Wednesday, 14 October 2009, 12.30pm, Room B18, Birkbeck, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX

In what ways can geography work with images? To what extent can public spaces be seen as a scene? Our aim is to analyse how social actions and cultural meanings are directly associated with a certain physical organization of space. Our work focuses on the interaction between these three dimensions, which consist of spatial morphology, human behaviour and social values and meanings.  We show that these interactions can be expressed not only in images but also in scenarios.  The concept of scenario proves itself to be a very powerful tool to understand the fundamental role of space and helps us explain some of the contemporary dynamics occurring in public spaces in Brazil.

Paulo César da Costa Gomes teaches at the Geography Department of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. He specialises on the epistemology of geography. His publications include Geografia e modernidade (1996) and A condição urbana: Ensaios de geopolítica da cidade (2002). From 1997 to 2000 he was a visiting professor at the Université de la Rochelle.

Letícia Parente teaches the history of geographical thought at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, where she is completing a Ph.D. on frontiers, urbanization and circulation in the River Plate Basin.