Author: DARG Admin

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HEA STEM (GEES): Field courses in the Global South for Geography, Earth and Environmental Science students in UK higher education

This briefing report is intended to support fieldwork to destinations in the Global South1 for students in all GEES disciplines (Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences) at UK institutions of higher education. While the focus is on field courses at undergraduate level, many of the issues identified will also be relevant to postgraduate field courses in the Global South. This briefing report is intended to support fieldwork to destinations in the Global South1 for students in all GEES disciplines (Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences) at UK institutions of higher education. While the focus is on field courses at undergraduate level, many of the issues identified will also be relevant to postgraduate field courses in the Global South.

You can access the full report by going to the Higher Education Academy website here http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/disciplines/stem/gees-fieldcourse-publication

 

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‘DARG Postgraduate Careers Workshop: Opportunities in the non-governmental organisation NGO sector’

This workshop will be held at the RGS in May. For one of the sessions recent graduates will be invited to speak about their experiences getting employment in NGOs and or dividing their work between academic research and NGOs. Ideally another postgraduate is needed to speak at this session. In particular the organisers are looking for a recent graduate (last few years), preferably based in London, who now work in the NGO sector. Please email Jessica Hope with any suggestions at
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RGS-IBG medals and award nominations

RGS-IBG medals and awards recognise excellence in geographical research and fieldwork, teaching and public engagement.  Any Fellow or member of the Society may make a nomination, and Research Groups are welcome to support nominations. The deadline for nomination is the end of February. The list of medals and awards is as follows:
·      Gold Medal – Founder’s and Patron’s Medals for the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery. The two Gold medals are both approved by Her Majesty The Queen.
·      Victoria Medal for conspicuous merit in research in Geography Busk Medal for conservation research or for fieldwork abroad in Geography or in a geographical aspect of an allied science
·      Cherry Kearton Medal and Award for a traveller concerned with the study or practice of natural history, with a preference for those with an interest in nature photography, art or cinematography
·      Murchison Award for publications judged to contribute most to geographical science in preceding recent years
·      Back Award for applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international public policy
·      Cuthbert Peek Award for those advancing geographical knowledge of human impact on the environment through the application of contemporary methods, including those of earth observation and mapping
·      Gill Memorial Award for the encouragement of geographical research in early career researchers* who have shown great potential (*defined as within 10 years of completing their PhD)
·      Ordnance Survey Awards in recognition of excellence in Geography education at the secondary level Taylor and Francis Award for excellence in the promotion and practice of teaching and learning in Higher Education
·      Ness Award for travellers, particularly those who have successfully popularised Geography and the wider understanding of our world and its environments
·      Fordham Award for distinguished contributions to the field of cartobibliography (this is not awarded every year)
·      Geographical Award for a company or individual that had provided outstanding (non-commercial) support for individuals or groups learning through scientific expeditions; or for an expedition(s) that has had a significant impact in inspiring and raising the understanding of geographical issues among schools or the public
·      Honorary Membership for outstanding services and contributions to a geographical dimension of public life Honorary Fellowship for service to the cause of Geography or to the work of the Society
Nominations should consist of a completed nomination form with a statement of 200-300 words outlining why the candidate should receive the award, a CV of the candidate and written support of approximately 200-300 words from two additional Fellows or members of the Society (ideally from different institutions/departments). Membership numbers of the proposer and supporters should be included in all correspondence. Full details and nomination forms can be found at:http://www.rgs.org/AboutUs/Medals+and+awards/Medals+and+awards.htm  
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SIID 5thAnnual Postgraduate Conference: 2nd Call for Papers.

