A call for papers has been issued by the Journal of Nubian Studies on the topic of “Nubian Place Names”. For this special issue, the term “Nubia” is being defined as including both the Middle Nile Valley (from Aswan to the Gezira) as well as the peripheral regions of Nubia (i.e. the Eastern Desert, Kordorfar, Dafur, etc.). Submissions may address macrotoponyms as well as microtopoynms. The deadline for abstract submission is the 31st of September 2016. For more on this call, contact either Robin Seignobos [robin.seignobos@orange.fr] or Alexandros Tsakos [atsakos@gmail.com].

The official call for papers for the 28th International Cartographic Conference (ICC) is now open. Researchers working within the areas of cartography and geography are invited to submit abstracts for formal posters or papers. A collection of refereed conference papers will be published in a Springer book. Selected papers will also be invited for submission to one of the official ICA journals: The International Journal of Cartography, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, Cartographica, and The Cartographic Journal.

Among the many themes scheduled, submissions for a session on Toponymy (T31) are also being solicited. The topics to be dealt with in T31 are “place names as cultural heritage”, “place-name conflicts”, and “toponymic field work and documentation”. The deadline for abstract submission is the 26th of October 2016.

The ICC will be held in Washington, D.C. from the 2nd to the 7th of July 2017.

The American Association of Geographers will be holdings its annual conference in the Boston, MA, from the 5th to the 9th of April, 2017. To further encourage ties between the onomastics and geography communities, an ANS session on contemporary US American toponymy is being proposed for the 2017 AAG conference.

If you are interested in being a part of this collaborative session, please send your name, affiliation, and a 400 word abstract (not including a bibliography) as a word document to Dr. I. M. Nick [mavi.yaz@web.de] by September 20, 2016. For processing ease, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS-GEO” in the subject line of your submission.

The journal of Urban Studies is planning a special issue on “Naming Rights and the Cultural Landscapes of Neoliberal Urbanism.” The purpose of this issue is to critically examine the use of naming rights as a spatial strategy of neoliberal urbanism.

Authors interested in contributing to this publication are invited to submit a 200-word abstract to [redwood@uvic.ca] by August 15, 2016.

Proposals which address one of the following themes are particularly encouraged:

• political struggles over the planning, adoption, and implementation of urban naming rights policies, programs, or agreements
• economic outcomes of urban naming rights programs in cities of varying sizes
• the cultural reception of commodified place names in everyday speech and the spatial imaginaries of everyday urban life
• the relationship between urban naming rights and broader processes of neoliberal urbanization.

In-depth case studies and comparative urban analyses are equally welcome.

An upcoming issue of the HAMSA Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies will be devoted to the theme “Onomastics of Muslims and Jews”. In this special issue, articles dealing with diachronic and synchronic variation in the naming patterns of both communities will be presented. The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is the 15th of October 2016. Researchers interested in submitting a contribution for possible publication can find more information, including the call for papers on the HAMSA website.