Hosts: School of Geography & Geosciences and School of Modern Languages
Co-ordinators: Dr Gavin Bowd (French) and Dr Dan Clayton (Geography),
University of St Andrews
External support: The British Academy & Institut Francais du Royaume-Uni.
About the conference:
This international conference will bring together leading British and French
researchers in a variety of fields across the arts, humanities and sciences
to discuss the issue of ‘tropicality.’ David Arnold has used this
term to flag how naming a part of the world ‘the tropics’ became “a
Western way of defining something environmentally and culturally distinct from
Europe” - a world “that existed in mental and spatial juxtaposition
to the perceived normality of the northern temperate zone.” The conference
will explore how Western representations of the tropics - as rapturous, luxuriant,
pestilential, morally degenerative and chronically underdeveloped - have been
implicated in colonialism (and its aftermaths) and the naturalisation of Western
dominance. Work on tropicality lies at the cutting edge of postcolonial attempts
to decentre and decolonise Western knowledge. To date, however, there has been
little debate about the specificity and legacies of British and French tropicality.
A key aim of this conference is to foster such a conversation and encourage
comparative research on how tropicality works as a discourse of othering and
power. Another is to promote discussion of the geographical nature of tropicality.
The conference is linked to a research project undertaken by Gavin Bowd and
Dan Clayton at the University of St Andrews that has been supported by the Carnegie
Trust. We are also grateful to the British Academy and the Institut Francais
du Royaume-Uni, for supporting this conference.
Speakers
Professor Paul Claval (Geography, Université de Paris IV - Sorbonne)
Title: “Tropics and climatic geography in a post-colonial perspective”
Professor John
Kleinen (Anthropology and History, University of Amsterdam).
Title: “Tropicality and topicality. Reflections on my conversations with
Pierre Gourou.”
Dr Gavin Bowd (French,
University of St Andrews) & Dr Daniel Clayton (Geography, University of
St Andrews).
Title: “Militant tropicality in French Indo-China"
Professor Michel
Bruneau (Geography, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux - III).
Title: “D'une tropicalité centrale à une tropicalité
décentrée: la géographie coloniale et post-coloniale francophone
de l'Asie des Moussons”
Professor Jean-Pierre
Raison (Geography, Université de Paris X – Nanterre)
Title: “Cinquante ans de géographie rurale française en Afrique”
Professor Felix
Driver (Geography, Royal Holloway, London) & Dr Luciana Martins (Latin American
Studies, Birkbeck, London).
Title: "British tropical visions"
Professor David
Arnold (History, School of Oriental and Asian Studies, London)
Title: “Anglo-French Tropicality: Victor Jacquemont and Joseph Hooker in
early 19th-century India”Registration Information
Dates
Friday 12 September, 10.30 – 19.00
and Saturday 13 September, 09.30 - 15.30
Timetable
A provisional timetable for the two-day programme is available here.
Location
Room 31, St Salvator's Quadrangle University of St Andrews, North St, St Andrews,
FIFE KY16 9AL
(located behind the University Chapel - see plan and image below)
|
|
Registration
Registration will take place on Friday 12 September between 09.30am and 10:30am
in Room 31, St Salvator's Quadrangle.
Delegates will be issued with conference documentation and badges.
Early registration is advised. An electronic copy of the booking form is available
in downloadable (.pdf) format here
or as a text version.
Conference Fees
Full: £40
Student concessions: £20 (for which proof of identification is required)
The conference fee for the two days covers registration, refreshments, lunch,
conference materials and includes VAT at 17.5%.
Payment
Payment must be received in pounds sterling. Bankers’ drafts and cheques
should be drawn on a UK bank or a UK bank account and are payable to University
of St Andrews. Payment may be made by major credit cards except American Express.
Cancellation
A refund of fees (less 20% administration charge) will be given, provided that
notice of cancellation is sent in writing to the address below on or before
29 August 2003. After this date no refunds can be given.
Accommodation
Accommodation in and around St Andrews at this time of year is scarce, and booking
should be made as soon as possible.
You can consult a list of local Hotels
and Guest Houses or alternatively, save time and let the Scottish Tourist
Board Advance Accommodation Booking Service (Tel: +44 (0)845 225 5121) find
accommodation for you, for a small commission. At this busy time, the latter
may be the cheaper and quicker option.
Enquiries
Richard A. Batchelor
Conference Organiser
School of Geography & Geosciences
University of St Andrews
North Street
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9AL
e-mail: rab@st-and.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1334 463923
FAX: +44 (0)1334 463949