Negotiating Morbid Spaces: a symposium

Society faces major economic uncertainties and austerity measures where the strain of living is increasing and where humanity's vulnerabilities and fragility are being tested and exposed on multiple levels. Rising individueligh, shifting religious belief systems and aggressive consumerism have shifted attention from death, aging and dying whilst embracing morbidity, darkness and bleakness. This has taken the form of death tourism, mass media experiences in the form of horror and dark fantasy films and a focus on (the denial of) death, dying and resulting anxiety in our culture more broadly. This symposium seeks to engage these foci through a focus on the relations between morbidity, space, and media whilst relating these phenomena to questions of deviancy.

Combining an interest in the use and interpretation of space and morbidity the purpose of this event is to critically explore these issues through an interdisciplinary approach. Topics for discussion include but are not limited to:

• Horror, violence and the macabre a Bleak urban space
• Dark Tourism
• Cities, homes and other spaces of containment,
• Slavery and death
• Morbidity and Media

Speakers:

• Professor Elaine Campbell (University of Newcastle)
• Dr Gareth Millington (University of York)
• Dr Rowland Atkinson (University of York)
• Dr Tracey Potts (University of Nottingham)