The CFP for the 2025 Preconference, to be held in Detroit, MI on March 22-23, 2025, is posted here.

The AAG Political Geography Specialty Group is pleased to announce the 36th Annual PGSG Preconference, to be held at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Date: Monday, April 15, 2024

Time:  8:40 am–6pm (main event); optional dinner at 6pm

Location: Campus Center Complex, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2465 Campus Road, Honolulu, HI 96822)

Local Host: Reece Jones, Department of Geography and Environment (thank you, Reece!)

Program (updated April 11, 2024)

Abstracts (updated April 1, 2024)

Events

•  ‘DeTour’ for Early Arrivals (April 14): see below
• Plenary on Hawaiian Political Geographies (April 15), including:
  • Kahiokalamekawena’ula Elkington, PhD Student, Department of Geography and Environment
  • Aurora Kagawa-Viviani, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environment
  • Kawēlauokealoha Wright, Assistant Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies
• Paper Sessions (April 15): throughout the day
• Lunch (April 15, self-pay): small groups or on your own at Campus Center
• Dinner (April 15, included in preconf registration): buffet-style at the Department of Geography and Environment

Registration

• Abstract Submission: January 15, 2024
  • Complete all sections of this form, including paper title and 250 word abstract.
• Registration (All Attendees): March 15, 2024
  • Complete “all attendees” sections of this form.
  • We’ll use this information to finalize catering and room allocation. If you don’t register by March 15, we won’t be able to provide you with dinner.
  • If your plans change after submitting your registration, email aag.pgsg@gmail.com.

Cost

• TT Faculty: $35 (includes dinner). There are two payment options:
  • Cash (on site): Please bring exact change.
  • Electronic (preferred): on site or in advance
    • To keep a paper trail/avoid cash, please submit your registration fee to Meredith DeBoom via Venmo (if possible). The account is @MereDeBoom. Under “What’s it for?” please write “PGSG.”

• Students and Non-TT Faculty: free (includes dinner)

Dinner

• The preconference will conclude with a buffet dinner at the Department of Geography and Environment (2424 Maile Way, Saunders Hall, Honolulu, HI 96822). Dinner and refreshments will be provided for attendees who registered by March 15.

NEW: ‘DeTour’ for Early Arrivals

• In lieu of a happy hour, local host Reece Jones has arranged a ‘DeTour’ with Kyle Kajihiro (Assistant Professor at UH-Mānoa and UH-Mānoa Geography PhD) on the afternoon of Sunday, April 14.
• Learn more about the DeTours project and associated political geographies here or here.
• The cost  is $25 per person. Space is limited and will be allocated on a first-registered, first-reserved basis. You can add your name to the list when you register for the preconference here.
  • Jan. 15 update: The DeTour is full, but we are accepting names for the waitlist (indicate your interest on your registration form).

Lodging and Transport

• We recommend using the same lodging for the preconference that you will use for the main AAG conference.
• UH-Mānoa is a 10-15 minute Uber/cab or 20-30 minute bus ride from the main conference location. We encourage you to use a ride share or public transport, as on-campus parking is extremely limited.   

PGSG Organizers: Meredith DeBoom (deboom@mailbox.sc.edu) and Kate Coddington (kcoddington@albany.edu)

Questions? Please direct any questions to the PGSG organizers (Meredith & Kate) individually or at aag.pgsg@gmail.com

Congratulations to all our 2023 award winners.

NON-STUDENT AWARDS

Stanley Brunn Young Scholar– Md. Azmeary Ferdoush, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland.

Julian Minghi Distinguished Book Award– Andrew Grant, Boston College. The Concrete Plateau: Urban Tibetans and the Chinese Civilizing Machine (2022). Cornell University Press.

Virginie Mamadouh Outstanding Research Award– Kara E. Dempsey, “Spaces of Violence: A Typology of the Political Geography of Violence Against Migrants Seeking Asylum in the EU” Political Geography, 79:102157.

