20 June 2025

On an exceedingly hot Friday in June, colleagues from near and far gathered together in the Charles Carter Building at ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App for CeMoReā€™s Summer Symposium:  a regular fixture in the CeMoRe diary for several years now.

With a new director — Jen SouthernĀ  – at the helm, this was originally conceived as an ā€˜in houseā€™ event: an opportunity to reach out toĀ  colleagues whose work may speak to mobilities research, either directly or indirectlyĀ  (hence the decision to simply title the eventĀ  ā€˜Making Connectionsā€™).Ā  Given Jenā€™s own interests, the CfP nevertheless indicated a particular interest in creativity /Ā  mobile methods and the ā€˜more-than-humanā€™: suggestions which was taken up in several of the papers (see website for a full list of abstracts and speaker bios).

 As it turned out, the Symposium evolved into a much larger — and decidedly extra-mural — event than we had originally intended  owing to the coincidence  of several visitors to the Centre at this time. Jason Finch ( Abo Akademi, Turku, Finland) was here as a Visiting Scholar; Kate Moles (Cardiff) had been examining a mobilities-related PhD in Sociology the previous day;  and Lucia Quaquarelli and Adrien Frenay (Paris Nanterre, France) were in Lancaster as  invited guests following CeMoReā€™s reciprocal participation in a CRPM seminar in Paris  last November.

These visitors were given the opportunity to present longer-form papers at the start of the afternoon (although Kate Moles regrettably had to withdraw at the last minute due to illness) and — as ever — it was inspiring to hear about mobilities research (and mobilities communities) elsewhere in the world.

The rest of the afternoon was divided into  two ā€˜7 x 5ā€™ panels (i.e., 14 speakers speaking for 5 minutes each), which one of our online participants likened to speed-dating!  In the time-honoured tradition of  CeMoReā€™s  lunchtime ā€˜stand-upā€™ sessions initiated by  former director, Monika Buscher, speakers were strictly bound to the five-minute rule courtesy of a squawking cockerel alarm on Jen Southernā€™s phone. This  resulted in an exhilarating showcase of contemporary mobilities-related research from across multiple disciplines, and with variable agendas. I did, nevertheless, spot a  recurrent concern with the power of discourse and the imagination to  shape our mobility futures —  for better and  for worse.  Although this event was not recorded, the abstracts and bios are archived on the CeMoRe website which means that readers can share in our quick-fire ā€˜festival of ideasā€™ (and contact the speakers) if they so wish.

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this  event — both in-person and online — and especially those (aside from the visitors mentioned above) who made the effort to travel to Lancaster for this memorable day.  In these exceedingly challenging times for Higher Education in the UK,  it was heartening to see colleagues still finding the time to engage in the research and creative practice that they love and taking  inspiration from the mobilities paradigm.

Lynne Pearce

CeMoRe Co-Director (Humanities)

Joanna Allan, Associate Professor in Global Development at Northumbria University. Her latest book, Saharan Winds: Energy Systems and Aeolian Imaginaries in Western Sahara, will be out with West Virginia University Press in Autumn 2024.

Moiti Mohamed Azrouk, works at the Training, Entrepreneurship and Consultancy Centre (TECC) in the Saharawi state-in-exile. She is also currently working on an anthology of Saharawi poetry.

Katherine Baxter, Professor of English Literature at Northumbria University currently leading the Desert Disorders project in collaboration with Professor Deborah Sutton from ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App, and Professor Farhana Ibrahim (from IIT Delhi).

While there is a small body of literature in Arts and Humanities research on poetry and diplomacy that reveals a relationship between the two in cultures across the globe, the vast majority of this research focuses on historical cases. On the other hand, International Relations literature has not considered the relationship between poetry and diplomacy. This webinar argued for greater consideration of the role of poetry and poets in diplomacy. Using the case of Saharawi poets engaging Spanish, Mauritanian and international audiences, the presenters contend that poetry can be considered a form of public diplomacy, and poets as public diplomats, when advocating for a state policy, interest or cause. They also show that studying poetry through the lens of public diplomacy allows us to learn more about the interplay of emotion and soft power. In doing so, they contribute to ongoing debates on the role of non-state actors in public diplomacy and on the place of emotion in diplomacy. The webinar is based on fieldwork carried out in late 2022 and early 2023 in Mauritania, the Saharawi state-in-exile/refugee camps in Algeria, and Spain.

