Apologies for cross-posting. Some of you may be interested in the event below

FAMILY TROUBLES: CARE AND CHANGE IN DIVERSE CONTEXTS
One-day Symposium, 16 September 2015, University of Reading, UK
CALL FOR PAPERS

NB: DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS EXTENDED TO 30 APRIL

This inter-disciplinary symposium aims to explore family relations, care and 'troubles' in diverse contexts. The symposium will reflect on the powerful, often emotive discourses associated with 'family' in different cultural and policy settings and explore the (potentially troubling or troubled) changes, caring practices, and intergenerational relations that shape family lives over time and space. 
We are interested in papers that address a diversity of caring practices, 'troubles' and family relations in both the global North and South. 

We invite papers that address the following themes, in relation to diverse contexts and cross-cultural perspectives (but are also open to other related topics relevant to the symposium title): 
•	Meanings of 'family', family practices and (troubling) changes in family lives 
•	Children's and young people's family lives and intergenerational dynamics 
•	Care and interdependencies in diverse household forms
•	Emotions in researching family troubles
•	Vulnerability, social protection and support for 'troubled' families
•	Responses to death and 'bereavement' in cross-cultural perspective
•	Living, dead or dying bodies and family caring practices
These contentious, emotive and sensitive issues pose questions and dilemmas for policy makers, practitioners and service users, as well as researchers and academics interested in issues of family change, care and support. 

In addition to paper presentations, the Symposium will include: 
•	‘Reflections on negotiated and constrained interdependencies within and across generations’: Keynote lecture by Professor Samantha Punch, University of Stirling
•	'Caringscapes, responses to death and family relations in urban Senegal': Panel discussion by leading academics, practitioners and policymakers about the findings of a Leverhulme Trust research project conducted by Ruth Evans, Jane Ribbens McCarthy, Sophie Bowlby and Joséphine Wouango, University of Reading and The Open University
•	Drinks reception
This event builds on earlier work on the theme of Family Troubles? sponsored by the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance at the Open University. For related events and links, see http://www.open.ac.uk/ccig/research/families-relationships-and-communities/family-troubles, and watch this podcast for a presentation of the associated book, ‘Family Troubles: Exploring Changes and Challenges in the Family Lives of Children and Young People’ edited by Jane Ribbens McCarthy, Carol-Ann Hooper and Val Gillies, 2013, Policy Press. 
 
This Symposium is co-sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group, the British Sociological Association (BSA) Families and Relationships Study Group, the BSA Death, Dying and Bereavement Study Group and the Association for the Study of Death and Society (ASDS). It is funded by the University of Reading, the Open University and the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group.
 
Registration fee (includes lunch and refreshments): £30
 
A small number of bursaries for registration fees and/or travel expenses are available for postgraduates/ practitioners/ unwaged (funded by the RGS-IBG Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group).  Please provide details of expected travel costs when enquiring about this. Contact: [log in to unmask] 
 
Please send your paper title, abstract of a maximum of 250 words and contact details by 30 April 2015 to Ruth Evans ([log in to unmask]). 
 
Please feel free to make informal contact in advance if that would be helpful.

For updates, please see: 
https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/deathinthefamilyinsenegal/                                           
           
best wishes 
Ruth

Dr. Ruth Evans
Associate Professor in Human Geography
Department of Geography & Environmental Science   
University of Reading 
Whiteknights PO Box 227
Reading RG6 6AB
UK
Tel. +44 (0)118 378 7755
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.reading.ac.uk/ges/aboutus/r-evans.asp
https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/deathinthefamilyinsenegal/
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