[URBANTH-L]CALL for PAPERS

[Arianne Marie Gaetano]

Conference Announcement and Call for Participation "SEXUALITY AND SPACE"
Preconference of the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting

Sponsored by the Sexuality and Space Specialty Group of the AAG and the
School of Social Sciences and Department of Geography at Sonoma State
University 
Date: April 17, 2007
Venue: The Women's Building, 3543 18th Street, San Francisco, CA

The aim of this one-day conference is to bring together scholars working
in a range of fields to explore the topic of "Sexuality and Space". 

For more than a decade, geographers have recognized the sexualization of
space and the spatialization of sexuality.  From an initial emphasis on
gay and lesbian urban spaces in the 'west', the geographical study of
sexualities has expanded to incorporate such topics as queer movements
and activism in multiple sites, nationalism, public health,
heterosexualities, transgenderism, tourism, heteronormativities,
homonormativities, globalization, the 'pink' market, migration and
mobilities, geopolitics, cyberspace, embodiment, and rural and
non-metropolitan sexualities. We seek to further broaden and deepen
scholarship on sexuality and space by inviting contributions that
explore these topics and as many more as participants' imaginations
permit. 

In the spirit of interdisciplinary engagement that has been pivotal to
the growth of this geographical sub-field, this invitation to grapple
with such geographical concerns as space, place, mobilities, landscape
and environment is extended to sexuality studies scholars working across
the humanities and social sciences. At the same time, this event is an
opportunity for critical geographers working in any of the discipline's
sub-fields of cultural, political, economic, urban and feminist
geography to explore the ways in which discourses and practices of
sexual normativities and non-normativities are part of the production of
space at various scales and sites. 

Work on any geographical site, historical period, and topic of
geographical relevance is welcome. We are particularly interested in
contributions that examine "sexuality and space" from the interstices of
multiple approaches including queer, feminist, postcolonial, critical
race and materialist theories.

Proposals for all manner of papers, panels, multi-media or other
presentations will be considered. 

Please send abstracts (250 words) and proposals for panel or other
presentations to Natalie Oswin (geoon at nus.edu.sg) by December 1. 
 
Enquiries and expressions of interest can be directed to any member of
the organizing committee:
Michael Brown, Department of Geography, University of Washington
(michaelb at u.washington.edu) Lawrence Knopp, Department of Geography,
University of Minnesota-Duluth (lknopp at d.umn.edu) Natalie Oswin,
Department of Geography, National University of Singapore
(geoon at nus.edu.sg) Damon Scott, Department of Geography, Sonoma State
University (damon.scott at sonoma.edu)