Mobilities, Aesthetics and Ethics

Call for Participation Aesthetics (aesthesis) is increasingly being paid attention to by mobilities scholars studying not only artistic but also everyday practices. It is also being considered by those interested in mobility histories, technologies, infrastructures, and (urban) designs, who explore senses, emotions, and affects emerging, circulating, and dispersing between, among, and throughout bodies and others. Taking note of “movement enacted, felt, perceived, expressed, metered, choreographed, appreciated and desired” (Pearce and Merriman 2017, 498), for example, aesthetics means grappling with “queries concerning worldly encounters with site, the body and the senses, and around materiality and practices” (Hawkins and Straughan 2015, 2). Aesthetics may mean (an)aesthetics too (Bissell 2022; Sieverts 2007): to consider in what ways our capacities to feel and sense may be not only enlivened but lessened or deadened—desensitised—when on the move, both presently and in history.

As “movement is made of time and space,” so are “moving people and objects […] agents in the production of time and space,” that practise, experience, and embody mobility (Cresswell 2006, 3-4). Mobilities can configure a time and space of gathering and/or scattering, communing (Nikolaeva et al., 2019) and/or monopolising, or in abundance and/or extinction from local to planetary. As both formative and (kin)aesthetical, they encourage us to ponder, judge, and perform what is good, valuable, and acceptable, calling attention to our responsibilities for others, the environment, and the globe. Which quality of time and space do we, with objects, commit to, are we producing, and should we be part of, via mobilities?

Mobilities are both aesthetic and coloured with ethical values. Many mobilities researchers have taken mainly sustainability and/or climate change as their starting point to address and accept the ethics of mobilities (Freudendal-Pedersen 2014, 143), while recognising how aesthetic is a crucial element of transport imaginaries (and marketing). We, in addition, can explore ethics in everyday mobilities, as well as mobility histories, infrastructures, technologies, and policies, recognising bodily mobilities, e.g., such as dancing, bicycling, migrating, and touring, as both aesthetic and ethical. The conference seeks to enquire into the aesthetics and ethics of mobilities not (only) separately but (also) connected.

This conference invites proposals from different disciplines within mobility studies, including, but not limited to: literary, cultural, art and design studies, philosophy, history, anthropology, geography, media and communication, architecture, urban planning, technology, tourism, transportation, education, Black and Indigenous studies, gender and sexuality studies, and others. It will present an opportunity for scholars to share their ideas and inquiries at the intersection of mobilities studies and humanities, transcending the conventional divide between the social sciences and humanities and the arts. We accept proposals for papers and sessions on one or more of the following topics/areas:

Aesthetics and/or ethics of mobilities in literary, cultural, and artistic narratives
Philosophical investigation on aesthetics and/or ethics of mobilities 
Aesthetics and/or ethics of mobilities from antiquity to future
Geographies of aesthetics and/or ethics of mobilities
Aesthetics and/or ethics of mobilities in new media technologies
Architecture and its aesthetics and/or ethics in the Anthropocene
Aesthetics and/or ethics in urban design, mapping, and planning of mobility
Evolution of mobility technologies and their aftermaths on aesthetics and/or ethics
Tourism and touristic aesthetics and/or ethics in the post-pandemic era
Moving people and objects in transportation, logistics, and circulation
Aesthetics and/or ethics in global educational mobilities
Kinaesthetic dimensions and choreographies of diverse mobilities
Environmental humanities and the aesthetics of more-than-human mobilities
Coloniality and critical Black and Indigenous aesthetics and/or ethics of mobility
Other related issues
 

Proposals can be for individual papers, panels, artworks, posters, and other creative formats, as outlined below. We welcome relevant contributions from any academic perspective or discipline, from professionals, policymakers and practitioners in the transport, traffic, and mobility field, as well as artists and creative professionals, designers, engineers, and educationalists in the art and humanities.

The conference language is only English. The conference is organised in a hybrid format.

Key Dates 6 March 2023 Deadline for the submission of sessions proposals 22 May 2023 Deadline for the submission of abstracts and full, pre-organised sessions 5 June 2023 Notification of acceptance for abstracts and sessions 5 June 2023 Early Bird registration opens 12 June 2023 Submission for travel grant 3 July 2023 Notification of acceptance for travel grant 10 July 2023 Early Bird registration closes 25 September 2023 Submission of full papers and posters 25-28 October 2023 Conference

Submission formats Papers: Individual submission of a paper consists of an abstract (300 words) and a brief biography (100 words), including contact information. Papers will be grouped thematically by the programme committee and may become part of a 7/7, debate, or panel session.

