The RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geography Research Group (SCGRG) would like to invite expressions of interest for sponsored sessions for the RGS-IBG 2018 Annual Conference, which will take place in Cardiff from Tuesday 28 to Friday 31 August 2018.
The theme for the 2018 Annual Conference, chaired by Professor Paul Milbourne, is Geographical landscapes / changing landscapes of geography.
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.
SCGRG is able to sponsor 12 timeslots and 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 Wednesday 13th December at 6pm. We will inform applicants of the outcome by 22nd December.
(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 Laura Prazeres: Laura.Prazeres@st-andrews.ac.uk
Nottingham University are holding Geography Ambassadors training on Wednesday 22nd November
The Royal Geographic Society (with IBG) is running a half-day workshop for undergraduates, postgraduates and graduate geographers who are interested in becoming ‘Geography Ambassadors’.
The event takes place on Wednesday 22nd November, 1pm – 6pm at the University of Nottingham. Registration is free and the deadline for registration is 15th November at 12 noon. The RGS will reimburse your travel and resource costs to attend this event.
For more information, see the tweet below from the University of Nottingham.
Jamie Halliwell, PhD candidate, Manchester Metropolitan University
Website Officer for the SCGRG
Its been a month since the RGS-IBG held its mid-term postgraduate forum which was held between 19th and 21st April. The honour of hosting the event went to Cardiff University and attracted over 100 international postgraduates and early career researchers. For me, this was my first RGS related event which gave me many opportunities to network with other postgraduates, researchers and academics in a relaxed and more intimate atmosphere. I thank the SCGRG for sponsoring my bursary to attend this excellent event.
— RGS MidTerm 2019 ManMet (@RGSmidterm2019) April 21, 2017
On the Friday morning of the conference, I presented my research which explores the construction of identities through Eurovision Song Contest fandom. I presented preliminary findings and data which I had collected through interviews with Eurovision fans at the contest in Vienna in 2015 and through interviews that I conducted over Skype. I also discussed my proposals on how I intend to continue my research. This will involve engaging with digital research methods, such as netnography, and use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp to explore how Eurovision fans engage with the contest on an everyday level and how their identities are constructed through the contest. Fans also create their own fan websites and blogs, which also intersect with social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. This is as a result of the increased use and development of internet and smartphone technologies, which provide fans with greater spatial mobility in interacting with the contest and with other fans. Eurovision fan websites are an interesting research area, as they allow fans to accrue cultural and subcultural capital and assist in creating fan communities. As a member of a fan website, there are many opportunities to attend the Eurovision Song Contest and its spinoff events as a ‘fan journalist’. This involves meeting and greeting with Eurovision artists, interviewing them for fan websites and attending their press conferences. During the main Eurovision event, fan journalists also have access to country rehearsals and they occupy the same backstage spaces (known as the ‘press centre’) with other fan websites and official journalists from country state broadcasters, such as the BBC.
The press centre was the main space where I conducted my interviews in Vienna and one of my key arguments and questions is to deconstruct the contest’s perceived representation as a ‘gay event’, even though it is not constructed as such. Where contest organisers are increasingly acknowledging and producing narratives aimed at a gay audience, gay men that I interviewed explained how it causes internal conflicts with their identities. Some felt that gay narratives through the contest weren’t entirely representative but subjective, making them question their own gay identity. Gay men also identified the difference in atmosphere between the contest and inner city gay clubs. One respondent believed he felt other gay men constructed impressions of the way he dressed and looked. As opposed to Eurovision event spaces as appearing less sexualised and the collective interest in Eurovision helped break the ice when conversing with other fans. Moreover, there was evidence to suggest the negotiation of Eurovision fandom between Facebook and Twitter by heterosexual male fans. Fandom was seen to be restricted to Twitter which provided more freedom to produce Eurovision-related content and engage with other fans, whereas Facebook is seen as a platform where fandom is restricted. Facebook is seen to be used more for everyday social organisation and these fans believed that their families and friends who can view their Facebook profile would not be interested in their Eurovision fandom. This may also suggest a ‘closeting’ of fandom from Facebook, as their heterosexuality maybe challenged, given the common perception of the contest as a gay event.
The Postgraduate mid-term conference, Cardiff University 19th – 21st April 2017
The Glamorgan Building of Cardiff University, where the conference took place
The conference provided ideal opportunities to network with other delegates, academics and RGS-IBG research groups. On arrival, I met up with fellow social and cultural research geographers during the research social before attending the first keynote lecture by Dan Raven-Ellison. A keen guerrilla geographer and face of the National Geographic, he has explored how moving through different spatial environments impacts on his body and stress levels. He is also campaigning to designate London as a the first ‘National Park City’.
— Dr Jamie Halliwell 🏳️🌈 (@ShadyEuroFreak) April 20, 2017
The Thursday morning saw another keynote lecture from Professor Mark Jayne of Cardiff University discussing his research into geographies of alcohol and violence and the socio-cultural underpinnings of drinking cultures. These activities were likely to take place on a ‘night out’ in the inner city to attend clubs, drink excessively and engage with binge drinking. Jayne showed the audience clips of these activities, some of which involved drunk working class males performing hyper-masculinity when getting into fights with other drunken males.
