PhD Studentship: Understanding the historical dynamics of sustainable consumption

“Sustainable development” came to the fore of public attention in 1987 with the report of the Brundlandt Commission but it has had a longer history. The aim of this PhD studentship is to advance our understanding of the dynamics of sustainable consumption in the past to shed fresh light on the present.
The project will make a contribution to the SCI research strand on Sustainable Consumer Behaviours and Lifestyles by developing a historical case study. The following research areas are indicative but not meant to be exclusive. We particularly invite project applications that speak to one of the following problems:
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FUNDING: RGS-IBG grants

Postgraduate research awards
Grants of between £500 and £6,000 for research and fieldwork carried out by PhD researchers undertaking academic dissertations. The project should aim to develop geographical knowledge and understanding.
1. Slawson Awards: Awards of up to £3,000 for geographical field research on issues related to development.
Deadline: 24 February 2011. W: www.rgs.org/slaw
2. Frederick Soddy Award: Awards of up £6,000 for fieldwork/research on ‘the study of the social, economic, and cultural life of a region’.
Deadline: 24 February 2011. W: www.rgs.org/fsa
3. Dudley Stamp Memorial Awards: Grants of up to £500 for research or study travel.
Deadline: 24 February 2011. W: www.rgs.org/dsma

Early career Researcher awards
Grants of between £250 and £3,000 for researchers in the early stages of their careers, carrying out academic research in the pursuit of geographical knowledge and understanding. Deadlines for these awards fall in January and February 2012.
1. 30th International Geographical Congress Awards: Grants of up to £750 for international conference attendance.
Deadline: 24 February 2011. W: www.rgs.org/30igc
2. Dudley Stamp Memorial Awards: Grants of up to £500 for research or study travel.
Deadline: 24 February 2011. W: www.rgs.org/dsma

Senior Researcher awards
Grants for experienced researchers, carrying out research for the development of geographical knowledge and understanding. The Gilchrist Award deadline is 24 February 2012. Other Senior Researcher Award deadlines will fall in November 2013.
1. Gilchrist Award: An award of £15,000 to support original and challenging overseas fieldwork carried out by small teams of university academics and researchers.
Deadline: 24 February 2012. W: www.rgs.org/gilch

CONFERENCE: Regional Studies Association International Conference 2012 “Networked regions and cities in times of fragmentation: Developing smart, sustainable and inclusive places”, Delft, 13.-16.05.12

Regional Studies Association International Conference 2012
13 – 16 May 2012 – Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
Networked regions and cities in times of fragmentation: Developing smart, sustainable and inclusive places

Regions and cities are increasingly interdependent; economically, socially and environmentally. They are becoming more reliant on interregional flows of trade, labour and resources. Patterns of interactions between regions are experiencing rapid changes as a result of dramatic shifts in production and consumption patterns, advances in communication technologies and the development of transport infrastructure.
The governance of regions faces multi-level, multi-actor and multi-sectoral challenges. New spatial interactions at new scales demand new approaches for consultation and coordination. More flexible forms of governance are emerging, working around traditional governmental arrangements. The result is a complex pattern of overlapping governance and fuzzy boundaries.
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SEMINAR: African City seminar series, SOAS, London

Africa is experiencing an unprecedented urban growth. It is estimated that between 2005 and 2030, the urban population of sub-Saharan Africa will double and more than half of the total population will be urbanised.
While African cities become more and more important internationally, as nodal economic centres of production and exchange, the rapid and often uncontrolled urban expansion poses many challenges. Existing urban infrastructures are usually inadequate to respond to the demographic pressure, adding precariousness to urban livelihoods. Informal settlements are growing and governments often don’t have the resources and capacities to cope with these challenges and development interventions often prove to be inadequate to address the many socio-political and economic issues.
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EVENT: Vertical Space: “Man on Wire” plus shorts and discussion, London, 22.02.12, 7.30pm

Roxy Bar and Screen, 128-132 Borough High St, London, SE1 1LB, entry £4
UCL Urban Laboratory and Passengerfilms present the third event in a season of screenings on urban architectures. Join us for an evening of film and conversation on ‘Vertical Space’, featuring ‘Man on Wire’ (2008), and shorts ‘City of Cranes’ (2007) and ‘Vertical Expectations’ (2011).
James Marsh’s ‘Man on Wire’ looks at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine between the World Trade Center’s twin towers. We will also be showing Eva Weber’s “City of Cranes”, which takes the viewer high in the sky to look at the world through the eyes and words of crane drivers – a must-see for anyone who has ever wondered what it is like to work hundreds of feet above the ground. The second short will be Simona Piantieri’s ‘Vertical Expectations’, which explores the nexus between architecture, development and society through an ethnographic analysis of the construction of the Shard, the tallest building in the European Union, located just up the road from the Roxy Bar & Screen.
Simona Piantieri and Eva Weber will be in conversation after the film and will give a directors’ Q&A chaired by Andrew Harris, lecturer in Urban Studies and Geography at UCL. Andrew has recently researched elevated transport projects in Mumbai and is currently developing a website called Tall Tales that collects public stories about tall buildings. Peter Adey, Reader in Human Geography at RHUL and author of Aerial Life: Spaces, Mobilities, Affects (2010), and an upcoming Reaktion book titled Air, will also give a talk considering the cultural connotations of air, particularly the histories of levitation.

