TOWSON UNIVERSITY: APRIL 25-27, 2008

CONFERENCE THEME: TOURISM

The Conference seeks to foster an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary conversation on tourism. Presentations are to be 25 minutes with an additional 10 minutes for questions and discussion. Papers may be submitted for possible publication. Panels are welcome.

No other life-form but the human tours. Touring, then, should reveal something about that being of which one of its possibilities is to tour. Is touring a fundamental structure of human existence, or, is it a socio-historical construct, or both? As the human is an earthbound creature, touring should at the same time reveal something about earthly embodiments. What is it about the earth that draws us to tour? As all worldly-horizons of human beings manifest as spatial productions, the world of touring modifies spatial organizations and thus presents denizens of the earth as well as processes, relations, events, etc. of the earth from the perspective of that world. What is the nature of the world of touring? What kinds of spatial productions does it entail? We inevitably speak about the earth as the wherein of human dwelling. What can tourism reveal about human dwelling, what does it reveal about the places of human dwelling, and what does its reveal of the relation of human to earth? We encourage conference participants to develop further interesting lines of questioning and to share their interpretations and insights with fellow members of our association.

Some possible topics (all germane topics are welcome!):

adventurers, relaxers . . .
commodification of travel
gendering of tourism
genius loci and scenery
tourist accommodation
tour advertisement
camp sites, cruise ships
disneyfication
eco-tourism
encountering “the locals”
exotic travel
“getaways”
safari, surfing, golfing
simulacra of touring
tourism and power
tourist economies
tourist embodiments
tour guide
tour symbolisms
tourist traps
scenic highways
vacation and vacuity
vacation voyeurism
virtual tourism

SEND ABSTRACTS OF APPROXIMATELY 200 WORDS BY FEBRUARY 10, 2008 TO: Troy Paddock: paddockt1@southernct.edu
Persons interested in chairing sessions should also contact Troy Paddock

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Murungi
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Towson University
Towson Maryland 21252
Tel. 410-704-2750
Fax: 410-704-4398
jmurungi@towson.edu