Urban Geography Specialty Group

of the Association of American Geographers

The Urban Geography Specialty Group (UGSG) facilitates the circulation of information and ideas among urban geographers and other urban specialists.  The specialty group supports a range of awards designed to recognize outstanding urban scholarship by students, and also provides limited funds for student research and travel to the Annual Meetings of the AAG.






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Except where otherwise noted, this site is
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"...all are necessary for a full understanding ... the general characteristic of this large subfield is currently its diversity of approaches."  R.J. Johnston (1984).  The Dictionary of Human Geography,  Second Edition.  Oxford:  Blackwell, 509-511, quote from p. 511.
Vancouver, Bruce Eriksen Place, August 2007 (Elvin Wyly)
Specialty Group Newsletters

Current
Newsletter





Selections from the archives:


Urbgeog Listserv

To Subscribe to URBGEOG, the UGSG's discussion forum and listserv, end an e-mail message to listserv♥listserv.arizona.edu with no subject line and the message:
subscribe urbgeog Jane Doe

[Do not use quotes, replace the ♥ with @, and of course put your name in place of Jane Doe.  You will be sent an automated message that provides information on how to post to the list and how to unsubscribe.

UGSG Member Links

If you're a UGSG member and you'd like to have your page linked here, please send an email to ewyly♥geog.ubc.ca



   

Salt Lake City, Utah, April 2005;
East St. Louis, Illinois, July 2007 (Elvin Wyly)
(Please note, to reduce the spam of email-harvesting programs, all the email addresses in this page replace @ with ♥)

We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!

Board Members

Chair
James DeFilippis (2006 - 2008)
Rutgers University  
jdefilip♥rci.rutgers.edu

Vice Chair

Sarah Ellwood (2008 - 2010)
University of Washington  
selwood♥u.washington.edu

Secretary-Treasurer
Jim Fraser (2008-2010)
Vanderbilt University   
pavement♥vanderbilt.edu

Board Members

2007-2009

Laura Liu
The New School
lliul♥newschool.edu 

Steve Herbert
University of Washington    
skherb♥u.washington.edu

Eric Boschmann
Newsletter Editor
University of Denver    
eric.boschmann♥du.edu

2008 – 2010

Melanie Rapino
University of Memphis
marapino♥memphis.edu

Jennifer Rogalsky
SUNY-Geneseo
rogalsky♥geneseo.edu

Kevin Ward
University of Manchester
kevin.ward♥manchester.ac.uk

Student Board Members

Rich Nisa (2008-2010)
Rutgers University
rnisa♥eden.rutgers.edu

Sandra Zupan (2008-2010)
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
szupan♥uwm.edu

AAG Urban Geography Specialty Group Student Awards, 2010

Graduate Student Paper Competition
Deadline: February 15, 2010
The UGSG Graduate Student Paper Competition Committee solicits submissions of single-authored papers presented by a student at any professional meeting in the 12 months preceding (and including) the Washington, DC AAG conference. Preference will be given to fully developed academic papers. The winner of the award will receive $100 and an invitation to submit the paper to Urban Geography. Send one copy to each of the judges: James DeFilippis (jdefilip♥rutgers.edu) and Kevin Ward (kevin.ward♥manchester.ac.uk).

Dissertation Competition
Deadline: February 15, 2010
The UGSG Dissertation Competition Committee solicits submissions of single-authored papers based on the applicant's dissertation (not full dissertations). The dissertation must have been completed during the 2009 calendar year. The paper need not be presented at the 2010 AAG meeting in order to be eligible. Preference will be given to fully developed academic papers. Papers submitted to the UGSG Graduate Student Paper Competition will not be considered for the Dissertation Award. Papers submitted for awards with other AAG-affiliated organizations are not eligible. The winner of the award will receive $250 and an invitation to submit the paper to the journal Urban Geography. Send one copy to each of the judges: Pablo Bose (pbose♥uvm.edu) and Jennifer Rogalsky (rogalsky♥geneseo.edu).

Glenda Laws Undergraduate Paper Award
Deadline: February 15, 2010
Please encourage your students to submit papers to the Glenda Laws Undergraduate Paper competition. This award goes to the best paper on an urban geographic topic written by an undergraduate student, regardless of membership in the AAG or participation in the AAG meetings. The winner of the award will receive $50. Papers submitted for awards to other AAG-affiliated organizations are not eligible. Send one copy to each of the judges: Melanie Rapino (marapino♥memphis.edu) and Daniel Trudeau (trudeau♥macalester.edu).

Student Travel Support
Deadline: February 15, 2010
The UGSG has a small amount of money available to support students presenting on urban topics at the Washington, DC AAG meeting. A limited number of travel awards, each worth $100, will be awarded. They are intended to support presentations on topics related to the urban focus of the specialty group. To apply, send a short letter stating your degree program, your institutional affiliation, and your goals and purposes in attending the conference. Also include copies of your abstract and conference registration. Send materials to Jim Fraser, UGSG Treasurer, 230 Appleton Place / Peabody #90, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203. Email submissions may be sent to pavement♥vanderbilt.edu. Awards will be announced as soon as possible after the deadline. The specialty group cannot guarantee that every applicant will receive an award.

