Call for papers: Maritime, migration and tourism history at crossroads

An interesting call for papers to the conference of the International Maritime Economic History Association in Ghent (Belgium) June 2-6, 2012.

Call for papers: “Maritime, migration and tourism history at crossroads: global maritime networks and their impact on the movement of people”

Proposals are invited for sessions at the 6th conference of the International Maritime Economic History Association in Ghent (Belgium) June 2-6, 2012.

The aim of the sessions is to highlight the importance of maritime passenger travel in the academic fields of maritime, migration, tourism and travel history and to explore the potential for new research by fusing methods, sources, and approaches used in each discipline. Despite the impact of maritime networks on the global movement of people throughout history, passenger transport has received little attention by maritime historians. It is true that the tonnage employed for passenger transport remained marginal compared to freight transport. Yet passenger lines were often the first to introduce new technologies and business strategies into the shipping world.

We invite papers that reappraise the importance of all forms of passenger transport in maritime history. This call is not only addressed to maritime historians but also to migration and tourism historians. Tourism and travel history is quickly gaining popularity as an academic field yet few studies have dealt with the means by which the vast majority of world travel was carried out. Sail and especially steam shipping played a crucial role in the development of global tourism. The same applies to the field of migration history, where most focus has been on why people migrate and very little on how. Nonetheless, there is growing awareness among migration historians that the influence of the shipping world may have been more important than what has been ascribed to so far. Embedded in pre-existing trade routes, both tourist and migrants often travelled on the same ships that were steered by long-established maritime networks. By exploring the connections between these various networks, the organizers of the sessions want to create a new platform for research enhancing the collaboration between maritime, migration and tourism historians.

If interested, please send an abstract and short CV by February 21st to Torsten Feys Torsten.Feys@UGent.be

The IMEHA is an international society which publishes the International Journal of Maritime History (IJMH) and Research in Maritime History (RIMH). The society also sponsors conferences and provides assistance for the study of maritime history.