2021 SEDAAG Meeting and Travel Information

Join us for the the 2021 SEDAAG Annual Meeting in Florence, Alabama on Nov 21-22, 2021. Thank you to our host, the University of North Alabama. Come explore the Alabama Shoals with us!

Meeting registration is now available through the AAG: 2021 SEDAAG Registration 

The 2021 Annual Meeting Program is now available!

Field Trips

It’s not too late to sign up for a SEDAAG field trip! Please register through the SEDAAG website (which will take you to the AAG website), as you did for conference registration. You can also just show up at the hotel at departure time and if there is space we can accommodate you! Or contact Michael Pretes at mjpretes@una.edu to reserve a space.

Field Trip #1: Shoals Music Heritage

Saturday November 20. 1:00-5:00. Meet in hotel lobby. Transport provided. Eat first! $15.

Have you ever wanted to record music in Muscle Shoals? You can on this field trip! We will first visit the birthplace and museum of W.C. Handy, the “Father of the Blues,” of St. Louis Blues and Memphis Blues fame. After that we will head to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, where Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rolling Stones, and many other artists recorded. And after that we will head to Avalon Studios, also in Muscle Shoals, where you can record your own music. Instruments and guidance will be provided! Start practicing now!

Field Trip #2: Shoals Built Environment

Saturday November 20. 1:00-5:00. Meet in hotel lobby. Transport provided. Eat first! $15.

Explore the built environment of the Shoals Region along the Tennessee River Valley from past to present. The field trip begins at the Florence Indian Mound and Museum, featuring a Native American mound built around 500 BCE. We then head to the Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall, built by one man to honor his great great grandmother, Te-Lah-Nay, who made the journey back home to Alabama from Oklahoma after being forced to go there on the Trail of Tears. The Wall is the largest un-mortared wall in the country and the largest memorial to a Native American woman in the world. After seeing the Wall, we will head to the Rosenbaum House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and fully restored to its original glory.

Field Trip #3: Downtown Florence Walking Tour

Sunday November 21. 10:00-11:00. Meet in hotel lobby. We will carpool. We can find a spot to eat afterwards. Free.

Explore downtown Florence, Alabama, a city important in the Shoals region musical heritage (the original site of FAME Studios) and containing a classic “Main Street.” Witness the recent revival of downtown and learn about what actions account for the renaissance of the “Renaissance City.”

2021 Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker

Dr. Emily Yeh, AAG President

Emily Yeh is a professor in the Geography Department at the University of Colorado Boulder.  She conducts research on development and nature-society relations in Tibetan parts of China, including the political ecology of pastoralism, conflicts over access to natural resources, the relationship between ideologies of nature and nation, and the conjunctural production of environmental subjectivities.  Her book Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development (Cornell University Press 2013), explores the intersection of political economy and cultural politics of development as a project of state territorialization. She is also co-editor of Mapping Shangrila: Contested Landscapes in the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands (University of Washington Press 2014) and of Rural Politics in Contemporary China (Routledge 2014), and author of more than 50 articles and chapters.   She regularly teaches classes on political ecology, development, environment and society geography, contemporary China, and research design.

Conference Hotel and Travel Information

The conference will be hosted at the beautiful Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa

All images courtesy of Marriott

THINGS TO DO IN FLORENCE AND THE SHOALS

Hellen Keller Birthplace Home – 300 N Commons ST W, Tuscumbia, AL 35674
Saturday: 8:30 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 8:30 AM – 4 PM

Visit the childhood home of Hellen Keller in nearby Tuscumbia (~10 minutes from conference hotel).

FAME Studios – 603 Avalon Ave, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661
Saturday: 10 AM – 2 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 9 AM – 6 PM

The Shoals have a long musical heritage dating back to the 1960s, visit a number of historic recording studios in the area including FAME Recording Studios which has hosted Etta James, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, along with modern day talent such as Jason Isbell and Alicia Keys. They offer tours M-Sat. Located at: 603 East Avalon Avenue Muscle Shoals, AL 35661 (~12 minutes from hotel)

Florence Indian Mound and Museum – 1028 S Court St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: 1 PM – 4 PM
Monday: Closed
Built 2000 years ago and still a sacred space.

