Call for Volunteers- After Suburbia Conference Oct 19-21, 2017

We are currently recruiting volunteers for the MCRI Global Suburbanisms (www.yorku.ca/suburbs) final conference After Suburbia: Extended Urbanization and Life on the Planet's Periphery to be held at York University, October 19- 21, 2017.

We are seeking volunteers available during the week leading up to the conference and/or during the conference. Tasks will include aiding in preparation of the event, as well as providing support during the event.

The conference will bring together leading scholars of suburbanization and suburbanisms with a global profile, international scholars associated with the MCRI Global Suburbanisms project, Toronto region based urban policy and planning professionals and practitioners, and graduate students who will be presenting their own suburban research in our graduate student pre-conference.

This is an excellent opportunity for students interested in urban/suburban research to be a part of an international suburban conference!

The conference will be structured around the three foundational themes of the MCRI: Governance, Land and Infrastructure with the added topic of Comparative Suburban Research. Keynote speakers include Solly Angel (New York University, U.S.A); Roger Keil (York University, Canada); Crystal Legacy (University of Melbourne); Roberto Luís Monte-Mór (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil); Jennifer Robinson (University College London, UK); and Kenate Worku Tabor (Jimma University, Ethiopia).

In addition to conventional scholarly presentation formats (keynotes, panels, papers), the conference will feature art and performance that shifts modes of artistic production from the centre to the periphery. We are teaming up with the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) to present a panel on ‘off-centred curating’ and the specificities of curatorial practices in suburbia and will be hosting a reception and artists talk and tour at the AGYU’s fall exhibit "Migrating the Margins" featuring work by suburban artists. We are also collaborating with York University's Department of Theatre in staging a reading of the award-winning play Concord Floral, a work performed by and about suburban youth, set in the city of Vaughan. In addition to all this, photography and data visualization work created by MCRI Researchers Markus Moos (Waterloo) and Ute Lehrer (York University) will be showcased on the final day of our conference, providing a glimpse into the past 7 years of working in the field of suburban research.

If you are interested in volunteering contact us at suburban@yorku.ca. We look forward to hearing from you!