Theme: Borders without Boundaries

Brock University welcomes the opportunity to host Congress May 24 to 30, 2014 in conjunction with the celebration of the University’s 50th anniversary. The year 2014 marks as well the anniversaries of the end of the War of 1812 and of the beginning of World War I, both defining moments in Canada’s growth to nationhood. “Borders without Boundaries” invites reflection on the links between the academy and the community, the mediation of boundaries in a virtual world, the development of the new conceptions of rural and urban spaces, and the place and definition of friends, citizens and peoples in our social, academic and politically defined communities. The theme refers to the University’s proximity to the geopolitical border with the USA and primarily to the need to think, work and create beyond traditional disciplinary, historical, cultural and social boundaries. Located within an important viticulture region and in the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve as well as on the historic site of the War of 1812 and of the last station of the Underground Railroad, Brock will celebrate its historical and environmental heritage. Congress 2014 showcases the potential of the academy to challenge, redefine and reconfigure borders and boundaries through transdisciplinary research, engagement, imagination and service.