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November 15, 2008

February 1, 2009: CFP: The Dreamland Pavilion: Brooklyn and Development

Truly Educated Events

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Dreamland Pavilion: Brooklyn and Development Kingsborough Community College, The City University of New York October 2-3, 2009

How has Brooklyn become what it is: a place of nostalgia, imagination, or fantasy as much as a territorial space, an outer borough of New York City? Isn't it time to assess critically the rapid changes in the borough over the last decade? With tremendous growth comes certain costs, but how do we evaluate the present moment, poised between Brooklyn past and Brooklyn future? How is 'development' defined differently by different groups in different contexts? Finally, how do Brooklyn's diverse localities and populations reflect or even shape the future of New York, a global metropolis? This conference aims to be a space within which these and other questions will be addressed, discussed, even answered. The two-day gathering will combine moderated panels (in both traditional academic and roundtable formats), guided visits to local sites, artistic performances and discussion.

We welcome proposals from all relevant academic disciplines, including history, literary studies, political science, geography, and sociology. We are equally interested in proposals from those outside academia, including architects, artists, journalists, activists, urban planners and others concerned with Brooklyn in particular and urban space in general.

The primary areas we will focus on in the conference are:
--The Arts and Cultural Practices: the borough's relationship to film, literature, and the performing arts.
--Development Projects: the conflicts and controversies surrounding Brooklyn's most important contemporary development projects
--Demographics and Diversity: the broader forces that have reshaped Brooklynites lives in past and present, including migration, education, housing and urban politics.

Possible topics for panelists to address within these areas could include:
--Renters and homeowners
--Decision-making processes
--Relationship of arts and culture to neighborhood geography
--Case studies of particular neighborhoods
--The Atlantic Yards project or Coney Island redevelopment
--Dynamics of race and/or ethnicity
--Environmental impact of development
--Access to local institutions
--Privatization and public space

Proposals should be submitted by February 1, 2009 and should include:
--A one-page description of your topic
--Contact information: Name, position and affiliation, telephone numbers (home and cellphone), mail address and e-mail.

Please email completed proposals to Dr. Rick Armstrong, Department of English, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York, at: stephen.armstrong@kingsborough.edu.

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Posted by amy at November 15, 2008 10:31 AM