The RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geography Research Group (SCGRG) would like to invite expressions of interest for sponsored sessions for the RGS-IBG 2020 Annual Conference, which will take place in London from Tuesday 1 to Friday 4 September 2020.
The theme for the 2020 Annual
Conference, chaired by Professor Uma Kothari, is borders, borderlands
and bordering.
SCGRG is keen to sponsor sessions that directly
relate to the conference theme but also those sessions that engage with broader
issues of contemporary concern to social and cultural geographers.
When designing your session proposals please
take note of the following:
A session cannot occupy more than two timeslots on the conference
programme unless this has been pre-arranged with the RGS team. Those seeking
more than one timeslot should consider co-sponsorship (i.e. splitting
sponsorship so as to have a sponsor for each time slot).
Each attendee can only make two substantive contributions to the
conference programme (e.g. as paper presenter, panel member, discussant). A
substantive contribution is defined as one where the individual concerned needs
to be present in the session room, and so can include session organiser if
attendance is necessary. For individuals proposing multiple co-authored papers,
an alternative presenter must be clearly nominated at the time of submitting
the session/paper.
You can find the RGS guidelines for session proposals at:
You are welcome to propose joint sessions to be
co-sponsored by another research group.
Please send expressions of interest including the
below information by Friday 3rd January at 6pm. We
will inform applicants of the outcome by 10th January.
(i) Title of session;
(ii) Name of Co-sponsoring groups, if applicable
(iii) Name and Contact Details for Session
Convenors
(iv) Abstract, outlining scope of session – 200 words
max.
(v) Number of session timeslots that are sought –
please note: this year a session may not occupy more than 2 time slots
unless this has been pre-agreed with the RGS.
(vi) Indication of session format
Proposals for, or questions
about, SCGRG sponsored sessions should be sent to Will Andrews w.andrews@bangor.ac.uk
Studies exploring more-than-human relations in the city and understandings of the spatial in visual art win SCGRG dissertation prize
Charles Couve of the University of Manchester is our 2019 Winner for his dissertation entitled More-than-human Manchester: Recombinance, Auras, and Dialectics in the Edges of Modernity. The committee found this a fascinating and original study. Written in rich and engaging prose, they were impressed with its deft handling of complex ideas from a wide-ranging literature, and its deep, nuanced analysis of the city. They very much enjoyed the risks it took in style, method, and form, including its innovative use of creative methods to vividly explore the ‘excess’ of more-than-human relations. All felt that this was an outstanding example of cultural geographical work that demonstrates some exciting possibilities within an undergraduate research project.
William Silver of Durham University is our 2019 Runner-Up for his dissertation entitled Gordon Matta-Clark’s slices through space: artwork towards a critical understanding of the spatial. The committee were impressed with this engaging and original piece, which showed nuanced engagement with complex theoretical ideas and interesting experiments with form in its writing. They praised its incisive use of literature from across art history and geography and its fluid prose that made the piece a joy to read. An impressive piece of work that gives valuable insight into applications of cultural geographical thinking to art worlds in an undergraduate project.
The winner has received a prize of £100.
Both have also been given a one-year free subscription to the journal Social
& Cultural Geography courtesy of Taylor & Francis.
In total we received 19 submissions for the prize this year. These spanned the breadth of social and cultural geography interests and we look forward to continuing with the prize in 2020.
We are writing as chairs of the Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group (GFGRG) and the Developing Areas Research Group (DARG) of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS-IBG). Currently, we are working together to improve support for those in academia with caring responsibilities.
The first strand of this work involves developing best practice guidelines for better supporting the research projects and fieldwork of those with care responsibilities. A second strand involves understanding and addressing the challenges of early career researchers taking parental or adoption leave. As part of this work, we are asking for your help in two ways. First, please could you let us know your own experiences of managing the parental/adoption leave of early career researchers and researchers funded by external/project grants, for example in terms of the impacts this has on research projects or on the intellectual work of the department? We are particularly interested to hear if the practices and policies of different funders have affected your ability to manage parental/adoption leave for staff. Second, please could you share the attached survey with your research staff (post doctoral researchers or any other contract researchers), so we can let them know about our work and ensure their input?
More information about this work is on our websites and will be presented at the 2019 RGS-IBG Annual Conference, London (for example, at our respective AGMs). However, if you have any questions please contact Professor Rosie Cox (r.cox@bbk.ac.uk) or Dr Jessica Hope (jessica.hope@bristol.ac.uk) directly.
The 2019 AGM of the Social and Cultural Geography Research Group (SCGRG) will take place at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference in London on Friday 30th August at 13:10 (Venue forthcoming). All are welcome to attend.
