FELLOWSHIP: Post-doctoral in the humanities at the U. of Illinois

Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowships in the Humanities

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2014–2016

Application Deadline: Monday, October 28, 2013

The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, seeks to hire two Post-Doctoral Fellows for two-year appointments starting in Fall 2014.

The Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellows in the Humanities will spend the two-year term in residence at Illinois; will conduct research on the proposed project; and will teach two courses per year (both graduate and undergraduate) in the appropriate academic department. The Fellows will also participate in the IPRH Fellows Seminar, a yearlong interdisciplinary workshop, and will be encouraged to participate in activities related to their research available through IPRH, in the teaching department, and on the Illinois campus. Each Post-Doctoral Fellow will give a public lecture on his or her research.

The search for Mellon Fellows is open to scholars in all humanities disciplines, but we seek applicants whose work falls into one of the following broad subject areas:

• Race and Diaspora Studies
• History of Science/Technology
• Empire and Colonial Studies
• Memory Studies

Eligibility
Applicants must have received a Ph.D. in a humanities discipline between January 1, 2009 and August 31, 2013. In other words, applicants must have a Ph.D. in hand to be eligible to apply.¹ Please note that these are external fellowships; current full- and part-time faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as scholars who received their doctorates from the U of I are not eligible for these awards.

Terms

The appointment will begin on August 16, 2014, and the successful applicants must be on the Illinois campus by that date for orientation. The Post-Doctoral Fellows will be required to live within 20 miles of Champaign-Urbana during the academic years of the appointment.

The fellowship carries a $45,000 annual stipend, a $2,000 research account, and a comprehensive benefits package.²

Application Guidelines
Applications must be submitted online at this URL: https://my.atlas.illinois.edu/submit/go.asp?id=615. 
Applicants will be asked to create a password-protected account, to which they can return multiple times. The application system opens September 1, 2013 (and will not be accessible before then). No paper or emailed applications will be accepted. The application portal closes by midnight Central Time on October 28, 2013. All materials, including letters of reference, must be submitted by that time. As IPRH staff will not be available for any trouble-shooting assistance after 5:00 p.m., applicants are strongly urged to to submit their applications well prior to the close of business on October 28 (by 4:30 p.m. Central Time). Please be certain that you have reached the final section of the application system and clicked “submit” to complete your application.

In addition to completing the online application form, applicants must submit the following application materials through the online system:

1. A one-page abstract, with project title (250-300 words).
2. A detailed narrative statement (2,000 words) describing the research project the applicant will undertake during the term of the fellowship. The narrative statement should explain how the proposed project would make a contribution to the applicant’s research and advance the larger field of study; how the project would articulate with one of the four designated subject areas; and the anticipated outcomes of the proposed research. Applicants must address why the proposed research can be undertaken successfully at the University of Illinois, and should include details about programs, individual scholars, and resources at the U of I that would enrich the project.
3. A curriculum vitae (maximum 10 pages).
4. A sample syllabus for a course (undergraduate or graduate) related to the applicant’s research project that could be taught by the applicant as part of the fellowship.
5. Three (3) letters of recommendation to be uploaded by the applicant’s referees.We recommend entering your recommenders’ names and emails early in the online application process. The application system will generate an email request for letters of recommendation to those referees whose names and emails you submit, and the email will provide a link to the recipient for uploading the letter. Please note that you must enter your personal contact information first before you can proceed to entering references. Once this information is entered (and one clicks “continue” at the close of the reference-letter section), the designated referees should receive an email requesting their letters and containing a unique link at which they may be uploaded. Reference letters must be submitted via this link. Please be aware that these links expire with the fellowship application deadline; therefore, entering letter requests at the eleventh hour can result in an incomplete application at the time of the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please maintain communication with referees to ensure they have received the emails with links and are aware of the deadline. Applications for which all three letters of recommendation have not been uploaded by midnight Central Time on October 28^th will be deemed incomplete and will not be considered.

