CFP: Physical Cultural Studies’ 6th Annual Student Conference

Call for Papers -- Physical Cultural Studies’ 6th Annual Student Conference:

“Through The Looking Glass: Regulating the [Active] Body”

Graduate Students in the Physical Cultural Studies Program (PCS) at the University of Maryland are hosting the 6th annual PCS conference, “Through the Looking Glass: Regulating the Active Body,” on April 26, 2013 on campus in College Park, Maryland. The conference, run in conjunction with the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland's School of Public Health, will feature a keynote address by Dr. Jaime DeLuca, professor of Kinesiology at Towson University, a notable alumnus of the PCS program.  Dr. DeLuca is a scholar in the study of sport and physical cultures, and her recent work is discussed on the PCS website http://www.umdpcs.org. 

This is a call for papers to be presented at the conference. The submission deadline is March 17^th. Please submit abstract/proposals of less than 350 words to umdpcs@gmail.com with “PCS conference submission” in the subject line. You should receive a confirmation of acceptance into the conference by March 27^th. Papers do not have to be complete pieces of research but must be ready for authors to present on the day of the conference.

This year’s conference theme is “Through the Looking Glass: Regulating the Active Body.”  The body has become an important focus of research across multiple disciplines and particularly within critical studies of physical culture.  Active embodiment, particularly in its relation to sport and health-related activities, is being constantly contested, understood and [re]articulated in contemporary culture.  This conference seeks to be a forum for presentations that builds upon an increasing focus on the body.  To help push such work in new directions, we encourage presenters to experiment/develop nuanced theoretically-driven analyses of [active] embodiment.  Examples of potential topics on embodiment could include:

--expressive/agentic site for contesting, resisting of power

--intersection of the body or sport with policy/politics

--intersection with healthist ideologies

--sport and the body as contested mode of expression

--historical “long residuals” of the body and sport in society

--grassroots formation of social or cultural bodies/groups/ideas

--any other applicable and relevant “subaltern” conception of the body

Intended as an interdisciplinary conference, we seek to create a space for work that develops from within or across multiple academic disciplines including, but certainly not limited to, Cultural Studies, Kinesiology, Sport Studies, Sociology, Public Health, History, American Studies, and Women’s Studies. Therefore, we strive to advance a program of presentations from scholars at multiple institutions, silos, schools or departments and will accept a wide ranging set of presentation proposals.

For questions, please send e-mail correspondence to umdpcs@gmail.com.  We look forward to seeing you at the University of Maryland, College Park campus, in April.