From May 8-11, 2013 the Mobile Media Lab in the Communication Studies department of Concordia University in Montreal will be hosting an international conference sponsored by the Pan-American Mobilities Network in collaboration with the European Cosmobilities Network.

Confirmed keynote and plenary speakers:

Darin Barney (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec)

Gisele Beiguelman (University of São Paulo, Brazil)

Micha Cárdenas (University of San Diego, California)

Vera Chouinard (McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario)

Gerard Goggin (University of Sydney, Australia)

Ole B.  Jensen (Aalborg University, Denmark)

Jason Lewis and Skawennati Fragnito (Concordia University,Montreal, Quebec)

Danielle Peers and Lindsay Eales (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta)

Mobilities has become an important framework for understanding and analyzing contemporary social, spatial, economic and political practices. Mobilities research is interdisciplinary, focusing on the systematic movement of people, goods and information that “travel” around the world at speeds that are greater than before, creating distinct patterns, flows– and blockages. Mobilities research contributes to the study of these technological, social and cultural developments from a critical perspective. The theme of this year’s conference is “Differential Mobilities: Movement and Mediation in Networked Societies”. The term ‘differential mobilities’ has been deployed to describe dynamics of power within networked societies. When we conceptualize movement, mobility, or flows within spaces and places, we need to account for the systemic differences within infrastructures and terrains that create uneven forms of access. ‘Differential mobilities’, conceptually, highlights how exclusions occur, creating striations of power. It draws attention to differences in how these inequalities are experienced, the strategies for resistance, and the processes of mediation that have been implemented to instigate change.

We invite scholars, artists, and activists to submit creative presentations or papers that address all aspects of this theme, or related topics in mobilities research, such as:

Alternative mobilities and slow movements;

Borders, surveillance, and securitization with ubiquitous and mobile technologies;

Class, culture and the mediation of mobilities;

Civic engagement and political participation through mobile social media, new mapping practices and location-aware technologies;

Creativity and the mobilization of resistance;

Discrimination and the built environment;

Embodiment, performance and mobile mediations;

Environmentalism, mediation and mobilities;

Immigration, migration and mobilities;

Indigenous culture and the mobilities paradigm;

Media theory and differential mobilities;

Mobile communications, differential mobilities and everyday life practices;

New methodologies for mobilities research;

Planning, policy and design for present and future mobilities;

Privacy and surveillance issues  and location-based social networks;

Race, gender and the politics of mobilities;

Regulating networks;

Social movements and mediated mobilities;

Urban and rural spatialities and the geographies of place;

Tourism, imaginary travel, and virtual travel;

Transitions toward sustainable mobilities;

Transportation and differential movements;

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, Sound and Visual Arts, Politics and International Relations, Public Policy, Sociology, Theatre and Performance Studies, Tourism Research, Transport Research, and Urban Studies.

Conference location:

Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

Conference hotel:

Discounted rates will be available to registered participants.

Important dates:

Deadline for abstracts: 21 November, 2012

(maximum 300 words, including references)

Notification of acceptance:  15 January, 2013

Conference registration opens:  15 January, 2013

Early Registration deadline:  2 March 1, 2013

Conference Dates:  8-11 May, 2013

Please submit your abstracts through the form hosted by the conference website by no later than November 21st:

http://mobilities.ca/pamnet-4/

Organizing Committee:

Kim Sawchuk (Concordia University, Québec)

Jim Conley (Trent University, Canada)

Owen Chapman (Concordia University, Québec)

Adriana de Souza e Silva (NC State University, USA)

Paola Jirón Martinez (University of Chile, Chile)

Mary Gray (Microsoft/Indiana Univerisity, USA)

Ole B. Jensen (Aalborg University, Denmark)

André Lemos (Federal University of Bahia, Brazil)

Mimi Sheller (Drexel University, USA)

Jen Southern (Lancaster University, UK)

Phillip Vannini (Royal Roads University, Canada)

For further information, contact:

Ben Spencer, Administrative Coordinator, Mobile Media Lab

mmcconcordia@gmail.com

Concordia University, Montréal, Québec