Confirmed Contributors

We are pleased to begin announcing our confirmed contributors so far. Check back soon for more exciting additions to our panel.

We can't wait to hear what these keynote panelists have to say...

Dr. Nicola Ansell

Nicola is a Reader in Human Geography in the Centre for Human Geography and the Deputy Head of Teaching and Learning in the School of Sport and Education at Brunel University, UK.

Her research interests encompass the geographies of youth and childhood, gender, and education and critical pedagogy. She has written extensively on education, livelihoods and food-security among AIDS-affected young people in Southern Africa.

Nicola's institutional webpage

Dr. Peter Hopkins

Peter is a Senior Lecturer in Social Geography and the Postgraduate Director for the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University, UK.

His research interests centre on exploring how inequalities and discrimination affect people in their everyday lives. He works on young people's geographies and the geographies of religion, faith and spirituality, with a focus on how these intersect with notions of masculinity and ethnicity.

Peter's institutional webpage

Dr. Robert Vanderbeck

Robert is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds, UK.

His research interests surround contemporary processes of social exclusion and inclusion. He is particularly interested in childhood and youth, religion, sexualities, racialization, urban public spaces, and qualitative methodologies.

Robert's institutional webpage

Weaving our panel together will be our discussant...

Dr. Claire Dwyer

Claire is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at University College London (UCL) and she serves on the editorial boards of Gender, Place and Culture and South Asian Diaspora.

Claire's research interests centre around the geographies of race, ethnicity, diaspora and transnationalism with a specific focus on Muslim identities in Britain. Her work is also rooted strongly in feminist geographies.

Claire's institutional webpage

Event FAQ's

We've had a great response to our Call for Participation so far...

A number of people have asked some important questions regarding the day - so we've put together some common Q&A's below.

Should you have any more queries don't hesitate to email us or comment below!

Q: Will refreshments and lunch be provided for free on the day?

A: Yes, we will be providing coffee, tea and biscuits during the morning/afternoon breaks and a cold buffet lunch. Be sure to inform us of any special dietary requirements so we can prepare food accordingly.

Q: Is there a travel fund available for the participants?

A: Due to limited funding we are unable to offer any bursaries to contribute towards participants' travel to the workshop. We recommend that potential participants apply for funding from their home institution or an external funding body. If you are required to submit documentation confirming your attendance in order to receive a travel grant, we will be happy to provide you with a letter confirming your acceptance to take part once we have received your short position paper (see the Call for Participation).

The day itself...

Rather than structuring the day around the presentation of individual papers, we are aiming to create an environment where we can creatively and critically engage with key conceptual and methodological questions relating to research on youth movement(s).

The day has been structured to include a keynote panel discussion- currently comprising Dr Claire Dwyer (discussant), Dr Peter Hopkins, Dr Nicola Ansell and Dr Robert Vanderbeck (panelists). Each will briefly introduce themselves and their current work. The discussant will then pose some opening questions to each panellist specifically, then a few questions to the panel as a whole. Questions and discussions will then open up to everyone.

The keynote panel discussion will then be followed by interactive sessions where all participants (e.g. students, post doc and lecturers) will be placed in groups according to their research interests. Each participant will present their position paper and questions to the group, allowing for critical group discussions culminating in the ‘mapping’ of key themes and connections. This approach will be particularly beneficial to research students facing methodological or conceptual challenges, as they will be able to discuss their given topic with established lecturers. Conversely established lecturers will be exposed to new and innovative understandings of youth and how contemporary research is being approached. Amongst other benefits of this approach, it is hoped that the 'mapping' of key themes and connections will provide an effective way to gauge and visualise the academic landscape in the field of youth studies.

Written by James

YiM Call for Participation

Call for Participation

UCL Youth Geographies Research Group (YGRG) Workshop – Thursday 16th June 2011

‘Youth in Motion: Spatializing Youth Movement(s) in the Social Sciences’

Social science research frequently implicates movement(s) when examining the nature, meaning and experience of space and place. Exploring movement(s) itself/themselves can be as revealing of human lives as the sites in and across which they are located. Focusing on the perspectives of youth, this workshop aims to explore the ways in which young people define, experience, initiate or resist movement(s), and the ways that we as social scientists understand/research them. Taking notions of movement, motion and mobility in their broadest senses and at a variety of scales, we extend the reach of the workshop to encompass discussion on themes such as;

• young bodies and corporeality
• spatial freedom and restriction
• travel and migration
• emotional and developmental transition
• youth subjectivities and narratives in flux
• socio-economic and cultural inequalities of participation and engagement
• contested spaces of belonging and exclusion

Rather than structuring the workshop around paper sessions, we are keen to foster open discussion and critical engagement with key conceptual and methodological questions relating to research on youth movement(s). The day will include a keynote panel discussion and interactive sessions where all participants will be encouraged to share aspects of their work. We are therefore eliciting submissions in the form of short (five minute) position papers concisely outlining a personal research project, question, problem or theme, coupled with key questions to be discussed by workshop participants. Position paper submissions are not a prerequisite to attend, but we would encourage prospective participants to do so in the interest of generating vibrant discussion.

Position paper abstracts plus proposed discussion questions (totalling no more than 200 words) should be sent to Caitlin O’Neill Gutierrez at c.o’neill@ucl.ac.uk or James Esson at james.esson.09@ucl.ac.uk by 5pm on Monday 9th May. This is a free event but places are limited and registration is required. The workshop will take place between 9.30am-5pm on Thursday 16th June in the Department of Geography, Pearson Building, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. Lunch will be provided.

This workshop is organised by the UCL Youth Geographies Research Group based in the Department of Geography, University College London.

We hope that the workshop will provide a platform for those working across the Social Sciences to network, share ideas and engage critically with a host of common ‘youth’ themes, whilst also contributing to a ‘mapping’ of where we stand together on youth research today.

Launch - Youth in Motion

Welcome to the online home of the UCL Youth Geography Research Group (YGRG).

We are excited to announce the launch of our inaugural event:

"Youth in Motion - Spatializing Youth Movement(s) in the Social Sciences"

The event will take place on 16th June 2011 at the Department of Geography, Pearson Building, University College London, U.K.

We will use this blog to keep you up-to-date with the event's development - including the call for participation, the schedule for the day, the confirmed keynote panelists (these are people you'll be thrilled to hear speak!) and any other nuggets of info/wisdom we think are relevant to the day.

Part of why we want to host this event is to develop a strong and cohesive network of colleagues (and friends!) who work on various aspects of 'youth' across the social sciences, so we'll also be posting profiles of people involved and ways of contacting them should their work speak to you.

Finally, please DO come along to our event in June, it's free to attend and we promise it'll be a jam-packed day of discussion, networking and ripe opportunities for future collaboration!

Cheers,

Caitlin, Rebecca, Femi and James (UCL YGRG founders)