Call For Proposals
Date: Friday, October 17, 2025
Location: Hamilton Public Library's Central Library & McMaster University's Continuing Education Centre
Hosted by: McMaster University Libraries in partnership with Hamilton Public Library and McMaster University’s Office of Community Engagement
We are excited to invite proposals that center the greater Hamilton region and celebrate its complexity, creativity, and communities at the inaugural Space and Place Conference. This one-day gathering is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating research, creative work, and community engagement centered on Hamilton’s diverse environments — built, natural, imagined, and remembered.
We welcome contributions that explore storytelling, mapping, art, lived experience, Indigenous knowledge, and other ways of knowing that often exist beyond conventional academic frameworks — in essence, work that reflects and celebrates the geographies where we live, work, and study.
Questions? Feel free to contact Saman Goudarzi and Christine Homuth at mapref@mcmaster.ca for more information or to discuss your idea before submitting.
Location: Hamilton Public Library's Central Library & McMaster University's Continuing Education Centre
Hosted by: McMaster University Libraries in partnership with Hamilton Public Library and McMaster University’s Office of Community Engagement
We are excited to invite proposals that center the greater Hamilton region and celebrate its complexity, creativity, and communities at the inaugural Space and Place Conference. This one-day gathering is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating research, creative work, and community engagement centered on Hamilton’s diverse environments — built, natural, imagined, and remembered.
We welcome contributions that explore storytelling, mapping, art, lived experience, Indigenous knowledge, and other ways of knowing that often exist beyond conventional academic frameworks — in essence, work that reflects and celebrates the geographies where we live, work, and study.
We welcome proposals from:
- Community members and organizers
- Scholars and researchers (especially early-career or independent)
- Students and educators (including course-based work)
- Artists, creators, and storytellers
- Municipal and nonprofit practitioners
- Galleries, libraries, archives, and museum (GLAM) workers and information professionals
Suggested themes include (but are not limited to):
- Creative, cultural, or critical mapping of the greater Hamilton region
- Indigenous relationships to the land and place vernacularly referred to as the greater Hamilton region
- Feminist and intersectional approaches to the greater Hamilton region's urban space
- Art and storytelling as spatial practice
- Public space, accessibility, and urban transformation
- Environmental histories and ecologies of the greater Hamilton region
- Community archives, memory, and spatial justice
- Ultimately: let's talk about the greater Hamilton region
Presentation formats may include:
- Short talks (7 minutes, including questions)
- Paper presentations (15 minutes, including questions)
- Interactive or media-based presentations
- Performances or storytelling sessions (book readings, poetry readings)
- Exhibit-style displays (maps, posters, zines, art, etc.)
- Facilitated workshops or activities (1 hour)
- Collaborative panels or roundtables (1 hour)
- Walking tours and field-based sessions
- Artist talks (30 minutes, including questions)
How to submit:
Please submit a brief proposal (approx. 200–300 words) via our submission form.
Deadline: Tuesday, September 2nd.Questions? Feel free to contact Saman Goudarzi and Christine Homuth at mapref@mcmaster.ca for more information or to discuss your idea before submitting.