Physical Cultures of the Body, A Virtual and Face-to-Face Conference
PHYSICAL CULTURES OF THE BODY VI
CONFERENCE DATES: January 8-9, 2026
REGISTER TO ATTEND: Click here!
CONFERENCE PROGRAM: Click here!
As home to one of the world’s leading research groups dedicated to the study of physical culture, the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports is proud to host the sixth Physical Cultures of the Body Conference, a hybrid event. Our focus remains on historical and other humanities-based approaches to the study of exercise, strength, sport training, strength athletes, competitive lifting, the healthful benefits of exercise, and all other aspects of what we call “physical culture” across the millennia. Our hope is that more scholars, presenters, and viewers will attend the conference in person this year and perhaps also make time to use the Stark’s resources during a visit to Austin. We hope that by meeting together we can learn more about each other, discuss our work, create new collaborations, and help the field of PC studies continue to grow.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, January 8:
Virtual Conference using Zoom
Virtual Day, All sessions delivered via Zoom.
A Zoom link will be sent following your registration.
Register once to attend both days.
REGISTER TO ATTEND – Click here.
9:30am
Basudhita Basu – Defending Her Own ‘Body’: Historicizing Women’s Entry in the Physical Culture Movement of Colonial Bengal
Asim Kumar Halder – Training the Body, Healing the Self: The Martial and Medicinal Epistemology of Kalaripayattu, India’s Own Martial Art
10:30am
Natascha Louw – Women’s Herstory Matter
Tatiana Konrad – Outdoor Sports, Disability Rights, and the Environment in The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
11:30am
Louis Neymon – From the Force Culturiste to the Force Athlétique: France’s Culture Physique and the Early Days of French Powerlifting
Mark Doyle – Barbells, Bulking and Bourdieu: The Social Transmission of Transformation in Powerlifting
12:30pm
Emma Pihl Skoog – ‘Dad on Parental Leave!’: Weightlifter Lennart “Hoa-Hoa” Dahlgren and the Construction of a New Dad in the Swedish Social Insurance Agency’s Campaign of the 1970s
Alec Hurley – Strongmen of the Valleys: Uncovering the Influence of Eugen Sandow in the Welsh Valleys During the Early 20th Century
John Fair – A Philadelphia Story: The William J. Herrmann Physical Training Institute
2pm
Airnel Abarra – “Empowerment of Hegemonic Subservience?”: Visualizing Female Bodybuilding in the Developing World
Hallie Franks – American Venuses: Ancient Sculpture and Women’s Physical Culture
3pm
Eduardo Galak – ‘To Remain United in Spite of All Vicissitudes’: Images of the Consequences of the Firpo–Dempsey Fight (1923) and Its Political Uses
David Chapman – American Champions: A Lost Legacy of Olympic Paintings
Friday, January 9:
In-Person Sessions at the Stark Center
Attend the in-person conference at The Stark Center or register to watch on Zoom.
REGISTER TO ATTEND – Click here.
Please note: Our aim is to try and bring our scholarly community together. Coffee, other drinks, bagels, and snacks will be provided to conference attendees on Friday.
9:30am
Keisuke “Jima” Nakajima – On the Artificiality of Athletic Bodies: Technosomata in Physical Culture
Simon J. Bronner – The Domestication of Physical Culture: The Growth and Function of the “Home Gym”
10:30am
Jonathan White – Lifting in Country: Launceston Elliot, Tom Pevier, Thomas Inch, and the Disorganization of British Weightlifting from 1891-1910
Dimitris Rigalos – “Strong as Tofalos!”: The Greek Strongman, Dimitrios Tofalos and the Politics of Strength
11:30am
Mitch Snow – The “Dance of the Pole”: Ritual, Strength Training and Public Entertainment in Preconquest Mexico
Emalee Nelson Stone – Keiki in Motion: Camp Erdman, the YMCA, and the Pursuit of Health from the 1920s to Today
12:30-1:30pm
Lunch Break
1:30pm
Martin Shuster – Critical Theory and/of Lifting
Jan Todd – A Forgotten Scottish Strongman: Jacobite John Murchison and His Lifting Stone
2:30pm
Cory Johnson – The Ideal Body Under Duress: The Uffizi Pankratiasts
Charles Stocking – Between Average and Ideal: Classical Sculpture and the Body Mass Index
All are welcome. There is no charge for admission.
For questions, please email conference co-organizers:
Kim Beckwith – kim@starkcenter.org
Jan Todd – jan@starkcenter.org
Charles Stocking – charles.stocking@austin.utexas.edu
VISIT AUSTIN:
The University of Texas is in the heart of downtown Austin, making it a convenient vacation spot for academics. Looking south in this photo you can see the tall UT administration tower, the rotunda of the capital building, and the skyscrapers of Austin’s vital urban center. Come join us and see why people have made Austin one of America’s most popular destinations.