The letters of recommendation should come from senior colleagues who are familiar with the applicant’s work and the proposal being made for the fellowship. Letters must address the specifics of the project being proposed for the fellowship, the applicant’s research and teaching skills, and the contributions the proposed project would make to the broader scholarly community. (Only three letters will be accepted.) Because the letters must address the specifics of the proposal and the position being sought, we strongly discourage applicants from sending general dossier files. Applicants choosing to use a dossier service, such as Interfolio, should allow ample time for the service to upload the reference letters to their applications. The process can take several business days, so last-minute requests to dossier services could result in incomplete applications, which will not be considered.

Deadline
Online applications must be complete and submitted, including all letters of support uploaded, by midnight on October 28, 2013, after which the application portal closes. The application system can be found at: https://my.atlas.illinois.edu/submit/go.asp?id=615. Deadline extensions will not be granted. The review committee will consider only complete applications. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all documentation is complete, and that referees submit their letters before the deadline.

Notification
All applications will be acknowledged via e-mail, and all applicants will be notified when the search has concluded. Please do not contact IPRH about the status of an application; because of the volume of applications IPRH receives, we are unable to answer questions about individual applications.

Click here to be taken to the application system, where you will be asked to create an account. The system opens September 1, 2013.

Questions about these fellowships may be addressed to Dr. Nancy Castro, Associate Director of IPRH, at 
ncastro@illinois.edu or (217) 244-7913.

 1 Applicants who have completed ALL requirements for the PhD, includng defense and depost of the final copy of the dissertation, by August 31, 2013, but are still awaiting official conferral of their degrees by their insitutions, must supply a letter from the registrar attesting to their having completed all the requirements including deposit by August 31st, and, preferably, stipulating when the degree will be officially conferred.2 Foreign nationals’ benefits eligibility is contingent upon meeting a “Substantial Presence Test,” as determined by IRS rules: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96352,00.html.
URL: http://chad.illinois.edu

SCHOLARSHIP: PhD Opportunities at Lincoln University, NZ

PhD Scholarship Opportunities in Recreation and Tourism at Lincoln University, NZ

Applications are now open for scholarships in Lincoln University’s Department of Social Science, Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Sport (SSPRTS) in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Department has a long history of international research excellence and is currently seeking applicants for a number of doctoral scholarships. These include a series of scholarships in strategically important research areas:

SSPRTS Department Doctoral Scholarship

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp?PageMode=View&scholarship_id=594

Tourism and Protected Areas Doctoral Scholarship

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp?PageMode=View&scholarship_id=596

Food, Wine and Agri-tourism Doctoral Scholarship 

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp?PageMode=View&scholarship_id=593

 Tourism Destination Management Doctoral Scholarship

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp?PageMode=View&scholarship_id=595

All scholarship applications close 1^st October, 2013.

In addition, Lincoln University has a number of open scholarships for PhD students:

Lincoln University Doctoral Scholarship 

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp?PageMode=View&Scholarship_id=211&srch_qualification=133

Lincoln University Graduate scholarship 

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp?PageMode=View&Scholarship_id=204&srch_qualification=133

Further information: 

Brief introduction to the SSPRTS department:

http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Faculty/Environment-Society-and-Design/Department-of-Social-Science-Parks-Recreation-Tourism-and-Sport/ 

Outline of staff interests and potential supervisors in SSPRTS:

http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Faculty/Environment-Society-and-Design/Environment-Society--Design-staff/Department-of-Social-Science-Parks-Recreation-Tourism-and-Sport/

General info on PhD:

http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Degrees-Diplomas-and-Certificates/Postgraduate/Postgraduate-degrees/Doctor-of-Philosophy---PhD/

Full scholarship database:  

http://www2.lincoln.ac.nz/forms/scholarships.asp

CFP: 2013 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference

2013 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference
Constructs of Globalization and Cultural Competencies: Navigating in a 
Changing Global Economy
http://www.nasss.org/conference/2013-conference/ 
The theme recognizes and highlights relevant aspects associated with globalization (e.g., cultural contexts, ethnicities, religion, gender, race, sexual orientation, spatial identity, sport policy, social responsibility/accountability).