Urban Geography Graduate Student Fellowships
Deadline: February 15, 2010

Download the 2010 Fellowship Application Form here

Each year, the Urban Geography Specialty Group will award one Master's fellowship (approximately $300) and one or more doctoral fellowships (each approximately $500), to support urban-oriented Master's and doctoral research. Fellowships are intended to provide targeted support for original Master's research and for those at a relatively early stage of doctoral dissertation research -- while also ensuring that award recipients have well-developed research proposals that have a high likelihood of completion. Fellowship support may be used for any reasonable expenses associated with a research proposal. Eligibility is limited to current student members of the Urban Geography Specialty Group who will have completed all Master's or Ph.D. requirements except the thesis or dissertation by the end of the semester or term in which any award is approved. Dissertation supervisors must certify eligibility by signing the application form or emailing Sarah Elwood (selwood♥u.washington.edu) Applicants will be informed of the award decisions shortly before the AAG Annual Meeting.


"There are, in short, an almost limitless number of “teachable moments” for us, and a comparable number of ways in which our research can inform understandings of these issues (and enable us to participate in responses to these crises – and, perhaps, help create ways of living and working that are less prone to such crises)."  James DeFilippis (2008).  "Letter from the Chair."  Urban News 29(2), p. 1.
"...an outstanding group of scholars assembled in Lund from August 15 to August 19... the most memorable week in the annals of the department."  Torsten Hägerstrand (1962).  "Preface."  In Knut Norborg, ed., Proceedings of the IGU Symposium in Urban Geography, Lund, 1960.  Lund:  Department of Geography, the Royal University of Lund, Sweden, p. iii.
URBAN GEOGRAPHY PLENARY LECTURE (2010)
Washington, DC AAG

Chair: Robert W. Lake (Rutgers University)
Organized by: Robert W. Lake (Rutgers University), James DeFilippis (Rutgers University)

Jennifer Robinson
The Politics of Urban Neoliberalism's Travels

Discussant: Patricia Ehrkamp
Discussant: Carolyn Cartier

Co-sponsored by Urban Geography and the Urban Geography Specialty Group

Abstract:  Urban neoliberalism has attracted substantial theoretical and political attention. Nuanced and careful assessments of the reformulations of neoliberalism coexist with incisive political commentary and committed opposition to the often debilitating effects of neoliberal innovations in urban governance. This presentation will seek to: assess the localisation of existing theories of urban neoliberalism; consider the difference that starting with individual city experiences might make to the process of theorisation; and try to reconcile a determined critical politics with a careful analysis of neoliberalism as a diverse array of technologies of urban governance.

URBAN GEOGRAPHY PLENARY LECTURE (2009)
Las Vegas AAG

Co-Chair: Robert W. Lake (Rutgers University)
Co-Chair: James DeFilippis (Rutgers University)

Look for the published version in Issue 3, 2010, of Urban Geography

AbdouMaliq Simone (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
Sustaining Cityness: Reflections on Dynamic and Problematic Diversities of Popular Quarters in Africa and Southeast Asia

Discussant: Pablo Bose (University of Vermont)
Discussant: Cindi Katz (CUNY)

Co-sponsored by Urban Geography and the Urban Geography Specialty Group

Abstract:  Primary attention to cities in the Global South tends to focus on how fast they are changing in terms of spectacular new projects, the remaking of city centers, the pushing out of large numbers of urban residents of all social classes, and the extent to which cities are becoming more alike through these major development projects. Alternately, the focus is placed on the poor, on massive slums, insalubrious environmental and social conditions, and the potential threats posed by impoverished and unsettled urban populations. What lags behind is attention to the continued small and medium level developments of residential and commercial districts that have occupied specific territories within cities for a long time.

While it is true that many of these districts have been effaced and remade, or remain vulnerable to such, many continue to make significant investments in upgrading local infrastructure, diversifying local economies, and renewing important social institutions that promote cohesion and a sense of belonging. These efforts are sometimes undertaken as a kind of hedge to defer their vulnerability to displacement, but more often reflect a solid confidence in the ability of these districts to remain viable parts of the urban system. Importantly, while residents living on a block or particular sub-section of an administrative district and historical neighborhood may have a lot in common based on similar levels of household income or ethnic identity, these blocks and sections are usually situated in a larger territory of often remarkable heterogeneity.

In a fundamental way, then, these districts intersect people of many different backgrounds, incomes, residential histories, aspirations, and orientations to the city. This heterogeneity, while sometimes prompting debilitating disputes and polarization, often works as a key resource to the very survival of the district. While it is true that larger numbers of residents are being pushed to the outskirts of cities or actively seeking new residential locations outside of overcrowded, noisy, and increasingly dilapidated central city areas, the capacities of residents to hang on, to undertake their own versions of remaking need to be re-explored and valorized.

"Some have said that because we can fly from New York City to Beijing in a day, that geography is dead. ... It is but a trick of the modern world that accepts corporate globetrotting as travel.  One can fly from New York City to Beijing and take fewer steps than it takes to walk to the local grocer.  This is not the irrelevance of geography but the ignorance of geography."  Austin Kocher (2008).  "Zen and the Art of Urban Geography by Bicycle."  Urban News 29(3), p. 1.
"Whether a popular movie, an art-house film or a documentary, films can make concrete the more abstract concepts we teach.  Films can provide the visual and aural anchors that help students gain deeper access to the course material."  joni m. palmer (2009).  "For the Love of Films..."  Urban News 30(1), p. 3.