination from the matrix is possible: e.g. human to human; human to natural; human to artifactual; human to virtual; natural to artifactual; natural to virtual; artifactual to virtual. The many other combinations of relations from the above matrix are also available for exploration. Geographical case studies of the spatiality of specific types of relations in specific locales are encouraged. Whatever your research concerns, please make thematic the geographical moment of relations and your work will be appropriate to the theme of the conference.
Towson University: April 25 - 27, 2003
Topographies
The Society for Philosophy and Geography will hold its Fifth Annual International Conference at Towson University, Towson, Maryland, April 25-27, 2003. Abstracts are invited from any academic discipline. We also invite abstracts from non-academic presenters.
Theme:
Topographies
Possible topics include: mountains, beaches, rivers, coasts, sacred groves, brothels,
post offices, banks, saloons, springs, canyons, kivas, cemeteries, prisons, churches,
restrooms, barios, favelas, temples, quilombos, sweat lodges, army camps, ritual
grounds, agoras, malls, tropics, huts, savanahs, suburbs, hades, zen gardens, fast
food restaurants, highways, prairies, zoos, hospitals, deserts, paradise, game
reserves, atlantis, caves, political borders, crematoria, acropolis, theaters,
campuses, skies, cathedrals, valleys, hell.