We have six vacancies for Committee positions as current post-holders complete their terms of office:
Chair
This post is a three-year term (in the first instance) and the role involves coordination of the group’s activities. Each year the chair prepares the annual report with the Secretary and the Treasurer, and provides an interim report at the AGM in August/September. The Chair normally attends the RGS-IBG Research Groups Committee at the RGS, normally in October and March. The chair will usually be involved in SCGRG’s wider committee activities i.e. part of the judging panel for our undergraduate dissertation prize.
Education Officer
This post is a three-year term (in the first instance) and the role involves leading the research group’s education-related activities. The education officer will liaise with the RHED officer of the RGS-IBG, and other research groups where appropriate, to coordinate the development of education and outreach events and resources. The education officer will also liaise with the Early career and mentoring Officer to assist with the development of events, resources, and networks to support members. The education officer would usually be involved in SCGRG’s wider committee activities i.e. part of the judging panel for our undergraduate dissertation prize.
Conference Officer
This post is a key and important role for the group. The conference officer leads the coordination the group’s sponsorship and organisation of sessions at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference each year and other events and activities. The role involves compiling call for sessions proposals, liaising with session proposers, and organising the vote on the proposals by the committee. The conference officer would usually be involved in SCGRG’s wider committee activities i.e. part of the judging panel for our undergraduate dissertation prize.
Ordinary Committee Member (x 1)
This post is a three-year term (in the first instance). While without specific responsibilities, ordinary committee members would usually be involved in the SCGRG’s wider committee activities i.e. part of the judging panel for our undergraduate dissertation prize. Ordinary committee members may also be asked to provide support for named roles.
Postgraduate Representatives (x 2)
This post is a one-year term (in the first instance) and the role involves liaising with the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum, engaging with postgraduate issues through our SCGRG postgraduate blog and working with our other postgraduate representative(s) on related events and activities. The PG representative would usually be involved in SCGRG’s wider committee activities, i.e. part of the judging panel for our undergraduate dissertation prize.
Nominations for successors (who must be a Fellow or Postgraduate Fellow of the RGS-IBG) are now open. Nominations must be in writing to the Chair (Prof. Harriet Hawkins – Harriet.Hawkins@rhul.ac.uk) and Secretary (Richard Scriven – r.scriven@umail.ucc.ie) with the name of two nominators (these need not be Fellows of the RGS-IBG or existing committee members). The deadline for nominations is Friday 23rd August 2019. The elections will be conducted at the AGM itself.
Further opportunities to be elected to a named role or as an ordinary committee member may become available during the AGM itself. We’ll also be discussing different ways that our wider membership can get involved with SCGRG.
If you have any questions about any of the above posts or about SCGRG more broadly, please e-mail Harriet and Richard.
The SCGRG offers an annual prize of £100 for the best undergraduate dissertation in Social and Cultural Geography. We also announce a runner-up prize. Both prize-winners receive a year’s personal subscription to the journal Social & Cultural Geography published by Taylor & Francis.
Nominated
dissertations should be: an outstanding theoretical and/or empirical piece of
work; usually approx.10,000 words in length; submitted for formal assessment in
the preceding academic year to a UK Higher Education Institution for a BA/BSc
level degree programme in geography; written in English. We are looking to
reward both excellent scholarship and innovation in the study of social and cultural
geography (please see the SCGRG mission statement for our definition of what is
considered social and cultural geography). Please note that a department may
not submit more than one entry and nominated dissertations should not be
submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prizes. Nominations are
requested from the Head of Department or Dissertation Convenor.
All dissertations
should be submitted as a single pdf file with a post-September email and
contact address for the student. Submissions should be emailed with ‘SCGRG
Dissertation prize submission’ as the subject header. For any further queries,
please contact the SCGRG dissertation convenor, Sofie Narbed (details below).
Submissions to: sofie.narbed@rhul.ac.uk (Sofie Narbed,
Dissertation Convenor, Royal Holloway, University of London)
Earth Photo — Building on the success of last year, and run in partnership with Forestry Commission England, Earth Photo aims to stimulate conversations about our world, its inhabitants and our treatment of both. It is open to everyone, whether they have a connection with the RGS-IBG or not.
Call for Entries: We are currently at the Call for Entries stage, with a deadline of 6 May. All photographs and films submitted must be relevant to at least one of the following four categories: PEOPLE, PLACE, NATURE and CHANGING FORESTS.
An expert panel will select around 50 works to be exhibited at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) from 6 July – 22 August 2019, before beginning a national tour of a number of Forestry Commission England forests. Awards include cash prizes, editorial opportunities facilitated by RGS-IBG and opportunities with Forestry Commission England. A number of artists will also be eligible for a Next Generation Award and a Short Film Award.
