How has Brooklyn become what it is—a place of nostalgia, imagination, or fantasy as much as a territorial space, an “outer borough” of New York City?  Isn’t it time to assess critically the rapid changes in the borough over the last decade?  With tremendous growth comes certain costs, but how do we evaluate the present moment, poised between Brooklyn past and Brooklyn future?  How is “development” defined differently by different groups in different contexts?  Finally, how do Brooklyn’s diverse localities and populations reflect or even shape the future of New York, a global metropolis? 

This conference aims to be a space within which these and other questions will be addressed, discussed, even answered. The two-day gathering will combine moderated panels (in both traditional academic and roundtable formats), guided visits to local sites, artistic performances and discussion.

We welcome proposals from all relevant academic disciplines, including history, literary studies, political science, geography, and sociology. We are equally interested in proposals from those outside academia, including architects, artists, journalists, activists, urban planners and others concerned with Brooklyn in particular and urban space in general.