November 6-9, 2013
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Conference hotel– Hilton Quebec http://www.hiltonquebec.com/en/

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AND COMPLETE SESSION PROPOSALS 
(Due Aug 9, 2013)
*Please distribute widely*

Due to time constraints, we are calling for two types of submissions

1. Complete Session Proposals.  These include the title, organizers and 3-4 themed abstracts.  Workshops, panels or roundtable sessions fall into this category.
2. Individual Abstract Submissions. These will be organized into sessions with shared themes by the Conference Organizing Committee.  Posters and oral presentations fall into this category

Each session (of 3-4 papers) will be 90 minutes long.  Abstracts and complete session proposals should be related to the conference theme, Globalization/Cultural Competencies, where possible. Please submit in the following format:

Complete Session Proposals should be submitted on-line using this link to enter the information below.

1. Type of session, which includes 3 options: (a) paper presentation session (usually 3 or 4 papers presented orally); (b) panel or roundtable session (the session organizer invites 3 or more participants to discuss a specific theme; participants do not present a paper per se and do not submit an abstract); (c) workshop session (designed to incorporate discussion/ interaction around a topic that may be more practically oriented).
2. Title of the session (maximum of 20 words)
3. A short description of the proposed session (maximum of 200 words)
4. Name, affiliation (university or institution) and email address of the organiser(s)
5. Author name(s) and affiliation, paper title, and abstract, for each paper in a paper session.

Individual Abstracts should be submitted in using this link:

1. Title of the presentation (maximum 20 words)
2. Abstract (maximum 200 words)
3. Name, affiliation (university or institution) and email address of the presenter/s
4. Session Focus you would prefer: e.g., race/ethnicity, media, methodology, etc. 

TO BE CONSIDERED, ABSTRACTS and SESSION PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED 
NO LATER THAN midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) on Aug 9, 2013
Any questions should be emailed to 2013nasss@gmail.com.

All submitters will be contacted in August regarding acceptance

JOB: California State University

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, EAST BAY          

FACULTY EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

           

DEPARTMENT OF KINESIOLOGY

FULL-TIME TENURE-TRACK – DEPARTMENT CHAIR

*OAA Position No. 14-15 KIN-DEPTCHAIR-TT

THE UNIVERSITY:  California State University, East Bay is known for award-winning programs, expert instruction, diverse student body, and a choice of more than 100 career-focused fields of study. There are two scenic campuses—one in the Hayward Hills overlooking San Francisco Bay and the other in the Concord foothills of Mt. Diablo—plus a professional center in dynamic downtown Oakland. The two campuses’ proximity to the major Bay Area cities provides unique cultural opportunities including museums, art galleries, aquariums, planetariums, plays, musicals, sports events, and concerts. Their nearness to the Pacific Ocean and Sierra Nevada Mountains offers recreational diversion as well as excellent laboratories for educational studies. The ten major buildings of the Hayward Hills campus, on 342 acres, contain over 150 classrooms and teaching laboratories, over 177 specialized instructional rooms, numerous student oriented computer labs and a library, which contains a collection of over one million items accessible through HAYSTAC, its on-line catalog. CSUEB’s Concord Campus provides full instructional support for several programs (http://www20.csueastbay.edu/concord/). Its five buildings on 395 acres feature lecture halls, seminar rooms, computer labs, science labs, an art studio, theatre and library. The University has an enrollment of approximately 13,000 students with 600 faculty. CSUEB is organized into four colleges: Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences; Business and Economics; Education and Allied Studies; and Science. The University offers bachelor's degrees in 45 fields, minors in 66 fields, and master's degrees in 31 (in addition to Special Majors). Other programs lead to teaching, specialist, pupil personnel services, and administrative services credentials. To learn more about CSU, East Bay visit http://www20.csueastbay.edu.