The award-winning photographer, Marissa Roth, will chair the selection panel. Marissa is a Fellow of RGS-IBG and was part of the Los Angeles Times team that won the Pulitzer Prize for the LA riots. She has also worked for Newsweek, The New York Times and has had countless exhibitions internationally.
We really appreciate your help in spreading the word. If you have any further queries please contact the Society’s Press Officer, Giulia Macgarr, at g.macgarr@rgs.org .
Careers From Development: Putting Critical Thinking into Action. A postgraduate careers event hosted by the Developing Areas Research Group
Friday 15 March 2019
9.00am-5.00pm
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London
Careers events and resources in universities tend to offer an array of options for those looking to work in the corporate sector. However there is less information about careers that utilise the critical debates covered in development and social science courses. As a result, students who have developed a critical understanding in international development, social justice, environmental justice, migration, human rights and globalisation are left with few options of where to take this after university.
The event will provide a chance for students to listen to and network with experienced professionals who will talk about the challenges and realities of working in development-related careers. This event is the first of its kind, and we are excited to be hosting it on such a large scale. We have confirmed speakers from Amnesty International, DFID, Centre for Global Development, Global Giving, Switched On London, Banyak Films, The Guardian and more.
New to teaching in geography, earth and environmental sciences (GEES): Workshop for postgraduates
Monday 25 March 2019
10.00am-4.30pm
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London
Join Dr Lynda Yorke (Bangor University) and Dr Simon Tate (Newcastle University Prof Anson Mackay (UCL), with Dr Hilary Geoghegan (University of Reading) and Professor Anson Mackay (UCL) for a one day workshop to explore issues postgraduates face when teaching in geography, earth and environmental science (GEES). The workshop offers practical advice and ideas for undergraduate teaching through an exploration of the GEES subject signature pedagogies; strategies for engaging, working with and offering feedback to a wide range of learners; an introduction to participatory teaching, teaching lab work and fieldwork; and discussion and reflection upon the role and contribution of teaching assistants in all these areas using case studies and group discussions.
Nominations are now open for election to the committee of the Postgraduate Forum, with elections to be held at the AGM at the mid-term conference at Manchester Metropolitan University, 24-26 April. More information about the available roles and how to run for a position on the committee is available here: http://www.pgf.rgs.org/2019-pgf-elections. You can find out more about the Postgraduate Forum Mid-Term conference: http://www.pgf.rgs.org/rgs-postgraduate-mid-term-conference-2019/.
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Jack Dangermond Award 2019
Applications for the Jack Dangermond Award 2019 are now open. The award provides support to attend the 2019 Esri UC in San Diego for undergraduates, postgraduates or early-career researchers who use the ArcGIS platform for teaching or research. The deadline for applications is Friday 26 April.
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Applications now open for the Turing Enrichment scheme
The Turing Enrichment scheme offers students enrolled on a doctoral programme at a UK university an opportunity to boost their research project with a placement at the Turing for up to 12 months. Enrichment places are offered for 6, 9, or 12 months with start dates in October 2019 and January 2020. Places are based at the Institute headquarters at the British Library in London where students will continue their PhD in conjunction with their current supervisor, while enriching their research and making new collaborations during their time at the Institute.
Enrichment students may be eligible for a stipend top up of up to £5,500 as well as a travel allowance.
Applications should be made directly to the Turing by 11 March 2019.
Rodrigo Mendoza-Smith, University of Oxford (one of the Turing’s first enrichment students), had this to say about this experience: “The Enrichment programme at the Turing has been intellectually refreshing and stimulating. I find the daily interaction with Turing researchers the most valuable experience and I have also greatly benefited from weekly reading groups, seminars, masterclasses and meet-ups. ”
We are delighted to announce that our research group will be offering two bursaries for postgraduate students to attend and present a paper at the forthcoming RGS Postgraduate Mid-term conference at Manchester Metropolitan University, 24th-26th April 2019.
There are two bursaries to the value of £100 on offer this year, for any student whose research interests lie (broadly) within our research focus of social and cultural geography. It is a fantastic opportunity for postgraduate students to showcase their research, develop their presenting and network skills, hear talks and workshops from established academics within geography and make new friends.
To apply, you must be presenting a paper at the Mid-term conference to be eligible. On application for a bursary, please include the following and email your completed form to rgsmidterm2019@mmu.ac.uk.
Successful applicants will be required to write a short blog post about their experiences at the conference.
Application Form
Please email the completed form along with your abstract to rgsmidterm2019@mmu.ac.uk, by no later than Monday 18thFebruary.
Name of the research group for which a bursary is requested:
Name of applicant:
Institution:
Level and year of study:
Funding status:
Why are you applying for a bursary?
How is your application linked to the research group you are requesting support from? (No more than 250 words)
