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Call For Papers: RGS-IBG Geographies of Children, Youth & Families Research Group “Understanding Transitions Through Methodological Innovations” - PhDs and Early Career Researchers Workshop Friday 25 February 2011, University of Leicester The theme of ‘transition’ has emerged as significant in a great many subfields of research with children, young people and families. While, superficially, the physical and emotional development from child to adolescent to adult helps to explain this preoccupation, there are many other senses in which the idea of transition has resonance in people’s lives. For youth, this might involve the move towards closer affiliation with particular subcultures and away from families, for example, or the choices that necessarily have to be made about ones future regarding education or employment – choices that, at present, seem increasingly loaded with anxieties. The notion of transition may be closely associated with adolescence but there are equally many ways in which young children and families experience significant physical relocation and/or personal emotional shifts, from the physical experiences of migration, resettlement and self-incorporation within a new socio-cultural context to the emotional redefinitions of self that can result from embracing parenthood for the first time. In this day workshop we aim to consider some of the methodological techniques and innovations that are being applied to transitions research with children, youth and families. We invite papers that offer insights into and experiences of a range of methodological approaches, including the innovative and still-evolving as well as more familiar techniques that may have been combined or employed in new ways. Experiences of managing the practical and ethical implications of some of these approaches might also be included. While the focus of the workshop is predominantly methodological, making visible the links between methodological choices and broader empirical and conceptual aims remains a key concern. We leave the balance between these to the discretion of the author. Papers will be combined into dedicated paper sessions alongside methods workshops and a discussion panel. Abstracts of no more than 200 words should be emailed to [log in to unmask] by Friday 14th January. We also welcome interest from those who do not wish to present but would like to attend the workshop. In the interests of ensuring productive discussion, places for this workshop are limited to 30 and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Please direct email registrations to [log in to unmask] Limited travel bursaries will be available for those without research council or other sponsor support. If you would like to be considered for a travel bursary, please include this request in your registration email. Rebecca Collins, PhD candidate Department of Geography University College London [log in to unmask]