THE DEPARTMENT: Kinesiology is housed in the College of Education and Allied Studies, where 55% of students are female, 29% White, 23% Hispanic, 21% Asian/Pacific Islander, 11% African American, and 16% Mixed or Other. The kinesiology department has over 600 majors and offers baccalaureate and master’s degrees. The department has a long tradition of taking a disciplinary approach to the field of kinesiology and requires a broad core for all students. Expertise of the current tenure track faculty range from humanities to social/behavioral sciences to life sciences, as well as pedagogy and other applied practices. The department currently has the following undergraduate options: Therapeutic Studies (for the allied health fields); Exercise, Nutrition, & Wellness; Physical Education Teaching, and two new options: Social Justice in Sport and Physical Activity Studies. The program offers the opportunity to teach and conduct research with a diverse student body and faculty.

DUTIES OF THE POSITION: This is a department chair position. It requires leadership and management across all aspects of department functions. The chair is expected to:

• Provide innovative and progressive leadership to the department.
• Work collaboratively with 10 tenure track faculty, 20 part time faculty, 5 staff members and nearly 600 majors to achieve departmental goals.
• Assume administrative and budgetary responsibility for all department programs.
• Encourage and participate in scholarship activities.
• Promote continual quality assurance and development of undergraduate, graduate, and scholarly programs.
• Articulate the role of kinesiology at the college, university, and community level.
• Teach selected graduate and undergraduate classes.
• Participate as a member of the college council of chairs leadership team.

Please note that teaching assignments at California State University, East Bay include courses at the Hayward, Concord and Online campuses.

RANK AND SALARY: Associate to Full Professor.  Rank and salary is dependent upon educational preparation and academic experience.  Subject to budgetary authorization.

DATE OF APPOINTMENT:  Fall Quarter 2014

QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must have an earned doctorate in kinesiology or closely related field with specialized preparation in one or more of the content areas offered in the major core. Additionally, applicants should have a well-established record of scholarly productivity. Candidates for this chair position will be expected to provide clear and compelling evidence of collaborative leadership, faculty support, and the promotion of academic programs within a public university structure. Experience in fundraising and development of external support is most desirable. Candidates must be committed to a broad cross-disciplinary approach to kinesiology and the stated mission and student learning outcomes of the department and CSU East Bay. Preference will be given to applicants with demonstrated interest in professional or community-based applications in kinesiology and support of a diverse student body largely preparing for kinesiology-related professions outside academia. An innovative vision of the role and application of kinesiology over the next 20 years and beyond will be highly valued.

Demonstrated ability to teach, advise, and mentor students from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. Additionally, applicants must demonstrate a record of scholarly activity. This University is fully committed to the rights of students, staff, and faculty with disabilities in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. For more information about the University’s program supporting the rights of our students with disabilities see: http://www20.csueastbay.edu/af/departments/as/

APPLICATION DEADLINE First deadline: Oct. 15, 2013.  All positions will be considered open until filled. Please submit a letter of application, which addresses the qualifications noted in the position announcement; a complete and current vita, and names and affiliations of three people who can provide a reference letter when called upon. https://my.csueastbay.edu/psp/pspdb1/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL

If you have any questions regarding the position please contact Dr. Jeff Simons, Chair search committee, or Dr. Penny McCullagh, Chair, Department of Kinesiology by email:

Dr. Jeff Simons: jeff.simons@csueastbay.edu

Dr. Penny McCullagh: penny.mc@csueastbay.edu

NOTE:  California State University, East Bay hires only individuals lawfully authorized to work in the United States.  All offers of employment are contingent upon presentation of documents demonstrating the appointee's identity and eligibility to work, in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, CSUEB does not discriminate on the basis of any protected categories: age, ancestry, citizenship, color, disability, gender, immigration status, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran’s status.  The University is committed to the principles of diversity in employment and to creating a stimulating learning environment for its diverse student body.

