I want to host an international conference on imaginary nations, please help me with every single thing possible!

I am a political scientist interested in **the project of a conference on imaginary and hypothetical nations.** *If you have not heard the terms before, please go through the following intro for my conference.* \------------ **What is Worldbuilding?** Worldbuilding is the art of creating a fictional and imaginary world. It mainly encompasses fictional countries in imaginary nations. This can be done by a wide variety of people: video game developers, fantasy writers, indie artists or even politicians. Worldbuilding is used by the latter to create utopian, dystopian or hypothetical situations through the development of fictional imaginary countries. \------------ **What is the aim of our conference?** The project of this conference would be to **bring international and diverse people who want to give a talk or presentation on imaginary or hypothetical countries or nations.** Through the diversity of our guests, we aim to explore the various aspects of imaginary nations, especially the political aspects of these imaginary nations, as we believe that political science can **enlighten a lot the process of worldbuilding and vice versa.** In short, **we don't want to host imaginary nations experts, but rather experts who can bring a new understanding and perspective on imaginary nations and worldbuilding.** \------------ **Why are imaginary nations useful?** **In political science**, imaginary nations have been used by international relations experts to predict the outcome of certain international events or to evaluate the consequences of a political decision. It is also used by political experts to study political theories, for instance liberalism or realism, and apply them to certain global political situations and see the outcome. In the field of geopolitics, imaginary nations are often used to predict which regions of the world might or will become independent or not. It is also used by political experts to study political theories, for instance liberalism or realism, and apply them to certain geopolitical decisions or issues and see the outcome. For instance, how would the independence of Northern Ireland affect the United Kingdom? **In tourism and economics, imaginary countries are used to test the feasibility of economic investment by the government, such as investing in national parks, and to predict tourist tendencies.** **In climate science, imaginary countries or nations are used to predict what the world will look like if the sea levels rise. For instance, what will happen to Europe or the Americas if the sea levels ominously rise?** \------------ **Examples of imaginary nations:** * **Prussia** (Germany): Although it **does not exist anymore**, Prussia is still used in political science to study the regionalism of Germany. Historically, Prussia was the country that unified Germany, however, after World War II, it was erased from the map. For many **Prussians, it is a nostalgic lost country.** Many wish that it had never been erased from the map. Prussia is also used in the field of geopolitics to predict which regions of Germany will become independent or not in the future. For instance, **how will the independence of Prussia affect Germany?** * **Euskadi** (Spain and France): Used by independence activists to imagine the independent Basque Country, Euskadi is a very common example of an imaginary nation used to evaluate the outcome of a political decision, in this case, the independence of the Basque Country. For instance, **how will the independence of the Basque Country affect Spain and France?** * **Northern Ireland** (Ireland): Used in the field of geopolitics, Northern Ireland is used to imagine the independence of Northern Ireland, and to evaluate the outcome of such a political decision. For instance, **how will the independence of Northern Ireland affect the United Kingdom?** * **Taiwan** (China): Taiwan is used by international relations experts to imagine the independence of Taiwan and to evaluate the political and international consequences of such an event. **How will China react to the independence of Taiwan?** * **Kurdistan** (Middle East): Imaginary imaginary Kurdistan is used by international relations experts to evaluate the political and international consequences of an independent Kurdistan. **How will the independence of Kurdistan affect the Middle East?** * **Southern United States** (USA): Used in the fields of international relations and geopolitics, the imaginary independence of the Southern United States is used to evaluate the political and international consequences of such a scenario. **How will the independence of the Southern United States affect the remaining United States?** * **Alsace** (France): Although independence movements are dying out in this French region, independent Alsace imaginary independence is used by international relations experts to evaluate the political and international consequences of such an event. **How will the independence of Alsace affect the European Union? How will it affect France?** * **Scotland** (UK): Used by international relations experts to evaluate the political and international consequences of an independent Scotland. For instance, **how will the independence of Scotland affect the United Kingdom?** * **Cornwall** (UK): Although it **does not exist anymore**, Cornwall is still used in political science to study the regionalism of the United Kingdom. Historically, Cornwall was an independent region of the UK but was annexed by England. For many **Cornish, it is a nostalgic lost country and region.** Many wish that it had never been erased from the map. Cornwall is also used in the field of geopolitics to predict which regions of the UK will become independent or not in the future. For instance, **how will the independence of Cornwall affect the UK?** * **Catalonia** (Spain): Used by international relations experts to evaluate the political and international consequences of an independent Catalonia. For instance, **how will the independence of Catalonia affect Spain?** * **Southern Spain**: Imaginary Andalusia is used by experts to evaluate the consequences of **the independence of Southern Spain.** What would happen to Spain if it was divided into two parts? How would such a separation affect the region of Southern Spain? \------------ **Who is the conference for?** The conference is for **anyone who has expertise or interest in worldbuilding.** If you are an **expert in a field of science and believe that your expertise can bring a new point of view to imaginary nations and worldbuilding, then you are more than welcome to apply!** \------------ **How will the conference be hosted?** The conference will be **hosted online on Zoom and will be free**. We aim to host the conference in **September 2023 and will last two days.** We also plan to give the guests the opportunity to **make a presentation, a workshop or panel discussions.** \------------ **What topics and themes can I suggest for the conference?** There are many themes and topics that you can suggest for the conference. However, we would like for you to **stay within the realms of social sciences and hard sciences, and to make sure that the talk you are suggesting is related to imaginary or hypothetical nations or countries.** \------------ **Why should I host a conference on imaginary nations?** * **Diversify imaginary nations:** Although there is a lot of imaginary nations, these imaginary nations are mainly focused on **fantasy, medieval and dystopian imaginary countries.** * **Bring new perspectives to the field of worldbuilding:** By bringing international and diverse people who want to give a talk or presentation on imaginary or hypothetical countries or nations, we aim to explore the various aspects of imaginary nations, especially the political aspects of these imaginary nations. **Through the diversity of our guests, we aim to bring a new understanding and perspective on imaginary nations and worldbuilding.** * **Make worldbuilding accessible to people who are not in the worldbuilding community:** By openly welcoming people who are not familiar with the worldbuilding community, we aim to make worldbuilding accessible to more people and to make them discover **the magic of imaginary nations!** We also aim to bring people from other fields of sciences who **are not imaginary nations experts, but rather experts who can bring a new understanding and perspective on imaginary nations and worldbuilding.** * **Break the Eurocentrism in worldbuilding:** As worldbuilding mainly comes from Europe and the Western world, it is not a surprise that most of the imaginary nations and worldbuilding projects are European. Our project of conference aims to break this Eurocentrism by diversifying the origins of the imaginary nations that will be presented and to host a diverse panel of guests. \------------ **How to apply?** \-----**For guests:** \------------ To apply as a guest, **please send an email to** [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) **with your resume, motivation letter (in which you explain why you would like to host a talk at our conference) and the topic of your talk or presentation.** We will accept talk proposals until **June 28th.** \-----**For volunteers:** \------------ To apply as a volunteer, **please send an email to** [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) **with your resume and motivation letter (in which you explain why you would like to volunteer at our conference).** We will accept volunteer applications until **June 28th.** \------------ ***If you have already sent an email and have not received any answers, I want to apologize. We have had a few issues we needed to fix and we will contact you ASAP after the holidays!***

I want to host an international conference on imaginary nations, please help me with every single thing possible!

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