Richard Morrill Public Engagement Travel Award– Srinivas Chokkakula, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. Panel at the 2023 preconference, “Leveraging Political Geographic Theory for Federal River Water Governance.”

STUDENT AWARDS

Graduate Ph.D. Level– Meagan Harden, University of Hawaii at Manoa.  “Micronesia at the conference on the law of the sea: Bringing ocean ontologies into international law.

Masters Level– Amani Ponnaganti, University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The racialization of citizenship in postcolonial India.”

Undergraduate Paper– David Lee, James Madison University. “Problems with Infrastructure: The Big Dig.”

Alexander B. Murphy Dissertation Enhancement Award – Andrea Cabrera Roa, Clark University. “Governing present absences: in the making of the sovereign territoriality through indigenous peoples in isolation and in initial contact in the Peruvian Amazon.”

View program and abstracts

DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 2023

TIME: 9am-6pm (Check-in: 8:40am)

LOCATION: Institute of Behavioral Science 1440 15th St, Boulder, CO 80309

REGISTRATION: We encourage anyone who plans to attend the preconference to complete the ‘all attendees’ section of this form: https://forms.gle/eMxZpJM7aqZoPDAh7. While not required, your information will help us better estimate attendance.

COST: There is a $30 fee for tenure-track faculty only. There are two payment options:

• Electronic (preferred)—on site or in advance: click “Buy Now” at the bottom of the page to pay using credit card or PayPal. If you pay in advance, please bring an electronic or printed receipt copy.
• Cash—on site: Please bring exact change.

ASSOCIATED EVENTS:

• Tuesday, 3/21, 6-9pm: Informal PGSG Happy Hour—Rio Grande—1101 Walnut St., Boulder
• Wednesday, 3/22, 6-9pm: PGSG Dinner Khow Thai—1600 Broadway, Boulder
• Friday, 3/24, 11:45am-12:45pm: PGSG Business Meeting: Centennial Ballroom H, Hyatt Regency, Third Floor

LODGING & TRANSPORTATION:

Lodging

We were able to arrange discount rates at two hotels near the university campus.

–University Boulder Inn (1632 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302) is offering a limited number of reserved rooms at the group rate for the night(s) of March 21 & March 22 at $149/night for either 1 king bedroom or a room with 2 queen beds (plus tax). If you are interested, please call and ask for the Political Geography discount at (303) 417-1700.

–BaseCamp Boulder (2020 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder, CO 80302) is offering a limited number of reserved rooms at the group rate for the night(s) of March 21 & March 22 at $119/night for 1 king bedroom or $129/night for 2 queen beds (plus tax). If you are interested, please call the manager Shannon Gilmore at (415) 548-3555 and ask for the Political Geography discount rate.

Transport 

• The Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS) is located on the CU-Boulder campus at 1440 15^th St., Boulder, CO 80309.
• Public transit in the Denver metro, including Boulder, is provided by RTD (https://www.rtd-denver.com/).
  • Several local and regional bus routes serve campus. You can plan your route here: https://www.rtd-denver.com/app/plan
  • From AAG venues in Denver: For those who don’t mind a commute (~1-1.5 hours), the CU-Boulder campus is accessible from Denver via RTD. You will need to take light rail or bus to Union Station, where you can board the Flatiron Flyer (FF1) to Boulder.
  • From the Denver Airport: There are direct buses from the Denver Airport to Boulder on the AB route (~1-1.25 hours).

PGSG ORGANIZERS: Kara E. Dempsey (dempseyke@appstate.edu) and Meredith DeBoom (DEBOOM@mailbox.sc.edu)

INQUIRIES: All inquiries should be directed to the PGSG organizers (Kara and Meredith) individually or at: aag.pgsg@gmail.com

PAY PRECONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE HERE

(TENURE-TRACK FACULTY ONLY)