 “Multidisciplinary Insights into International Development: Reconciling the Divided Priorities of One Global Nation.” 25thMarch 2014, University of Sheffield. Keynote Speaker: Duncan Green, Oxfam GB
The Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID) would like to announce the second call for papers for the 5th Annual Postgraduate Conference. This event aims to provide a friendly academic atmosphere for postgraduate students from all over the UK to share and discuss their current research in areas related to development studies. If you wish to present a paper, please visit the link below for details on this year’s theme and how to submit. The deadline for submissions is Friday 24th January 2014.
For this year’s Conference, there will be a chance to win the Best Paper Award (further details can be found in the link below). Applicants who wish to be considered for this will need to submit an additional abstract of 650 words by Friday 21st February 2014.
Details of how to register your attendance will be released shortly.
 
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Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Sheffield Institute of International Development (SIID)

Postdoctoral Research Associate. Grade 7 £28,972 to £36,661 per annum . The Sheffield Institute of International Development (SIID) is seeking to appoint an exceptional Postdoctoral Research Associate to help shape, develop and lead SIID’s research agenda. You will hold a PhD in a relevant subject (or have equivalent experience), have experience of developing research activity and be developing a substantial external reputation.
 
This will be built upon through: generating research income and direction for self and others, conducting high quality research, producing research publications of exceptional quality and impact, taking forward knowledge exchange activities,
participating actively in the development and implementation of the SIID and the University research strategy.
 
SIID is an inter-disciplinary centre, based within the Faculty of Social Sciences, which aims to bring together leading researchers in international development to expand the volume of excellent research in this field, support postgraduate activities and studies, provide a forum for debate and analysis of the pressing issues in global development and encourage a series of outreach, advisory and engagement activities. SIID’s research themes include:
•    development as global justice
•    citizenship, human rights (including the rights of the very vulnerable) and democracy
•    governance and participation
•    human dimensions of global environmental change
•    poverty and the international political economy of development.
Deadline 6th February
 
For more details on how to apply visit http://siid.group.shef.ac.uk/opportunities/#PDRA
 
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CFP RGS IBG The Shifting Power of Indigeneity: exploring the (co)-production of both rural and urban spaces

The Shifting Power of Indigeneity: exploring the (co)-production of both rural and urban spaces

Call For Papers for RGS IBG annual conference 26-29 August 2014

Sponsored by the Developing Areas Research Group DARG

This session is interested in the multiple and shifting articulations of indigeneity in the contemporary period. It recognises the inherent tensions as well as conflicting understandings of indigeneity, which are articulated and claimed by multiple actors in different countries, histories, political economies and political ecologies.  International legislation often defines indigeneity as identity category bound to ancestral claims to land, relationships to nature and collective decision making. These definitions are often criticised by academics, activists, and indigenous peoples themselves for essentialising cultures, removing people’s agency and grouping together different peoples that are, in fact, living in very different circumstances. However, indigeneity is still being used and claimed by many groups as a political category to gain political recognition, power and rights. Both rural and urban groups, often those who feel marginalised and in the minority, rely on indigeneity as a key political category. This session will explore the multiple and contrasting ways in which indigeneity is being used by various socio-political actors, situated in the global South and North, to shift existing power relations and to (co)-produce rural and urban spaces. Using theories that explore the relationship of indigeneity to political power and wider political economies and ecologies, it is interested in analysing how indigeneity is being articulated in conflicts over land and natural resources, in processes of development, in times of rapid planetary urbanisation, and in moments of political unrest and/or change.

We invite papers that investigate the various ways that indigeneity is articulated and mobilised by multiple actors and the ways it is being responded to by states. We want to explore the spatial impact that this is having in the current political economic and ecological contexts. When addressing these aspects, papers should take into account the following questions: In what contexts and how is indigeneity gaining legitimacy and power? How are relations between ‘indigenous’ and ‘non-indigenous’ actors articulated in different spaces? What role does indigeneity play in the (co)-production of different rural and urban places?

Please send 300 word abstract to the session convenors, Jessica Hope and Philipp Horn by the 3rd of February 2014, including your name and contact details

Jessica.Hope-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk  

Philipp.Horn@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

For further information about the conference, please see http://www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/ConferencesAndSeminars/Annual+International+Conference/Annual+international+conference.htm