Summary: This talk will consider theories of spatialisation and the application of topology to cultural studies via recent and historical examples. Rob Shields is Academic Research Director for the City-Region Studies Centre. He also serves as Henry Marshall Tory Chair, professor in the Department of Sociology and professor in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta. His research career focus has been Urban Cultural Studies, particularly the social uses and meanings of the built environment, urban spaces and regions, including tourist destinations and local identities. He is also interested in the impact of changing spatializations on cultural identities. His book publications include The Virtual (London, Routledge 2003), Lefebvre, Love and Struggle: Spatial Dialectics (London, Routledge 1999) and Places on the Margin: Alternative Geographies of Modernity (London, Routldege 1991).
