Theme: Construction
Location: Boldrewood Campus, University of Southampton
Date: 17 September 2015
Abstract Submission Deadline: 1 April 2015
The Southampton Marine and Maritime Postgraduate Group (SMMPG) would like to invite abstracts for a multidisciplinary colloquium. SMMPG is a collaboration between the University of Southampton’s Postgraduate academics, the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute and Lloyd’s Register. The group aims to encourage interdisciplinary research by fostering discourse between many disciplines, from shipbuilding to archaeology and oceanography to literature.
The broad theme of the colloquium is Construction, a recurrent and significant dynamic in many marine and maritime fields of research: from various historical and literary constructions of ocean spaces, to the construction of ways in which to understand and improve the energy efficiency of commercial shipping, and from improved methods of constructing coastal defences, to the growing demand for constructing marine based renewable energy harvesting facilities.
The event builds on last year’s highly successful colloquium, which saw 16 papers in diverse disciplines being presented to an audience of around 70 scholars and professionals working in various maritime fields, as well as, a publication of the day’s proceedings. As befits the theme of construction, we hope to build on last year’s success by further widening our audience of postgraduates both nationally and internationally.
We are accepting abstracts from postgraduate and early-career researchers in any discipline, for papers which resonate with the theme of construction and relate to any four of the SMMI’s broad themes:
• Society & Government
• Trade & Transport
• Energy & Resources
• Climate & Environment
Papers will each last 15 minutes and will be organised into four panels based on the categories above. Each panel will be introduced by an established academic and followed by a period of discussion. While construction is the broad theme we have chosen to work within, the colloquium’s focus is firmly on the concept of multidisciplinary communication. The ultimate aim of the colloquium is to forge connections between academics with different fields of expertise as well as engage with the wider public, including representatives from business and industry. As such, the presentations should be delivered with the aim of communicating the paper’s central themes and ideas to an audience unfamiliar with the established jargon or intimate concepts of their field. The proceedings will be published in a book, which aims to develop a set of tools that can be used to further multidisciplinary research and develop our understanding of the maritime world.
Please send your proposal (250 – 300 words) to smmpg@soton.ac.uk by 1 April 2015. Abstracts should be formatted in a Word file and attached to the e-mail. Please save them with your full name, the name of your university and a brief bio. We also ask that you highlight and explain which of the four categories is most relevant to your paper. Themes are open to interpretation. If your paper is accepted, you will be expected to submit a completed draft of your paper by 1 June 2015 for peer-review and publication. Please direct any questions to the conference organisers at the above email address. SMMPG is also found on twitter @SMMPG, and online.
