Call for papers:
Children’s Geographies conference
9-10 August 2004
School of Geography & Geosciences
University of St Andrews
Scotland, UK
Convenors:
Mike Kesby, Fungi Gwanzura-Ottemoller, Monica Chizororo
Administrator:
Richard Batchelor
A very high level of interest in children’s geographies in developing
regions was evident during sessions at the 2003 RGS/IBG meeting.
However, many delegates seemed frustrated by a lack of opportunity for
discussion and interaction. We would thus like to invite colleagues
to attend a two-day event dedicated to the discussion of children’s
geographies.
Participants:
We know that many Geographers are researching children but we would
also welcome contributions from colleagues in other fields. This
conference will reflect the growing interest within the academic
community but we hope to invite non-academic participants (e.g. from
NGO’s) so that colleagues from both sectors can share their experience,
opinions and visions for necessary future research. Our focus will
be on developing regions but we would also welcome contributions from
those working in developed world contexts, especially where these
contributions will help develop the meeting’s discussion of theoretical
and methodological issues. We welcome contributions from post grads
as much as from professors. Work presented can be “in-progress” or
“proposed” and such work may be given shorter time slots.
Format:
We would like speakers to present short papers (30 mins max) on their
work in the usual way, but would like to make space for group
discussions, breakout sessions and plenaries. Our plan to
invite representatives from non-academic organisations should further
increase the opportunities for networking and interaction.
Themes:
We will decide the strands of the conference once we have received
the abstracts. However the following themes might be a good place
to begin:
· Theorising/conceptualising
children/childhood
· Children
and ‘the big four’
o Class
o Race
o Gender
o Sexuality
· Studying
children/childhood
o Techniques,
methodologies and guiding epistemologies.
· Children
and health
o Children/youths
and HIV/AIDS/sexual health
o Children
and malnutrition
o Children
and Malaria, TB etc.
· Orphans
and child headed Households
· Children
and Sexual exploitation
· Children
and military conflict
o Child
soldiers
· Children,
Poverty and Social Exclusion
o Street
children
o Child
labour
o Youth
crime/crime against youths
· Education
· The
social and spatial mobility of young people
o Children
and migration
o Child
refugees
· Children/youth
and the environment
· Children’s
rights and development
· Youth
activism
· NGOs
children and youths
· Agendas
for future research on/with children in the developing world
Deadlines for Abstracts:
April 31 2004.
But we would be happy to receive expressions of interest asap.
Important ‘details’:
We would like to arrange crèche facilities if we can. The
sooner we have a sense of the demand, the easier it will be for us to do
this. We would also like to book flexible teaching space
(rather than lecture theatre space) again, the sooner we get a sense of
the likely level of interest the easier this will be.
We have a desire to make the planning and agenda of this conference in
some small way ‘participatory’. We are thus open to suggestions on
format and themes as well as on who to invite from the non-academic
sector.
Registration
The deadline for registration is 31 May 2004. A copy of the
registration form will soon be available from the School of Geography
& Geosciences website
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/gg/schoolpage.html
(hit the ‘News’ link to find information about forthcoming events). Forms will be available in .pdf and text formats. This site will be updated regularly as more details about the programme become available.
Further Information
For further details about the academic content of the meeting, contact:
Mike Kesby, School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL UK
Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: +44 (0) 1334 463909
For further information about registration, accommodation and travel, contact:
Richard Batchelor, School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL UK
Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: +44 (0) 1334 463923
Fax: +44 (0) 1334 463949