CFP: 2013 Barbara Brown Student Paper Award

CALL FOR PAPERS – NASSS Student Members

2013 Barbara Brown Student Paper Award

HISTORY

Barbara A. Brown was a professor of sport sociology at the University of Western Ontario from 1983 until 1990, when she died of cancer at the age of forty. Dr. Brown, who was President-Elect of NASSS at the time of her death, was widely recognized for her expertise on women in sport and leisure, her political commitment to extending girls' and women's opportunities for participation in sport, and her contributions to the development of a professional community of sport sociologists. She was also a dedicated mentor and teacher whose invaluable work with students is appropriately memorialized in the naming of this award for her.

INSTRUCTIONS

·       Papers may not exceed 30 double-spaced pages, including notes, tables, and references (which also need to be double-spaced).

·       Papers should be free of any reference to the author(s) in order to ensure blind review.

·       Authors should follow a consistent style (e.g., APA) throughout the paper, and should include line numbers to facilitate reviewer comments.

·       Authors should include a cover page with the title of the paper, their full contact information, institutional affiliation, degree program, advisor’s name and contact information, and award category for submission (master’s or doctoral).

ELIGIBILITY

·         Authors MUST be members of NASSS at time of submission. Please be sure that your membership status is updated and current.

·         Papers do not need to be submitted for presentation at the NASSS conference (though most are).

·         Authors must be enrolled in a graduate program at the time their paper is submitted.

·         Papers that have undergone formal, peer review for publication are not eligible for the contest.

·         Papers must represent student-produced inquiry only. Limited input from supervisors (e.g., general feedback on structure and content, recommendations for editing) is acceptable, but papers on which supervisors have had substantial input (e.g., analysis of data, writing or rewriting of sections of the paper) are not eligible.

·         The committee will accept one (1) submission per author.

·         Papers that were previously submitted for consideration and not awarded may be resubmitted for consideration, provided the author and paper meet all other criteria.

·         In the event that a co-authored paper is selected as winner, the authors will share the prize.

·         When warranted, the committee will offer up to two (2) awards, one (1) for a Master’s Student and one (1) for a PhD student.

·         Only papers deemed by the committee to be truly outstanding will be considered for the award, and thus there is a possibility that no awards will be given for either or both award categories (i.e. Master’s and PhD).

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

Papers will be evaluated on the following criteria:

·       Explanation of Conceptual Framework

·       Analytic Clarity and Currency

·       Organization and Clarity of Expression

·       Discussion or Interpretation

·       Contribution to Knowledge-Impact

·       Relevance to NASSS/field

·       Adherence to Consistent Referencing Style (e.g., APA)

PRIZES

The award recipient(s) will receive up to $1000 towards their NASSS conference expenses, plus a waiver of the conference registration fee. The Student Paper Award Committee may also give up to two honorable mentions in each category. Students receiving an honorable mention will have their conference registration fees waived. In addition, all authors will receive feedback on their papers, which will hopefully benefit the authors.

SUBMISSIONS

The DEADLINE for submissions is September 15, 2013.

Papers and any questions should be sent via email to:

Dr. Theresa Walton, Student Paper Award Committee Chair

E-mail: twalton1@kent.edu

JOB: San José State University

San José State University
San Jose, California
ANNOUNCEMENT OF POSITION AVAILABILITY
Subject to Budgetary Approval

Chair, Department of Kinesiology
Job Opening ID (JOID): 22663

Rank: Professor
The Department of Kinesiology at San José State University seeks an energetic and creative leader who will advance the department’s vision of being “dynamic leaders on the cutting edge of innovative physical activity, sport, and fitness,” and who has a commitment to student success and excellence in applied research and professional practice.