On 25th May 2023, CeMoRe was delighted to host Dr Sharon Wilson at an in-person event on ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App campus. Dr Wilson discussed her recent work that aims to ā€œput flesh on the boneyardā€ in a way that highlights how tourist bodies become targets of inscription by moving through infrastructure that commits ā€˜Slow violenceā€™. During her talk, Dr Wilson asked, how do these affective spaces reinforce prevailing ideologies and relations of power? How might the affective homology between bodies and the past reframe the social and somatic fields of understanding? By moving through and beside the aesthetics of the ā€˜deadā€™ planes in their potential as ā€œrelational entitiesā€, I suggest they do not ā€œrest in peaceā€ but instead ā€œcome aliveā€ in a performance that unfolds into the landscape as a phantasmagoria of military power.

The session drove critical conversations around everyday militaries and how mobilities research can be used to reveal them.

A special thank you to Dr Sharon Wilson for her fascinating talk and to all attendees for their comments and discussion.

To watch the whole presentation and discussion please follow this link:

This event was part of the UKRI grant ā€œConnecting Mobilities Research between the UK and South Korea: Narrating, Mobilising, Experimenting and Engaging Mobilities for a Just Future.ā€

The attendees and the CeMoRe team would like to give a very special thank you to all of our colleagues and friends at Konkuk University and it’s Academy of Mobility Humanities for making the visit so enjoyable and acting as very welcoming hosts. All attendees had an incredible time and really enjoyed the exchange.

The first day of the conference consisted of an ‘Education and Public Engagement Workshop’ and the second day saw presentations on ‘Arts, Humanities and Social Science approaches to Mobilities research at a time of Cultural and Climate Change’. Alongside some fascinating talks and opportunity for engaging discussion CeMoRe and AMH colleagues ate lots of delicious food and went for a lovely walk and exploration of the Konkuk campus!

We would like to express our gratitude to our colleagues at Konkuk Academy of Mobility Humanities for their generosity in hosting us and providing us with such an excellent trip!

This podcast explores social, digital and physical mobilities in Cumbria from a social design and business perspective.  Nasser Bahrami, Social Analyst in the Cumbria Innovation Platform ā€˜Connected Cumbriaā€™ project draws on his knowledge as a design researcher to discuss the innovative, and sometimes global relational networks small and medium sized  companies based in Cumbria have spun, he discusses challenges and opportunities for logistics efficiencies in the remote and beautiful Cumbrian hills, the potential of 5G and digital connectivity, how to make businesses more resilient in a climate-smart way, using a systems approach to solve issues without creating new ones. This is a really rich, wide-ranging conversations about emplaced multi-layered mobilities.

20th ANNIVERSARY (2003-2023)

Programme of Events

**F E B R U A R Y   U P D A T E **

Academic year 2022-3 marks the twentieth anniversary of Lancasterā€™s Centre for Mobilities Research which was founded by John Urry and Mimi Sheller in 2003. The current CeMoRe team would like to celebrate this special occasion by reaching out to friends and colleagues around the world who have been on the mobilities journey with us in the hope that we can meet with you – virtually or in person – at some point over the coming year.

To this end, we share below our continuing programme of events for 2023 and we would like to thank everyone who has attended our events that have taken place thus far. The programme of events culminates in a strand dedicated to the CeMoRe Anniversary at 2023ā€™s Annual T2M Conference. 

We will be hosting an exhibition and in-person event at ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App to run alongside the main conference taking place at Konkuk University in Seoul (South Korea). The hybrid format of the conference will also facilitate the participation of groups and individuals from around the world who would prefer to join us remotely.  We will be writing to colleagues who we believe may be interested in this opportunity soon.