Project: Digital American Bandstand

A digital project on American Bandstand is now online, featuring video clips, 100+ images and preview of my forthcoming book, _The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia_ (University of California Press, American Crossroads series, Feb 2012).

Digital project: http://scalar.usc.edu/nehvectors/nicest-kids
Book website: http://nicestkids.com

Counter to host Dick Clark’s claims that he integrated American Bandstand, this project reveals how the first national television program directed at teens discriminated against black youth during its early years and how black teens and civil rights advocates protested this discrimination. The project also brings to light the civil rights activism of black deejays like Georgie Woods and Mitch Thomas, whose locally televised teen dance show debuted fifteen years before “Soul Train” and influenced the dance styles on “American Bandstand.”

Matt Delmont
Assistant Professor, American Studies, Scripps College
http://mattdelmont.com

Funding: State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) Call for Applications. Deadline: 15.04.12

2012/2013 Research Grants
State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI)
Call for Applications

The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) announces a grant program for the 2012/2013 academic year. SHSI will award up to ten stipends of $1,000 each to support original research and interpretive writing related to the history of Iowa or Iowa and the Midwest. Preference will be given to applicants proposing to pursue previously neglected topics or new approaches to or interpretations of previously treated topics.
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Funding: Sage Graduate Student Paper Prize

Sage Graduate Student Paper Prize

The Urban History Association (UHA), in partnership with _Journal of
Urban History_, is pleased to announce the inaugural Sage Graduate
Student Paper Prize. The prize committee seeks submissions (not to
exceed 25 pages, including notes) from full-time students on all
aspects of urban, suburban and metropolitan history. Eligibility is
restricted to papers accepted for presentation at the Sixth Biennial
UHA Conference, October 25-28, 2012, in New York City. Entries must
approximate the actual conference papers. The author of the winning
paper will receive (1) recognition and a cash award of $150, which
will be presented during the conference; and (2) an invitation to
submit the award-winning manuscript to _Journal of Urban History_ for
review for publication. Submissions should be emailed via electronic
pdf to each of the following prize committee members by SEPTEMBER 10,
2012:

Jessica Elfenbein
University of South Carolina
jessicae@mailbox.sc.edu

Carola Hein
Bryn Mawr College
chein@brynmawr.edu

Clarence Lang
The University of Kansas
celang@ku.edu

Victoria Wolcott
The State University of New York at Buffalo
vwwolcot@buffalo.edu

Electronic submissions should be accompanied by a one-page CV;
evidence of student status; and a cover sheet listing name, mailing
address, telephone number, email address, institutional affiliation,
and name of faculty advisor.

Janet Bednarek

Conf: “Along the Shore: The Landmarks of Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront” National Endowment for the Humanities Summer 2012 Workshop. Deadline: 01. March 2012

Along the Shore: The Landmarks of Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront

National Endowment for the Humanities Summer 2012 Workshop

Application deadline – March 1, 2012.

No – we don’t have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, but we do have a
bridge and other historic landmarks along the Brooklyn waterfront that
we would like to show you. We invite you to apply for a weeklong
National Endowments for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and
Culture Workshop for Community College Faculty, “Along the Shore: The
Landmarks of Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront”. The workshop will
combine discussions and presentations, introductions to and use of
primary source materials, media presentations, site visits consisting of
walking, bus, and boat tours and media laboratory workshops.
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CALLL FOR BOOK REVIEW: Journal “Planning Perspectives”

As book review editor-in-chief for the journal _Planning Perspectives_
I am looking for reviewers for the following books:

Friedman, Avi, _Town and Terraced Housing_ (Routledge, 2012)
Hardy, Dennis, _From New Towns to Green Politics Campaigning for Town
and Country Planning, 1946-1990_ (re-edition, Taylor and Francis, 2011)
Abbott, John, _Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Development
in Africa_ (Earthscan 2011)
Redwood, Mark, ed., _Agriculture in Urban Planning – Generating
Livelihoods and Food Security_ (Earthscan, 2011), cases from Ghana,
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Peru and other places.
Colomb, Claire, _Staging the New Berlin_ (Routledge 2011)

Approximately 800 words, deadline will be 10 March 2012.

If you are interested, please drop me a line (f.urban@gsa.ac.uk).
Please include some information on your field/specialization.

Florian Urban
Professor and Head of Architectural History and Urban Studies
Mackintosh School of Architecture
Glasgow School of Art