Qualifications:
The candidate will have a doctorate in Kinesiology or related discipline from an accredited university, and a strong record of scholarship, teaching, and professional achievement sufficient to merit a tenured appointment as Professor. The candidate will possess strong management and leadership skills, excellent communication and mentorship abilities, and a demonstrated ability to lead strategic planning and innovatively implement projects and programs. Candidate must have demonstrated ability to foster a collegial organizational climate and have had experience in multicultural environments working with highly diverse faculty, students, and staff. Successful applicants will have awareness of and sensitivity to the educational goals of a multicultural population as might have been gained in cross-cultural study, training, teaching, and other comparable experiences.

Responsibilities:
The Chair will be responsible for advancing the mission and strategic directions of the Department of Kinesiology at San José State University at the local, state, national, and international levels. The Chair is the administrative and academic leader of the department and is ultimately responsible for curricula, new program development, administering and monitoring the departmental budget, attending to personnel matters, providing accreditation leadership, maintaining an effective record of teaching and scholarly activities, promoting community engagement, the development of collaborative and interdisciplinary activity in research, teaching and instruction, and for assisting in the management and development of financial resources. The Chair will also be responsible for representing and promoting the Department within the College of Applied Sciences and Arts and San José State University, and to the various kinesiology professional communities, including advocacy of the needs and interests of students, faculty and staff. The Chair will oversee work at the Timpany Center, a county-owned facility 4 miles from campus, for community members who are older and/or have a disability.

About the Department:
The department offers bachelor’s and master’s programs that are appropriately accredited. Concentrations at the master’s level include: athletic training, exercise physiology, sport studies, sport management, and a general program. The department is one of ten professional programs in the College of Applied Sciences Arts, the largest and one of the most innovative colleges on campus. The Kinesiology Department has approximately 1000 undergraduates, 125 graduate students, 16 tenured/tenure track and 50 part time instructors, 5 staff, extensive general education and contemporary physical activity classes. The Chair provides leadership and receives input from four program coordinators (activity, general education, undergraduate, graduate) and a part-time Associate Chair. Kinesiology faculty and students are actively involved in collaborative and interdisciplinary research and professional activities within the college and university, as well as locally, nationally, and internationally and place a high value on service to the university and in the community. The buildings housing Kinesiology are undergoing total renovation/modernization in 2013 and 2014. The Chair works cooperatively with the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Associated Students regarding the shared use of these buildings.

Salary Range: Commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Starting Date: July 1, 2014
Eligibility: Employment is contingent upon proof of eligibility to work in the United States.

Application Procedures: 
For full consideration send a cover letter stating interest; a statement that includes teaching interests/philosophy and research plans; a detailed description of your vision for advancing the department’s mission, increasing student success, and promoting continued excellence in applied research and professional activities at the local, national, and international levels; a curriculum vitae; and the names of five references with contact information. Submit all documents electronically to Shirley Reekie, Chair of Search Committee, at shirley.reekie@sjsu.edu, by October 15, 2013, to:

Prof. Shirley Reekie, Chair, Search Committee,
Department of Kinesiology
College of Applied Sciences & Arts
San José State University
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0054
Please include Job Opening ID (JOID) on all correspondence.

San José State University is California’s oldest institution of public higher learning. The campus is located on the southern end of San Francisco Bay in downtown San Jose (Pop. 945,942), hub of the world-famous Silicon Valley high-technology research and development center. Many of California’s most popular national, recreational, and cultural attractions are conveniently close. A member of the 23-campus CSU system, San José State University enrolls approximately 29,000 students, a significant percentage of whom are members of minority groups. The University is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty so our disciplines, students and the community can benefit from multiple ethnic and gender perspectives.

San José State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to nondiscrimination on the bases of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender status, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, or covered veteran status consistent with applicable federal and state laws. This policy applies to all San José State University students, faculty, and staff as well as University programs and activities. Reasonable accommodations are made for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose. Note that all San José State University employees are considered mandated reporters under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and are required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

The latest San José State University Safety 101 Uniform Campus Crime and Security Report is available. You may request a copy of San José State University’s annual safety report by contacting the University Police Department at (408) 924-2222 or by visiting the University Police Department website at http://www.sjsu.edu/police.