In the meantime, we would be delighted to welcome colleagues based in the UK to the Lancaster-based events listed below as well the online workshops and seminars.

10^th March, 1.00-2.30pm (British Standard Time): CeMoRe Spring Webinar (Online)

Dr Stephanie Sodero (Climate Change and Health, Manchester University) 

ā€˜UNDER THE WEATHER: REIMAGINING MOBILITY IN THE CLIMATE CRISISā€™ 

 At this online event Stephanie Sodero will be talking about her new book, ‘Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisisā€™, with discussants Monika Buscher and Mimi Sheller. There will also be an opportunity to participate in the discussion and ask questions.

Follow this link for more information and to .

12^th May: Art Mobilities Webinar (Online) 4.00-5.30pm BST

Dr Jen Southern (¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App) and Kaya Barry. 

Details to be confirmed at a later date, please refer to our website and mailing list for upcoming information. 

25^th May:  CeMoRe Summer Seminar with Dr Sharon Wilson (¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App / in-person) 4.00-6.00pm BST (Room to be confirmed).

Dr Sharon Wilson (Northumbria University and Mobilities Futures Research Network)

PUTTING ā€œFLESH ON THE BONEYARDā€; EVERYDAY MILITARIES AND MUSEUM, A MOBILITIES PERSPECTIVE.

This is an in-person event, exact location on campus to be confirmed closer to the date. For more information and to register for the event please .

17^th July 2023:  CeMoRe 20th Anniversary Colloquium (¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App / in-person and online) 

This event will incorporate presentations from CeMoReā€™s past and present directors, a PGR/ECR workshop/masterclass (with competitive travel bursaries for up to four students) and Mimi Shellerā€™s 20th Anniversary Lecture:

ā€˜MOBILITY JUSTICE AND CLIMATE REPARATIONS: REFLECTING ON 20 YEARS OF MOBILITIES RESEARCHā€™

Eventbrite registration (online and in-person) will be advertised via the CeMoRe website and mailing list in the near future together with details of PGR/ECR funding for the workshop.

Early expressions of interest are also welcome: please contact us at cemore@lancaster.ac.uk  

October 25-28th 2023:  Annual T2M Conference (Seoul, South Korea and ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App / in-person and online)

CONFERENCE THEME: MOBILITY, AESTHETICS AND ETHICS

A conference strand will be dedicated to CeMoReā€™s 20th anniversary at this yearā€™s T2M conference and we will be reaching out to colleagues around the world in the hope of putting together a series of online panels. In the meantime, if you would like to propose your own panel please contact us at  cemore@lancaster.ac.uk.

 To coincide with the conference, Jen Southern will be curating an online international exhibition – ā€˜ROCKY FUTURESā€™  (see link following for details) – and at least two in-person / live-stream panels relating to the exhibition will take place at ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App.

CeMoRe is also happy to host in-person / live-stream panels convened by UK/European conference participants, with ¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App  functioning as a European hub for those unable to travel to South Korea. 

26^th October 2023: Annual John Urry Lecture (¶¶ŅõĢ½Ģ½App/ in-person)

Alice Mah (Professor of Sociology and Head of Department, University of Warwick). 

Full details and registration to be confirmed at a later date. 

To be kept up to date on future events and activity at CeMoRe please view our website. 

CeMoRe Website:  /cemore. 

If you are not already signed up the CeMoRe mailing list and would like to be kept updated, please email cemore@lancaster.ac.uk to be added to the list. 

If you have any other queries please contact:

Lynne Pearce (Co-Director Humanities and Acting Director): L.Pearce@lancaster.ac.uk

Harriet Phipps (CeMoRe Administrator): cemore@lancaster.ac.uk

The talk had an excellent audience with interesting discussion led by Dr Luciana Barbosa and Dr Yvonne Reddick.

