Call for Papers: Alternative Urbanities
CALL FOR PAPERS
Alternative Urbanities: New Perspectives on Quezon City and an Urbanizing Asia
1–2 December 2014
Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines
Organized by the Department of History, Ateneo de Manila University
The founding of Quezon City seventy-five years ago marked a significant milestone in the urban history of the Philippines and of then colonial Asia. Since then, the city has contributed to the political, cultural, social, educational, religious, and economic landscape of the nation and of the region. It has grown in terms of not only the infrastructure and the districts that constitute it, but more importantly the population that comprises it. It has become a lived experience for its citizens and denizens for the past seventy-five years. Moreover, the city projects itself into the future, with its component communities becoming a hub for many facets of human experience—technology, entertainment, the arts, politics, spirituality, academics, sports, and many others. At the same time, the city faces the challenges that usually confront large metropolises—challenges in the environment, housing, popular empowerment, transportation and mobility, health and sanitation, basic education—and create both opportunities and threats to its viability as an urban hub. Do these challenges present urban anomalies or alternative urbanities? When Quezon City was established in 1939, most Asian societies were overwhelmingly rural; yet less than a century after, Asia became home to the largest urban populations in the world. How should we understand Quezon City in light of Asia’s so-called “urban century,” and are there alternative urban paths to those taken by Quezon City and the rest of Asia?
This conference provides opportunities for scholars and academics to assess and evaluate the processes, conditions, and challenges of Quezon City’s past, constitute its present, and project its future. It aims to bring together experts from various disciplines and academic specializations to present a multidisciplinal and multidimensional scholarly assessment of urban societies and cities in Asia, most especially Quezon City. More importantly, the academic conference will be open to public school teachers and select students from the city to expose them to the many dimensions of the city’s history, culture, everyday life as explained by experts from various fields.
Venue and Date of the Conference
The two-day conference will be held at the Leong Hall Auditorium, School of Social Sciences Building, Ateneo de Manila University, on 1 and 2 December 2014, and will be billed as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Quezon City.
Paper/Panel Topics and Themes
Topics and themes for paper and panel presentations include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Comparative urban studies
- Urban history of Asian cities
- Planned and/or capital cities
- Asia’s “urban century”
- The urban–rural nexus in Asia
- Geology, geography, and urban planning of Quezon City
- History of Quezon City
- Famous heroes of Quezon City
- Mapping Quezon City’s historical trail
- Quezon City’s cultural heritage
- Landmarks and sites in Quezon City
- Quezon City as a religious and spiritual hub
- Quezon City as the hub of social movements
- Public health, hospitals and medicine in Quezon City
- Literature, the arts and aesthetics in the city
- Popular culture and entertainment in Quezon City
- Technology and information science for Quezon City’s future
- Quezon City as a university city
- Quezon City’s military installations
- Women of Quezon City
- Quezon City’s food culture
- Challenges to popular empowerment and social equity in Quezon City
- Urban housing in Quezon City
- Other topics related to Quezon City, urban history and urban studies not included in the above list
Submission Guidelines
Interested paper presenters are requested to submit a 250-word abstract. Panel proposals are also welcome and should include a brief description of the proposed panel as well as the abstracts of the individual papers in the panel. Please submit abstracts and panel proposals by 1 September 2014. Submissions must be in Word format and should include the presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, and email address. All those who submitted abstracts and panel proposals will be notified via email regarding the final decision on their submissions on or before 1 October 2014.
Accepted presenters must submit their full papers by 3 November 2014. Selected papers, which will undergo a refereeing process, will be included in a book publication. Selected authors will be informed of the details regarding this edited volume after the conference.
Inquiries, as well as panel and paper proposals, can be addressed to:
Michael D. Pante <mpante@ateneo.edu>
Conference Committee Head
Department of History, School of Social Sciences
Ateneo de Manila University
Kristine A. Sendin <kabcede@ateneo.edu>
Conference Secretariat Head
Department of History, School of Social Sciences
Ateneo de Manila University
Registration Details
The conference organizers will NOT charge paper presenters any registration fees. However, paper presenters will have to arrange their own flight and hotel accommodations in Manila.
Each conference attendee, either paper presenters or regular participants, will be given a conference kit, composed of a conference ID, a conference bag, a compiled printed book of abstracts and conference program, and a complimentary publication from the Ateneo de Manila University Press or its journals.