Muscle Shoals Sound Studios – 3614 N Jackson Hwy, Sheffield, AL 35660
Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
The breakaway studio with an equally illustrious cast of musical artists who have recorded there.

W.C. Handy House and Museum – 620 W College St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Birthplace of the “Father of the Blues.”

Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall – 13890 Lauderdale County 8, Florence, AL 35633
Saturday: 8 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: 8 AM – 4 PM
Monday: 8 AM – 4 PM
The largest memorial to a Native American woman in the world. A magical and sacred place.

Pope’s Tavern Museum – 203 Hermitage Dr, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Local and Civil War history in a roadside Inn dating from the 1820s.

Rosenbaum House – 601 Riverview Dr, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: 1 PM – 4 PM
Monday: Closed

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PLACES TO EAT AND GATHER


Odette – 120 N Court St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 11 AM – 3 PM, 5 – 11 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Modern Southern food with a Mediterranean twist. The favorite restaurant of your local conference host! One of the top bourbon bars in the South. Downtown Florence.

Yumm Thai: Sushi and Beyond– 117 N Court St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 11 AM – 2 PM, 5 PM – 10 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 11 AM – 2 PM, 5 PM – 9 PM
Thai, sushi, and pan-Asian food in a modern setting. Downtown Florence.

Jack’s Place Bistro – 118 W Mobile St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 11 AM – 2 PM, 5 PM – 9 PM
Sunday: 11 AM – 2 PM
Monday: Closed
Operated by a chef who was the food stylist for hundreds of Hollywood films. Downtown Florence.

Esther’s Eatery – 1416 Huntsville Rd, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 11 AM – 2 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 11 AM – 5:30 PM
Healthy food bowls, natural wines, many vegan and gluten-free options. In the Sweetwater/East Florence neighborhood.

Bunyan’s BBQ – 901 W College St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 6 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 10 AM – 6 PM
Alabama barbeque at its best! In the West Florence neighborhood near the W.C. Handy house.

Dick Howell’s BBQ – 1350 N Pine St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 7 PM
Sunday: 11 AM – 4 PM
Monday: 10 AM – 7 PM
Alabama barbeque at its best! Near the Seven Points neighborhood.

El Pollito Loco – 1403 E Chisholm Rd, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 11 AM – 10 PM
Sunday: 11 AM – 9 PM
Monday: 11 AM – 9 PM
Mexican food in a location near the Seven Points neighborhood.

North Wood Social – 1121 N Wood Ave, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 4 PM – 12 AM
Sunday: 11 AM – 3 PM
Monday: Closed
Small neighborhood bar with Polish food in the Seven Points neighborhood.

Rivertown Coffee – 117 N Seminary St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 9 AM – 11 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 7 AM – 10 PM
Café with coffee, other beverages, and sandwiches. Downtown Florence.

All the Best – 128 E Tennessee St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 9 AM – 6 PM
Sunday: 9 AM – 2 PM
Monday: 8 AM – 6 PM
Café with coffee, other beverages, and many class LP vinyl records for sale. Downtown Florence.

Wildwood – 108 E Mobile St, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 11 AM – 2 AM
Sunday: 12 PM – 2 AM
Monday: 11 AM – 2 AM
Popular bar, especially with a young and hip crowd. Downtown Florence.

Ridge Distillery – 1401 Huntsville Rd, Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 11 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
A local distillery holding Alabama Liquor License #1. No food, but you can get that nearby. In the Sweetwater/East Florence neighborhood.

The Carriage – 121 E. Mobile St., Florence, AL 35630
Saturday: 10 AM – 10 PM
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 10 AM – 9 PM
Wine bar and store. They also have beer and snack items.