Sessions: A full, pre-organised 7/7, debate, or panel session. A session submission should include a title, a summary of the session theme and the method chosen for facilitating discussion (300 words), as well as abstracts for each contribution/presentation (300 words). A short biography of each presenter is also required (100 words), with contact information.

7/7 sessions: This means seven slides and seven minutes for each presentation (max 7 papers). The sessions will have plenty of time for discussion. This will be supported by having a chair who might also act as a discussant. Presenters shall focus on their main argument in order to avoid overly complex presentations.
Debate sessions: Debate sessions have a maximum of five presenters. Each gives a five-minute focused input to the topic, and this should be followed by a discussion involving the audience. Led by a chair.
Panel sessions: Panels consist of a chair, three to four paper presenters, and one discussant (optional). Panels should include time for audience discussion. Each presenter has 20 minutes (15 min + 5 min for questions); papers are grouped thematically.
 

Posters: This is a great way to discuss early or exploratory work and present it as a Poster at the conference. A submission consists of an abstract (300 words) and a brief biography (100 words), including contact information. The full poster is due by 25 September 2023.

After Acceptance, all abstracts will be published on the conference website. You also have the opportunity to submit a Full paper (5,000 words). We strongly encourage the submission of full papers, which will be shared with all conference delegates. Authors whose contributions are accepted will have until 25 September 2023 to submit their full paper. Papers may be published in a restricted area for conference participants on the conference website and/or as part of the T2M archive. Consent from authors will be sought in all cases.

Submit your paper, session proposals, and /or poster to: 2023gmhc.t2m@gmail.com

For any questions, send an email to: 2023gmhc.t2m@gmail.com

Registration All participants must register and pay the registration fee via the conference website (details to follow), with only one submission per person.

Individual fee is for regular researchers. Reduced fee is for PhD students, researchers from the Global South, and retired scholars.

Early Bird registration before 10 July 2023 Individual fee: 260 Euros (for T2M member: 200 Euros) Reduced fee: 230 Euros (for T2M member: 170 Euros) Online participation: 80 Euros (for T2M member: 50 Euros)

Registration after 10 July to 3 October 2023 Individual fee: 360 Euros (for T2M member: 270 Euros) Reduced fee: 310 Euros (for T2M member: 220 Euros) Online participation: 120 Euros (for T2M member: 80 Euros)

The registration fee will cover the costs for the conference materials, coffee/tea breaks, two lunches (Thursday and Friday), a welcome aperitive (Wednesday evening), two dinners (Thursday and Friday), and social events.

Please email the Organising Committee (2023gmhc.t2m@gmail.com) with the subject heading “2023 GMHC Inquiry” if you have any questions or concerns.

Travel Grants Graduates and doctoral students and participants from developing countries whose submissions have been accepted may apply for travel grants of up to € 250 (in the form of reimbursement). A limited number of grants are available. Applications should detail the cost of travel and the amount applied for in an email to (2023gmhc.t2m@gmail.com). Applications must be received by 12 June 2023; decisions will be made by 3 July 2023. The Committee will consider contribution for a reduced fee in case of online participation.

Conference Committee

Conference Committee Chairs Inseop Shin (Konkuk University), Carlos López Galviz (Lancaster University)

Programme Committee Peter Adey (Royal Holloway University of London), Jooyoung Kim (Konkuk University), Taehee Kim (Konkuk University), Jinhyoung Lee (Konkuk University), Tiina Männistö-Funk (University of Turku), Victor Marquez (Mexico), Bradley Rink (University of the Western Cape), Mimi Sheller (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

Organising Committee Jin Suk Bae (Konkuk University), Bomi Im (Konkuk University), Jooyoung Kim (Konkuk University), Jurak Kim (Konkuk University), Taehee Kim (Konkuk University), Jaeeun Lee (Konkuk University), Jinhyoung Lee (Konkuk University), Yeonhee Woo (Konkuk University), Myungsim Yang (Konkuk University)