Mobilities+in+Motion

Mobilities in Motion: New Approaches to Emergent and Future Mobilities

Call for Papers

From March 21st-23rd, 2011, the Center for Mobilities Research and Policy at Drexel University in Philadelphia will be hosting a joint international conference of the Pan-American Mobilities Network and the Cosmobilities Network. We invite abstracts (800 words) to be submitted to mimi.sheller@drexel.edu by October 15th, 2010, for papers addressing the following themes.

Keynote Speakers include:
 * Caren Kaplan (University of California, Davis)
 * Deborah Cowen (University of Toronto)
 * Adriana de Souza e Silva (IT University of Copenhagen / North Carolina State University)

Also featuring: LoVid (artists Tali Hinkis and Kyle Lapidus)

In the early 21st century people, images, information, goods and even our bodies are moving differently than they did in the past, often in more dynamic, complex and trackable ways than ever before. Technological, social and cultural developments in transportation, border control, mobile communication, 'intelligent' infrastructure, surveillance and global positioning are rapidly changing the conditions of possibility for all forms of mobility and accessibility. While for some this means moving ever faster, farther and more frequently, for others it may bring turbulence, friction, slower speeds, and limited access. Furthermore, in the near future the carbon-based mobilities of the 20th century will likely be replaced by alternative transport systems and fuels, and perhaps less mobile societies.

At the same time, new mobile social media, locative social networks, and digital arts are handling movement and connectivity in new ways, creating new kinds of hybrid public spaces. And, most importantly, new alternative cultures of mobility are also emerging, as people enact, perform, and combine mobility and stillness in new ways. Innovative ways of dwelling, communicating, and moving (as well as policing, surveilling, and excluding) are already emerging in relation not only to the challenges of environmental pressures, fuel security, and economic turbulence, but also to novel possibilities brought about through creative innovation. This is a time of mobility challenges that will demand all kinds of different solutions, new thinking, experimentation and living differently.

In order to grasp these trends, 'mobility' has become a keyword in the social sciences, delineating a new domain of concepts, approaches, and methodologies that seek to better understand the character and quality of mobilities and immobilities, their inter-relation, and their contested futures. This conference seeks to advance the field of mobilities research, bringing together both established and new researchers from across the Americas and Europe to present up-to-date research on a wide range of transdisciplinary topics that address some of the most compelling issues that we face in the world today.

How can we break away from routinized practices that reproduce existing systems of transportation, urban planning, and dwelling? How can the search for new openings, possibilities, or ways of leading life propel us towards alternative mobility futures? How can transdiciplinary exchanges across the arts, social science and technology help us generate new approaches to mobilities in motion?

We invite papers that address these themes or related topics:
 * Aeromobilities, air travel, and aerial vision
 * Alternative mobilities and slow movements
 * Borders, surveillance, and securitization
 * Critical geographies of logistics
 * Embodied performance and affective mobility
 * Friction, turbulence and rhythms of movement
 * (Im)mobilities over the lifecourse
 * Mobile communication and new urban spatialities
 * Mobile gaming and locative social media
 * New methodologies for mobilities research
 * Planning, policy and design for future mobilities
 * Tourism, imaginary travel, and virtual travel
 * Transitions toward sustainable mobilities
 * Qualities, materialities, and feelings of being in motion

Disciplines represented at the conference may include (but are not exclusive to): Anthropology, Architecture and Design, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Communication, Criminology, Cultural Studies, Geography, Media and Visual Arts, Politics and International Relations, Public Policy, Sociology, Theater and Performance Studies, Tourism Research, Transport Research, and Urban Studies.

Conference registration: There will be a registration fee of $225 (discounted to $150 for students, and for those coming from the Latin American or Caribbean countries), which will include a conference dinner, coffee breaks, lunch, and snacks during the conference, as well as a special reception. Discounted rates on local hotel bookings will be available to conference participants.

Organizing Committee: Malene Freudendal-Pedersen Jennie Germann-Molz Ole B. Jensen Paola Jiron Sven Kesselring Adriana de Souza e Silva Phillip Vannini

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and welcoming you in Philadelphia.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2010 Length: 800 words (including references) Notification of acceptance: 15 December 2010 Registration deadline: 30 January 2011 Conference Dates: 21-23 March 2011 Please send your abstract to: mimi.sheller@drexel.edu

A publication based on the conference is planned for 2012. Best papers will be selected and the authors will be invited to submit a full paper by September 2011.

Conference location: Behrakis Grand Hall and University Conference Center, Macalister Hall, Drexel University 33rd & Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA

For further information please contact: Prof. Mimi Sheller Professor of Sociology Director, Center for Mobilities Research and Policy Department of Culture and Communication Drexel University 3141 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104-2875 USA

Tel. 215-571-3652 Fax. 215-895-1333 Email: mimi.sheller@drexel.edu [] [] []

Information on the Pan American Mobilities Network: []

Information on the Cosmobilities Network: []

Updates and a conference web page will be posted at: []