Call for Papers:The New Rural-Urban Interface Conference Date: September 29-30, 2016

Call for Abstracts

The New Rural-Urban Interface

Conference Date: September 29-30, 2016

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Abstracts are being accepted for a multidisciplinary social science conference on the rural-urban interface in the United States. The “new” rural America is marked by growing spatial interdependence with major urban centers, and by the blurring of historical spatial and symbolic boundaries that often separate the city from the countryside. The rural-urban interface has been given new meaning and shape by the increasing back and forth flows of population, labor and capital, information and ideas, and material goods in a globalizing urban economy. See conference details and reading materials.

Goals. The conference provides a forum for research on the cultural, economic, demographic, and political dimensions of changing social and spatial boundaries that both separate and link urban and rural America. The goal is to bring together leading social scientists in sociology, economics, political science, and geography to address common challenges facing rural and urban areas in key research domains: environment, health, housing, immigration, food systems, the labor market, and politics and civic engagement, among others. Contributions may be theoretical or empirical, but should include policy discussions and prescriptions. Papers that offer a comparative perspective on rural and urban processes, or that emphasize variations in key spatial and social interactions are especially welcome. The expectation is that outstanding conference papers will be published in July 2017 as a special issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

Submission guidelines. E-mail a 2-page abstract or completed paper to socialsciences@cornell.edu by February 15, 2016. Acceptance decisions will be made no later than March 30, 2016. The conference is scheduled for September 29-30, 2016 on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Complete papers are expected at least two weeks in advance of the conference. Hotel and travel expenses for each conference presenter (one per paper) will be covered by the conference organizers and, budget permitting, a nominal speaking fee will be provided.

Contact information. For more information, see conference details, along with reading materials or contact Daniel T. Lichter, Departments of Policy Analysis and Management and Sociology, Cornell University (dtl28@cornell.edu) or James P. Ziliak, Center for Poverty Research and Department of Economics, University of Kentucky (jziliak@uky.edu).

The conference is supported by the American Association of Political and Social Science, Cornell’s Institute for the Social Sciences, the Cornell Population Center, the Scholars Strategy Network (Finger Lakes Branch), and the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research.

Submission deadline: February 15, 2016