Thank you to all attendees and special thanks to Dr Andrew Baldwin for his fascinating talk; to Dr Giovanni Bettini for chairing the discussion and to our discussants Dr Luciana Barbosa and Dr Yvonne Reddick for their through provoking comments and questions.

If you missed the webinar or would like to watch it again please click the link below the recording of the event:

ā€œAnd what greater delight and wonder can there be than to leave the straight lines of personality and deviate into those footpaths that lead beneath brambles and thick tree trunks into the heart of the forest where live those wild beasts, our fellow men?ā€
(Virginia Woolf: Street Haunting, 1927)

While in Lancaster, I visited the Oxfam secondhand book shop on Penny Street and happened to buy a collection of eerie tales edited by the folklorist Elizabeth Dearnley, including among others Virginia WoolfĀ“s 1927 essay on street haunting. In it, the first-person leaves their London home on a winter evening to buy a pencil, but actually to follow the desire of rambling the streets. The narrator also visits a secondhand book shop, and Woolf writes:

ā€œSecond-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated featherā€

As a historian of walking and material entanglements, I often think about such wild flocks. For are we not all parts in swarms of vitalities, as Jane Bennett would put it? And what does that mean to us as academic beings, being parts of academic flocks and swarms?

I was delighted to be the first visiting scholar in CeMoRe since the start of the pandemic. The visit was included in my Academy of Finland fellowship for studying the history of non-motorised modes of mobility in Finland. I spent a couple of weeks at the university in the late October and early November, had the much-appreciated opportunity to present my work focusing on pedestrian activism of the 1960s and 1970s, and met several wonderful colleagues who gave me their time for discussions, dinners and lunches, as well as walked with me or generously drove me around in their cars and showed me unforgettable sights; trees, towers, mills, moors.

But I also spent quite a large amount of my time wandering along dimly lit streets, looking for the address of my next lodgings with the help of google maps, dragging my unproportionally large suitcase on the bumpy pavement, wondering what to eat, and slightly questioning my life-choices. Or waiting on the side of the road for a bus to university while rain and hails hammered down on me and my fellow passengers-in-waiting, students and school children stoically getting wet while the bus never seemed to come or passed unapologetically bearing the sign ā€œBus Fullā€. And, in the sense of Woolfian street haunting, maybe this was also a valuable part of my visit.

WoolfĀ“s narrator finds that rambling the streets loosens up the walls of oneĀ“s own personality, so fixed and determined while inside oneĀ“s own house, allowing the self to be blown this way and that, touching and feeling other lives and existences.

And so I am thinking about all the chance meetings and fleeting moments in Lancaster: 

Different rented rooms where, like Woolf writes, ā€œthe lives and characters of its owners have distilled their atmosphere into itā€. How I felt that some of them were so full of past lives distilled that the atmospheres had formed into proper ghosts.

But staying also in a spare room of a couple whose dog was very afraid of the Bonfire Night fireworks. Looking at the miniature railway wagons placed on shelves near the ceiling.

Hearing noises in the dark, smelling unfamiliar things. Using my telephone as a torch in order to find my way on slippery passages through gardens and yards, trying to identify the right door.

Then staying a couple of nights in the hotel where Dickens once stayed and ate cake, but definitely far from his rooms, tucked in the upper-most corner of the building where the wind was attacking windows during the night and the carpets of the corridor were being ripped off by renovators during the day. Coming back late one evening and discovering that the desk and lamp in my room had been replaced by quite different ones, as through magic.

Remembering the Finnish researcher whom I met in a sauna on a German freight ship last summer and whose name I have forgotten. How she had worked in Lancaster and told me: there is this one road in Lancaster, be near it and you will be ok.

Going every day to a very small Spar that in the end of the week did not have any instant porridge cups anymore, because I had bought and consumed them all.

Walking in the middle of streams of students on the campus, amazed by their sheer number. 

Taking the bus with students, hearing them talking about their housing situations or masterĀ“s theses, some of them dressed in a bed sheet turned into a toga or using two pencils as chopsticks to eat a risotto.

