Call for Papers: Recreate, Replace, Restore

Check out Ohio Northern University’s call for papers for an upcoming conference on meanings and environments. Dunno, but worth looking into.

Recreate, Replace, Restore:
Exploring the Intersections Between Meanings and Environments

Call For Papers

A Conference at
Ohio Northern University
17-19 April 2009

Sponsored by:

The ONU Working Group on Religion, Ethics, and Nature
(through a grant from the Metanexus Institute)

Paper Proposals

Conference organizers seek papers in the humanities, social sciences and the ecological sciences on the conference theme of “Recreate, Replace, Restore: Exploring the Intersections between Meanings and Environments.” Individual papers should be approximately 20-minutes reading time. We strongly encourage submissions from diverse scientific, religious, and philosophical approaches.

Possible themes include (though are not limited to):

* The philosophical, ethical, religious or spiritual dimensions of restoration in all its aspects
* Scientific assessments of restoration, the reintroduction of species, or the preservation of locales
* Built environments, nature, and the meaning of place
* Theological and philosophical reflections on human alterations of environments
* Architecture and green building as recreating places
* Ways of interpreting and/or responding to the meaning of individual places (including through
literature, art, and other humanities)
* Interpretations or critical assessments of the conference concepts (“Recreate, replace, restore”)
* Identification of areas of ecology that are unrepresented in discussions of creation or creativity
* Other treatments related to “recreate, replace, restore”

Poster Proposals

Also, we encourage poster proposals from scientists, scholars and practitioners who are interested in contributing scientifically-oriented posters in general ecology, conservation ecology and restoration ecology for an interdisciplinary audience. Abstracts for posters should provide a brief introduction of the study, the major methods used and results gathered, then a discussion of the practical application of the research to the conference’s theme of “Recreate, Replace, Restore: Exploring the Intersections between Meanings and Environments.” Posters should be landscape-oriented and sized 3 feet by 4 feet (1.2 meters by 0.9 meters) or smaller.

Possible themes for posters include (though are not limited to) theoretical and applied topics in:

* General population, community, landscape, & ecosystem ecology
* Conservation ecology and assessment
* Restoration ecology and assessment
* Resource management
* Ecological impact of urbanization & urban design
* Ecological impact of invasive species
* Nature preserve design and management

Paper proposals should be sent to the conference organizers Mark Dixon (m-dixon@onu.edu) or Forrest Clingerman (f-clingerman@onu.edu). Poster proposals should be send to conference organizer Jay Mager (j-mager@onu.edu). All proposals should include name, contact information, and 3-5 keywords, in addition to a 300-500 word abstract. Deadline for proposals is 31 October 2008. Acceptance notifications will be sent out by 15 December. Accepted papers will be considered for inclusion in a possible edited volume on the conference theme. More information will be made available online at www.onu.edu/org/wgren.

“Recreate, Replace, Restore:” Exploring the Intersections between Meanings and Environments is an event sponsored by the ONU Working Group on Religion, Ethics, and Nature (WGREN). The mission of WGREN is based on the recognition that issues that concern the natural environment are more than scientific or technological problems, in the most basic sense these are also ethical and spiritual concerns. The simple truth is that no permanent solution to these environmental problems will be possible unless it is includes a fundamental reorientation in our spiritual attitudes about, and ethical obligations to, the natural environment. Thus WGREN is a local initiative whose purpose is to facilitate dialog between the academic disciplines and non-academic communities on issues that relate to religion, ethics and the natural environment.

Ohio Northern University a private, comprehensive university affiliated with the United Methodist church. ONU is one of the few private universities to offer a unique blend of quality liberal arts and professional programs in its five colleges. It is located in Midwestern till plains in Ada, Ohio. Ada is south of the historical boundaries of the Great Black Swamp of northwestern Ohio.

~ by Shane Waggoner on January 6, 2009.