CFP: Fifth International Conference on Sport and Society

Fifth International Conference on Sport and Society
UNIVERSO, Niteroi
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
16-17 July, 2014

Conference Focus
The Sport and Society knowledge community is brought together by a common concern for scientific policy and strategic perspective in sport and society.

We are inviting proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, or colloquia (See Proposal Types), addressing one of the following themes through the lense of the intersection of Sport and Society:

• Sporting Cultures and Identities  
• Sports Education
• Sport and Health
• Sports Management and Commercialization
• Special Focus for 2014: Sport and Development

For more information about the ideas and themes underlying this community, see Our Focus. Proposal ideas that extend beyond these thematic areas will also be considered.

Virtual participation is available for those who are unable to attend the conference in person. Proposals for virtual presentations may be submitted at any time, up to the start of the conference.  All conference registrants (in-person and virtual) may also submit their written papers for publication in the journal that supports this knowledge community.

Submit a Conference Proposal
To learn more about preparing and submitting your conference proposal, including guidelines, deadlines, and "how-to" information, go to Submitting Your Work: Conference Presentations.

Conference Details
To learn more about the conference, including speakers, session formats, venue, registration, and the like, stay in The Conference section of the website and use the navigation bar on the left to access desired information.

Sport and Society in Rio de Janeiro
The Sport and Society conference is hosted by UNIVERSO - Universidade Salgado de Oliveira in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. The conference is excited to visit Rio de Janeiro mere days after the exciting conclusion to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is a prime time to explore the relationship of sport and society through our many thematic lenses, and especially the influence of Sport and Development, which is one of our special themes for the 2014 event.

CFP: Producing sporting performance - Sociologie du Travail (France)

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

The periodical Sociologie du Travail occasionally publishes themed numbers based on a public and open call for contributions, coordinated by a team made up of external colleagues and members of the editorial board.

The upcoming special number of Sociologie du travail will cover research on the production of sports performance, with the aim of offering a diversity of sociological viewpoints on this form of work which go beyond mere criticism of sports marketing. In this approach, research questions to potential contributors are identified as avenues for exploration that are open and not mutually exclusive. Here, these questions relate to four major lines of investigation.

Producing sporting performance

Coordination: Olivier Aubel, Didier Demazière, Olivier Le Noé, Fabien Ohl, Catherine Paradeise

Contribution proposals should take the form of a text of 8000 to 10,000 characters (excluding bibliography). They must be e-mailed to the assistant editor of the journal socio.dutravail@sciences-po.fr before 30 October 2013.

There has been fairly extensive sociological research done since the late 1990s on activity in the sports sector. In France, much of this work has focused on subjects such as the professionalisation of sports organisations, athletes’ careers, the emerging outlines of a job market in sport, or careers for university graduates in sports sciences. This research has coincided with the emergence of a structured professional “sports” sector and has largely concentrated on professions in sport, in particular the identification of specifically sports-related skills. At international level, researchers, particularly in the English-speaking world, have focused more on sexual and racial discrimination in access to the sports employment markets, and on the globalisation of these markets and its effects, exploring issues such as migration amongst sports workers.

In this relatively rich field of research, the work involved in producing performance – in the sense of competition-oriented practice – has been less widely investigated, despite the fact that classifications and hierarchies lie at the heart of the worlds of sport. Such research as has been done on this topic of the production of performance has taken a largely critical perspective, looking at the different ways in which that production is subordinated to the activity of athletes.

This call for contributions arises out of this recognition of the situation of sociological research on sports work. The objective of the forthcoming special issue of Sociologie du travail is to cover research that focuses on the production of performance, in order to provide a diversity of sociological viewpoints on these labour-intensive activities and to go beyond a simple critique of the marketing of sports activity. In this approach, the research questions proposed to contributors are identified as open and not mutually exclusive avenues for exploration. Here, they are formulated around four major axes.

