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CALL FOR PAPERS - ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS CONFERENCE, NEW ORLEANS, 10-14 April 2018 Geographies of the Sensory - #GeoSensory18 In the past two decades, there has been what we might call a 'sensory turn' in research methods. Geographers and anthropologists have been at the forefront of using innovative and sensorial methods to better understand relations between people, things, times, places and spaces. Sociologists have also been hugely influential in pushing forward new and 'livelier' methods that deepen our grasp of the sensory dimensions of social interactions and relations. And feminists scholars across the social sciences have long called for the development of more situated and sensorially attuned research practices. There is now an array of voices - including those of Les Back, Doug Harper, Dawn Mannay, Claudia Mitchell, Sarah Pink and Gillian Rose - arguing for more creative ways of conducting research that are able to grapple with the complexities of twenty-first century life. This session invites papers from people employing, exploring or experimenting with sensorial methods. Our interest is in a wide range of methods that make use of the senses - the visual and the auditory as well as the haptic, olfactory, and gustatory - as a tool or subject of research. We would like to stimulate discussion on the gains, potential and limits of sensory methods for specific research questions and projects through consideration of conceptual and empirical work across different fields. We are particularly interested in research that engages with the material world and uses material objects to push forward our understandings of what sensory research is and what it can do. We consider the temporal to be an important aspect of sensory research and invite papers that consider time, motions, rhythms, or modes of stasis. In addition, we hope to attract papers that consider the impact of using sensory methods in relation to the experience of the research process, the character of knowledge produced, and the challenges and opportunities for transmission through teaching as well as publication. While the session we propose is part of a geography conference, we recognize that sensorial methods do not rest in any one discipline. As such, we invite papers from interdisciplinary scholars from any field to contribute to these discussions, and seek work that speaks to one or more of the following areas: * Innovative uses of sensorial research methods * The limits or difficulties of employing sensorial techniques * The ethics of conducting sensory research * Theoretical discussions that relate to sensorial research or practices * Researching the material world * The temporalities of sensory research * Teaching and pedagogic practices that relates to innovative or sensorial methods * New technologies of the sensorial * The practicalities of disseminating non-linear and non-textual research * The political possibilities that sensory research might allow The #GeoSensory18 session welcomes abstracts from scholars, artists, practitioners, and non-academics to contribute to ideological/theoretical/methodological/empirical discussions. If you are interested in taking part in this session please send your abstract including: (i) paper title; (ii) author(s); (iii) institutional affiliation(s); (iv) email address; (v) a 250 word (maximum) abstract; and (vi) 5 key words to the co-convenors at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> no later than Monday 16 October 2017. We will reply to you within 5 days of that deadline. The deadline for abstract submission to the conference is 25 October 2017. Details are here: http://annualmeeting.aag.org/. Please note that in order to submit an abstract, you must register and pay for the conference. Co-Convenors: Dr. Dawn Lyon, University of Kent (UK) Dr. Erin Sanders-McDonagh, University of Kent (UK) Dr Dawn Lyon | Senior Lecturer in Sociology | Director of Research School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research | University of Kent | Chatham Maritime ME4 4AG | UK kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/l-m/lyon-dawn.html<https://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/l-m/lyon-dawn.html> | + 44(0)1634 888990 @dawnlyon65