Borders are strange places. On the one hand, they can act as visible proof of marginalization and subordination: one thinks of the Spanish refugees who
waited at border posts along the Pryenees in January 1939, or of the Kurds and Afghans waiting today at Calais. But borders can also be privileged places of observation, allowing insights and observations into dominant cultures and structures.
This interdisciplinary conference will explore the themes of the borders that surround France, and the borders - economic, social, cultural,sexual - that lie within France. It will evaluate how borders have been interpreted (by political scientists and sociologists) and represented (in film, literature and art). It will also consider the historic construction of borders through the rise and fall of paradigms and orthodoxies. Papers
from post-graduates and `panel' applications from groups are welcome. Papers on all related topics will be considered, however, papers are particularly invited on the themes of:

Regional identities
Minorities
Centrality and marginality
`Distant France': the DOM-TOM
Migration and return
The Mediterranean and France


The conference is normally bi-lingual (English / French).

The conference will be held on 29 - 31 August, 2002, at the University of Glamorgan. The University is located in Pontypridd: the nearest train station is Treforest. It is 10 miles north of Cardiff, and approximately two and a half hours by rail from Paddington station in London. There are also good connections to Heathrow airport.

Please send proposals for papers (150 - 250 words) by 31 January 2002, by e-mail (no attachments, please) or by post to:
Dr. S. Gemie and Ms H. Altink,
Modern and Contemporary France Conference Humanities
University of Glamorgan
Pontypridd CF37 1DL
Great Britain

Or

sgemie@glam.ac.uk
haltink@glam.ac.uk