As many of you know, The Stark Center hosted a virtual conference on January 15, 2021, called Physical Cultures of the Body. Twenty-one scholars representing thirteen different countries presented papers on the symbolic and cultural importance of the healthy and active body with reference to issues of race, gender, injury, strength, performance, eugenics, and much...
News, Blogs & Updates
Remembering Sean Connery as a Bodybuilder and Athlete
Thomas Sean Connery’s breakthrough as an actor came in 1962 when he was cast in the role of James Bond, Agent 007 of the British Secret Intelligence Service, a fictional character adapted for the screen from Ian Fleming’s spy novels. Connery portrayed Bond in seven films, all of which were immensely successful. The worldwide...
Stark Center materials quoted in an article on Dudley Allen Sargent
An article about Dudley Allen Sargent, “Belfast man pioneered physical education, influenced basketball’s creation and field hockey’s U.S. introduction”, published in the Penobscot Bay Pilot quotes some resources at the Stark Center. The article quotes Jason P. Shurley, Jan Todd and Terry Todd’s book Strength Coaching in America: A History of the Innovation That Transformed...
Congratulations to Ryan Murtha!
Ryan’s essay, “Untangling the Differences between Live and Filmed Sport, or Why are Sports Movies Bad?” was selected for the R. Scott Kretchmar Student Essay Award by the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport (IAPS). A three-member IAPS panel grants the award to an essay of outstanding quality addressing any philosophical issue arising in...
A Statement on Racial Injustice
We at the Stark Center would like to offer our support to those courageous folks currently seeking solutions to the racial injustices which have plagued this nation since its founding. These deep-rooted issues permeate all facets of American life, including public health, as we’ve seen during the current COVID-19 pandemic, but also the realm of...
Lunchtime Lecture with Dr. Broderick Chow on April 25th from 12-1pm
Please join us for a special lunchtime lecture with Dr. Broderick Chow, Senior Lecturer in Theatre at Brunel University London, based on his paper Becoming an Image: The Practiced Life of Stanley Rothwell. Dr. Chow’s research examines performance, art, and physical culture, and in this talk, he will explore physicality, performance, and self-presentation in Rothwell’s...
On the First Lady of Fitness, Betty Weider
Although Joe and Ben Weider are both widely recognized for their many contributions to fitness, most Americans know less about Betty Weider’s long involvement with fitness and the important role she played in launching the women’s fitness movement of the 1980s. This recent article does a nice job of highlighting some of her contributions. We...
Clarence Bass at the Stark Center – Conference on Exercise Science and his New Book Take Charge.
Join us to celebrate the new book Take Charge: Fitness at the Edge of Science and the lifelong achievements of the author and bodybuilder Clarence Bass at a symposium on the role of science in exercise prescription. Three panels led by world-renowned experts will discuss the implications of recent research on physical training. The symposium...
A Historian at the Crossroads of History
In early September 2012, Dr. Paul Dimeo, arrived at the Stark Center on the University of Texas campus. Dimeo, a professor and sport historian from the University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland, has been visiting UT as a Fulbright Scholar, and he has been using the archives available at the Stark Center and surrounding areas....