Glimpsing some persons who looked like professors and lecturers, purposefully disappearing into corridors and rooms, with doors that had posters urging university staff to vote and print-outs with memes about late-stage capitalism.

Meeting a freshly arrived Malaysian masterā€™s student while walking down the Chapel Lane towards Galgate late at night and starting a conversation in order to have the courage to pass the old graveyard illuminated by the moon.

It is apparent that the distant work of past years has made us acutely aware of the mundane peculiarity of bodily meetings. We seem to agree that both distance and presence have their own merits. But what exactly is the value of bodily presence? How on earth is it worth taking the train across half of Europe with too much luggage, desperately trying to understand the workings of British rail system, just because one stubbornly avoids air travel while the world continues to melt down and burn up, nonetheless? 

Is it even possible to describe the material complexity of a university, to define the value of all the bodies coming together? A university follows the depressing workings of late-stage capitalism, to be sure, but also includes some magic of its own, a flock and swarm, a shifting of variegated feather. Moving oneĀ“s body through such a university is not only beneficial in the sense of facilitating academic meetings that can be richer, more surprising, and more spontaneous than the meetings online. 

Haunting the corridors and passages has its own value that is difficult to pinpoint, as it consists of overheard snippets of ordinary discussions, of the sight and sense of many anonymous others, the way they carry books and expressions, inhabit rooms and lives. It lets the materiality of the world tug at our selves like the Lancaster wind tugging umbrellas. And that necessitates being a body walking in the dark, like WoolfĀ“s narrator who now starts towards home again:

ā€œIn these minutes in which a ghost has been sought for, a quarrel composed, and a pencil bought, the streets had become completely empty. Life had withdrawn to the top floor, and lamps were lit. The pavement was dry and hard; the road was of hammered silver.ā€

Author:

Tiina MƤnnistƶ-Funk is an Academy of Finland research fellow at the University of Turku, studying the history of non-motorised transport modes and the change in Finnish living environments. She has recently published for example on the gender of walking, history of kerbstones, and talking cars as a cultural and material phenomenon. She is the editor of the book Invisible Bicycle (Brill, 2019).

References:

Bennett, Jane. Vibrant Matterā€Æ: a Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010

Dearnley, Elizabeth. Into the London Fogā€Æ: Eerie Tales from the Weird City. London: British Library, 2020.

The workshop, on the theme of ā€˜Mobility and the Production of Urban Spaceā€™, attracted an audience from across the Humanities and Social Sciences and it was inspiring to see how Tiina and Anna-Leena (based in History and Literary Studies respectively) are bringing long-standing mobilities research on transport, space and urban studies to bear upon their fascinating textual and historical materials.

The titles of their two talks were:

ā€œPedestrian as a by-product or producer of modernist urban space?ā€ – Tiina Mannisto-Funk

ā€œClandestine in Paris: Metropolitan mobilities in African fiction.ā€ – Anna-Leena Toivanen

Recent Publications include:

Tiina Mannisto-Funk

MƤnnistƶ-Funk, Tiina (2022): ā€œOne fine day your car will also start to speak:ā€ Automotive voices as promises of machine intelligence. ICON 27 (1), 117ā€“138.

MƤnnistƶ-Funk, Tiina (2021): What kerbstones do: A century of street space from the perspective of one material actor. Cultural History 10 (1), 61ā€“90.

MƤnnistƶ-Funk, Tiina (2021): The Gender of Walking: Female Pedestrians in Street Photographs 1890ā€“1989. Urban History 48 (2), 227ā€“247

Anna-Leena

Anna-Leena will be visiting us in Lancaster in the spring/summer of 2023 and if anyone would like to get in touch with either scholar please send an email toĀ cemore@lancaster.ac.ukĀ and we will put you in touch.

The featured image for this post is the title page for Tiina’s current Whose City Project, the link for the full comic can be found by clicking

A recording of the lecture can be found here: