A one-day symposium
Wednesday 30 April 2014
Nash Lecture Theatre, K2.31, King’s Building
Strand Campus, King’s College London
www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/filmstudies/eventrecords/2014/gfvc.aspx

In the past twenty years, there has been a surge in scholarly interest in the relationship between geography, film, and visual culture as part of a broader reconfiguration of the relationship between the humanities and social sciences. This has entailed an increasing tendency among historians and theorists of film and other visual media to think geographically, use geographical methods, and draw on the work of particular geographers; and it has entailed an increasing interest among geographers in the forms and practices of visual media as objects of study, and in issues of representation. Studies of the city, landscape, place, and globalization have been especially enriched by this trend.

This one-day symposium is intended to provide an opportunity to reflect on these developments and speculate on their future, to hear a range of papers from various disciplinary backgrounds, and to discuss some key questions around which they revolve: What is the value of thinking about film and visual culture geographically? What insights and methods can those based in the arts and humanities gain from geography? What can geographers learn from a consideration of film and visual culture that they cannot learn from other sources? What insights from the arts and humanities can geographers put into action in their own work?

Attendance at the symposium is free of charge, though prior registration is strongly advised as places are limited. No prior study of the geography/film/visual culture intersection is required – the event is designed to be of interest to specialists and non-specialists alike. All are welcome.

0930-1000      Dr Mark Shiel (Film Studies and KISS-DTC, KCL), Welcome and Opening remarks

1000-1100      Keynote 1, Professor Stanley Corkin (Comparative Literature, Cincinnati), “The Spaces of cinema and the places of films: Hollywood and (mostly) urban geography”

1100-1120      Tea and coffee (provided)

1120-1250      Panel 1
Dr Martha Shearer (Film Studies, KCL), “Place, genre and studio production: New York and the Hollywood musical”
Viktoria Vona, (Geography, KCL), “Artivist documentaries: Resisting gentrification in New York and London”
Searle Kochberg (Creative Technologies, Portsmouth), “Finding place in [sub]urban space: Gay Jewish Male life stories filmed on the streets of London”

1250-1350      Lunch (buffet provided)

1350-1450      Keynote 2, Professor Matthew Gandy (Geography, UCL), “Cinematic Landscapes”

1450-1510      Tea and coffee (provided)

1510-1610      Panel 2
Dr Johan Andersson (Geography, KCL), “Dispossession and the picturesque: the ruinous cinematic landscape of New York City 1980-1985”
Dr Jinhee Choi (Film Studies, KCL), “Korean gangsters in urban spaces: Seoul, Busan or somewhere near”

1610-1650      Roundtable discussion

**To register, or for any enquiries, please contact:**
Dr Mark Shiel, Department of Film Studies, King’s College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
mark.shiel@kcl.ac.uk

Department of Film Studies, King’s College London
www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/filmstudies/

King’s Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Doctoral Training Centre (KISS-DTC)
www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/school/dtc/

Symposium web page
www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/filmstudies/eventrecords/2014/gfvc.aspx