1. Organisation of the work and production of performance 
Performance in sport is often individually embodied in the figure of the champion. However, producing performance demands organised work to which many actors and institutions contribute. Who does what, with whom and how to prepare athletes for competition, recruit them, train them, treat them, fund them or create their media profile? Is it possible to identify the division of roles, the alliances, the conflicts and the hierarchies that emerge with varying degrees of clarity between the different bodies, professional or otherwise, involved in producing performance (trainers, agents, doctors, managers, as well as family, friends, etc.)? How are the contributions of these different actors coordinated, whether in the detection and training of a potential elite athlete, or in the selection and differentiation of talents within the group? Another possible question concerns the mechanisms that make the collective nature of this process invisible, which focus the spotlight exclusively on the superstar and the exception. Other potential questions relate to the skills and qualifications that provide access to these professional groups, such as high-level experience of sport, scientific and technical expertise, etc.

2. Experience of the work and production of performance 
Performance in sport is the outcome of long preparation, a mix of training and socialisation, commitment to learning processes and interpretation of specific experiences. Issues that could be explored here include the practice of physical preparation activities themselves, e.g. physiological care, but also the competitive arena itself, in particular the media profile of performances. How do athletes reconcile the two spheres of meaning in which their practices require them to operate: the world of high-level sport, which can often be precarious, and the “secular” world where their public entertainment is produced, funded, utilised and consumed, but where some also experience celebrity? The experience of the work in the production of performance can also be investigated through the processes of socialisation that accompany improvements in performance: what are their effects on the practices and representations of sports workers, how are these workers supported, managed or assisted in these processes? Another possible area of study could thus be the link between, on the one hand, the pleasure mechanisms associated with a form of work in which the body is the instrument, and on the other hand, the more painful experiences arising from intensive labour that places stress on bodies and minds.

3. Vagaries of the work and production of performance
Sports performance develops through processes that differ from one discipline to another, but all are marked by uncertainties and changes of fortune. Although objective, data-based research remains to be done on the subject, precariousness seems to be a feature of the careers of many athletes engaged in the production of performance. Are there ways to identify more effectively the uncertainties they face, the career interruptions, the flexibility of their working conditions and the fragility of their economic and legal status? In addition, is it possible to describe the practices and systems used to combat the vulnerabilities and vagaries inherent in preparing for competition? The degree to which public and private sports actors are aware of these multiple factors varies greatly. Some sports disciplines include career (and post-career) support policies, but in what do these consist and what impact do they have? What is the role of international, national or local sports organisations in regulating the process of training for sports performance?

4. The markets for sport and production of performance
Sports performance is valued in disparate ways, reflecting the conditions of heterogeneous labour markets. We therefore need a better understanding of these markets, which link the distinctive properties of athletes as workers with the symbolic and monetary rewards that express their value. What are the comparative tests through which differences in performance are perceived, consolidated or argued, and by what mechanisms are they recognised, rewarded or valued? How is the commensurability of exceptional sports performance established? Do the ways in which performance is valued amplify the differences and increase the inequalities through cumulative and self-reinforcing mechanisms? How does this “sports value exchange” differ from one discipline, country and level of competition to another? Is it possible to describe the mechanisms used to regulate this equivalencing process, the network of actors who preside over it? What conflicts are there about the definition of value, and what impact do they have, particularly with respect to the institutionalisation of the criteria used to assess the sporting qualities and properties that justify the rewards? How do changes in the practice and spectacle of sport affect the economics of the assessment of specific performances?

These four axes open up multiple pathways for research, which should lead to a better understanding of the conditions, mechanisms, demands and consequences of the production of sports performance. The papers proposed should make a significant contribution to this central question, which is not confined to the issue of professionalism, developed to a different degree in different sports. