Physical Cultures of the Body, A Virtual and In-Person Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS
CONFERENCE DATE:
Thursday, January 11, 2024: Virtual Conference on Zoom
Friday, January 12, 2024: In-Person at Stark Center
ABSTRACTS DUE: NOVEMBER 19, 2023
How to submit a paper/session
ABSTRACT ACCEPTANCE: December 3, 2023
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 announce that the 2024 Physical Cultures of the Body Conference will be a two-day hybrid event. In this, our fourth annual conference, we welcome papers 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 many of you will choose to present in person this year and perhaps also make time to use the Stark’s resources during a visit to Austin. By meeting together we can, hopefully, learn more about each other, discuss our work, create new collaborations, and help the field of Physical Culture Studies continue to grow.
Conference Schedule:
Thursday, January 11: Virtual Conference using Zoom: For those who participated in previous years, the format will be the same on Thursday. The virtual conference will consist of 75-minute sessions, thematically arranged, containing three papers of 20 minutes each and a 15-minute discussion period. The organizers will attempt to create sessions from individual papers, or you can submit an entire session of three papers and/or a panel presentation. Scholars already in Austin on Thursday will be able to watch the Zoom sessions at the Stark Center on our big screen.
Friday, January 12: In-Person Sessions at the Stark Center: We hope to use the same 75-minute format for our in-person sessions, which will be held at the Stark Center on Friday. A special feature on Friday’s program is a session dedicated to Dr. John Fair’s new biography, Tommy Kono: The Life of America’s Greatest Weightlifter (McFarland Press, 2023). This excellent book was made possible by the acquisition of the Tommy Kono papers, now housed at the Stark Center. Dr. Jason Shurley and Dr. Fair are both scheduled to speak in that session.
Please note: All presenters on Friday are expected to be in Austin. We are not anticipating having some people on Zoom while others present in person. Our aim is to try and bring our scholarly community together. Coffee, other drinks, snacks and a free lunch will be provided to conference attendees on Friday. We will share information on hotels and other matters when we know more about total number of Friday attendees. The archives will be open all week before the conference if you wish to come early and do research.
The conference is also sponsored by the Stark Center’s Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture. The journal has established two awards for the conference: The David P. Webster Award for Best Graduate Essay and The Terry Todd Award for Best Paper by a Working Scholar. Each award winner will receive $300.00. Iron Game History is peer-reviewed and highly cited as all our back issues are on-line and free to all for download. Submissions from scholars at all stages of their careers, and from all academic disciplines, are welcomed. To learn more go to: Iron Game History.
This is a free conference. There is no charge to present a paper or simply attend the conference as an audience member. We will require registration to watch the Zoom sessions on Thursday and to be an audience member at the Stark Center on Friday. Registration for audience members will open in late December on our website. Certificates will be sent to presenters following the event for evidence of your scholarly participation.
There is no charge to present a paper or simply attend the conference as an audience member. We will require registration to watch the Zoom sessions on Thursday and to be an audience member at the Stark Center on Friday. Watch our website for future details.
Past Conferences:
