Dates:          July 30 – August 4, 2012
Location:     Capitol Reef Field Station, Utah
Website:      www.mappingmeaning.wordpress.com
E-mail:        mappingmeaning@yahoo.com

Mapping Meaning invites women artists, scientists and scholars from all disciplines to participate in a unique summer conference to be held at the Capitol Reef Field Station in southern Utah.

Inspired by a photograph from 1918 depicting an all-female survey crew, the first Mapping Meaning conference brought together a select group of 14 women and occurred while camping together in 2010. Participants came from disciplines such as ethnobotany, visual art, folklore, GIS/land surveying, entomology, film, biology, American studies, business, and civil & environmental engineering. The second conference will take place at the Capitol Reef Field Station, which is located in the heart of the Colorado Plateau.

Over 5 days participants will engage in cross-discipline dialogue providing a pioneering forum for challenging assumptions and theoretical frameworks that come from specialized education and training. The focus of this year’s conference will be “ecotone.”  Defined as a transitional zone between two adjacent communities, ecotone speaks to ecologies in tension. Mapping Meaning takes this theme for 2012 and will use it as a method and metaphor for considering transitions that are currently taking place with regard to ecology, technology and culture.  Throughout the conference, a series of questions will be posed to the group. These will focus on “ecotone as a site of opportunity,” “ecotone as a site of experimentation,” “ecotone as a place of creativity” and “ecotone as a place of emergency.”

Mapping Meaning actively explores what might emerge from the exchange of ideas generated through an interdisciplinary process. All forms of submissions are encouraged (including presentations, field sessions, performances, film, sound etc.) Each day will consist of an outdoor session, group discussion and selected participant presentations or artwork. Unlike other conferences there is only a nominal $45 fee to attend. This $45 confirmation/registration fee covers all food and housing for 5 days. Selected participants are expected to cover personal travel expenses to/from Capitol Reef, Utah.

Please note that space is limited to approximately 15 women. 
Applications are due by May 1 and selected applicants will be notified by May 15.