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Apologies for cross-posting Converging Dichotomies An interdisciplinaryapproach to Nature and Culture 4th-5th May, 2017 Università degli Studi di Milano Conference topic areas: Philosophy, Anthropology, Geography The complete call for abstract is available at: http://eng.dipafilo.unimi.it/ecm/home Call for abstracts: The notions of Nature and Culture may appear asessentially independent the one from the other for their literal definition. Indeed, it is considered one of the traditionaldichotomies in Western thought: Nature seems to be an extrinsic dimension ofCulture due to the absence of artificiality and development, which seems ratherto belong to the latter. Nevertheless, there have been important philosophicaland scientific considerations that have structurally based their theoreticalproposition on the close relationship, often dialectical, between the endlesschange of Nature and the becoming of Culture. Consequently, the goal of the conference will be toprovide an interdisciplinary debate through specific cases studies in thepanorama of Human Sciences. Every session will be introduced by a remarkablekeynote speech assessing a theoretical framework necessary for a broader contextualizationof every case study. Geography session: KeynoteSpeaker, Beth RoseMiddleton, University of California Davis, Geography Following postmodernity and the crisis of the great narratives, Natureand Culture have to be reconceptualized in a form of a new dialogicalrelationship. In this sense, the rise of the new concept of the Anthropocene represents the public death of the modernunderstanding of nature removed from society (Lorimer, 2012). Indeed, avision of Nature as an independent entity from Culture and man is no longersustainable. In a geographical perspective, the dichotomy between Nature and Culturehas never been so strict and it has always been related with man and the way hemanaged to live in his own environment. These two subjects set the foundationof the whole discipline; Geography in its diachronic evolution has adopted anarray of different standpoints, ranging from the early environmentalisttheories to humanistic perspectives. What has always remained constant is theinterpretation of the relationship, which has always been conceived as adialogical system instead of a dichotomic one. Recently, the environment seems to have acquired a more significantrole, due to the wide group of phenomena known as Global Change. Thus,in this new era of Anthropocene, feedback reactions to the initial input givenby human activities are forcing humanity to a deep reconsideration of itsbehavior toward the environment. The result is a new balance in the dialogicalrelationship, where Culture could be seen as the main engine that moves theadaptation processes providing local answers to global issues. That being said, new fields of research can arise. How are differentcommunities - in different geographic regions - dealing with ecosystem changes,land loss and resource exploitation? What consequences could be involved forcultural identity, territorialization and the very sense of place? Finally, how these particularexamples translate to the global scale? The aim of the session is to explore this new balance throughoutspecific case studies and to provide interdisciplinarydebate through specific cases studies in the panorama of Human andEnvironmental Geography. We invite authors to submit abstracts for oralpresentation in the following topics: · Resilienceand adaptation in endangered environments (particular attention will be givento the Small Islands Developing States and the Alps) · Conservationismand economic exploitation of natural resources · Climate change, ecosystems and traditional economies · Climatechange, impacts, adaptation,and mitigation on local scales · Watermanagement, agriculture and conservation · Cultivation and adaptability in changing ecosystems · Heritage and Culture of wine in fragile environments · Patrimonialization:methods and principles in landscape evaluation · Conservationpolicy in cultural and natural heritage on local scale · Ecologyon the scale of the landscape · Historicalecology Paper Submission and Conference Guidelines: Keynote speaker presentation will be 40 minutes long followed by 20minutes for discussion; all other presentations will be 20 minutes long plus 10minutes for discussion. The language of the conference is only English. We accept extended abstracts that should be prepared for a blind reviewin a PDF format before February 17th. We ask two files: in the first one, the candidate is supposed to writethe proposal and in the second one, we would need the following details: name,institutional affiliation, contact information. We invite proposals from graduate students and earlycareer researchers within three years of completion of their degree for papersof approximately 2500 characters including bibliography. Please write‘Milan PhD Conference Abstract Submission’ in the subject line of your email aswell as the year in which the PhD was awarded in the case of early careerresearchers. Abstracts should be prepared for blind review, so ensure that yourabstract is free from any identifying personal details. Please, submit your proposals to: [log in to unmask] The acceptance notification will be given no laterthan March 7th. Participation at the conference is free of charge. Meals will be provided for the length of the conference. Organizers f or Geography session: Giorgio Masellis: [log in to unmask] Emiliano Tolusso: [log in to unmask] Scientific committee : Valerio Bini(Università degli Studi di Milano) Luca Bonardi(Università degli Studi di Milano) Alice G. Dal Borgo(Università degli Studi di Milano) Olivier Jacquet (Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté) Daniele Lorusso(Università degli Studi di Milano) -- Emiliano Tolusso PhD Student in Philosophy and Human Sciences XXXI Cycle University of Milan Via Festa del Perdono 7 Milano