Second Cities:An Interdisciplinary Symposium

30 April-1 May 2004

Glasgow, Scotland

Deadline for proposals: 14 November 2003

The Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies at the University of Glasgow
invites proposals for papers for a symposium entitled Second Cities.
Looking
at the United States from the vantage point of Glasgow, the self-styled
'Second City of the British Empire,' we note similarities to American
cities
such as Chicago or Philadelphia, which have also been known by this
term.
Collectively, we will explore how Second Cities are defined and what
their
cultural, economic, and political roles have been and continue to be.
While
our primary focus is the United States, we welcome proposals about
Second
Cities in other nations, as well as comparative studies or theoretical
considerations. We encourage proposals from fields across the humanities
and
social sciences.

Questions of interest include, though are certainly not limited to, the
following:

-Second to what? How are Second Cities juxtaposed to 'first' cities or
capital cities, and what are the distinctions between these categories?
On
the other hand, what is the relation of Second Cities to smaller
communities?

-Second of how many? Are Second Cities viewed in regional, national,
international, or as the case of Glasgow, imperial contexts? If a
capital
city is symbolic of a nation, are Second Cities in fact more
characteristic
of that nation?

-Second in what sense? How are Second Cities evaluated or measured? In
terms
of demography, economy, cultural production, or other qualities?

-Are Second Cities temporally bound? Does the appellation emerge as
cities
are 'on the way up' promoted by local boosters or are they former first
cities now surpassed by other locales?

-Is the designation of Second City embraced from within or imposed from
without?

-When did Second Cities emerge? Is the concept still a useful one?

-How are Second Cities represented?

Please send a 1-page paper proposal and 1-page c.v. by 14 November 2003
to:

Second Cities

Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies

University of Glasgow

2 University Gardens

Glasgow G12 8QQ

SCOTLAND

Queries may be addressed to: secondcitieshotmail.com

Conference organisers plan to publish a volume of essays selected from
the
symposium. Prospective presenters should be prepared to submit
article-length versions of their papers by September 2004, allowing time
for
incorporation of feedback from symposium participants and any additional
research or revisions that authors wish to make.

Posted by:

Marina Moskowitz, Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies, University of
Glasgow, mamarts.gla.ac.uk