The postgraduate presentations took place across the Thursday and the Friday, which ran across parallel sessions. Luckily they all took place within the Glamorgan building within the geography department, so you didn’t have to travel far if you wanted to go to different sessions! Some postgraduates presented their proposals for their PhD research, share their ideas and feedback on their presentation or on how to develop their ideas. As well as the presentations, we also had workshops on a variety of topics; one that I attended was the thesis proofreading by Dr Bertie Dockerill. This was an excellent workshop and gave me insight into the proofreading process, Dr Dockerill was an effervescent and dynamic communicator and definitely perked the audience up! The conference also had a big social media presence which helped to promote everyone’s research and document the conference.
— Dr Jamie Halliwell 🏳️🌈 (@ShadyEuroFreak) April 21, 2017
I was the only postgraduate to represent my university (Manchester Metropolitan), but with all the social events associated with the conference (as well as the conference dinner on the Thursday evening, many of use went for food and drinks after the conference on the Wednesday and Friday!) it was easy to chat and share ideas with other delegates. From attending the American Association of Geographers conference in Boston, USA two weeks previously (which attracts around 4,000 delegates each year), it was nice to come back to the UK for a smaller and intimate conference. The Cardiff University and Postgraduate forum organisers were fantastic, everything ran smoothly and they were always happy to help! I would definitely recommend attending this conference to anyone and I will hopefully be there next year!
The RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geography Research Group (SCGRG) would like to invite expressions of interest for sponsored sessions for the RGS-IBG 2017 Annual Conference, which will take place in London, between Tuesday 29th Aug – Friday 1st Sept 2017.
The theme for the 2017 Annual Conference, chaired by Professor Sarah Radcliffe, is Decolonizing geographical knowledges: opening geography out to the world.
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 slot).
Each attendee can only make two substantive contributions to the conference programme (eg. 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.
SCGRG is able to sponsor 12 timeslots and 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 Wednesday 14th December at 6pm. We will inform applicants of the outcome by 22nd December.
(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 Dr Laura Prazeres: Laura.Prazeres@st-andrews.ac.uk
In the next moth, the Alchemical Landscape Project are hosting several events at Cambridge University.
Yvonne Salmon who is co-hosting the experimental/microcinema strand of the Cambridge Film Festival with James Mackay who will speak on 18th October regarding the work of producer Derek Jarman. Click here for more information.
Yvonne will also be performing at an experimental lecture event at the Festival of Ideas, click here for more information.
On the 24th October there will be a gallery exhibition of Steve Farrer’s work at the Heong Gallery at Downing College which also references the 50th anniversary of the London Film-makers Coop.
An interdisciplinary symposium presented by the Cambridge University Counterculture Research Group
Following the success of our first symposium in March 2015, we are pleased to announce The Alchemical Landscape II. This second event will focus on occultural visions of the landscape across film, television, video and associated media.
We will be presenting a programme featuring a wide range of excellent speakers: academics, writers, artists and film-makers. We will also be welcoming Jo Melvin (Chelsea College of Art) and Marc Atkins & Rod Mengham (Sounding Pole Films) to deliver keynote addresses.
Do join us for what promises to be a fascinating day of talks and discussion.
Tickets are £39 and include entry to all the talks, lunch and refreshments during the day.
Full details relating to ticket purchase and venue as well as a draft programme can be found on the website:
The Social and Cultural Geography research group, GFGRG and GLTRG research groups are sponsoring a session at the Royal Geographical Society on Friday 22nd April 10am – 4.30pm. The session is titled ‘Engaging in Qualitative Methods Postgraduate Workshop’ which will be held at the RGS building in Central London, SW7 2AR.
Need some help working out your methodology? Want to learn more about the Royal Geographical Society and it’s research groups? Or just want to meet some other doctoral students and chat through your ideas? This workshop is designed to help those students at the beginning of their PhD or MA journeys to think critically about their methods and methodology and offer a space to meet and chat with other students in an informal atmosphere in the beautiful RGS building in central London.
Sessions:
Introduction to methodology & methods
Key Note Speaker – Dr Erin Sanders-McDonagh, Middlesex University. Erin is committed to research that has an impact and she has experience using a multitude of methods in extremely diverse contexts.
Innovative research methods & methodologies; visual, participatory, feminist approaches. This will be run as an active participatory session, encouraging students in thinking about the methods that they might use, but also to innovate and make them effective for the often unique situations encountered in ‘real life’ research.
Be Critical!- Round table exercise designed to get participants to be critical of the research methods that they use and the implications they have on themselves and their participants. When Methods Go Wrong – a session to explore flexibility, lone research safety and to pull from the organisers own experiences to share “lessons learnt”.
An event hosted by the National Library of Wales in association with the
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
Theme:
Shaping the Nation – the role of maps in both depicting and creating the nation both as an entity on the ground and also as a perception in the minds of people.
Presentations:
Mapping the Marches: Marginal Places and Spaces of Cartographic Innovation
Keith Lilley, Professor of Historical Geography, Queen’s University Belfast
Shapes of Scotland: Maps, history and national identity
Chris Fleet, Map Curator, National Library of Scotland
The Military Map Collection of George III: a cartographic record of European wars, empires won and empires lost
Yolande Hodson, Map historian; cataloguer of King George III’s Military Maps in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle
Ail-ddychmygu daearyddiaethau’r iaith Gymraeg/Re-imagining geographies of Welshness
Rhys Jones, Head of Geography & Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University
Humphrey Llwyd and the map of Wales
Huw Thomas, Map Curator, National Library of Wales
Maps and mapping at the Royal Commission; putting the past in its place
Tom Pert, On-line Development Manager, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
Tickets available for free, morning and afternoon refreshments provided.
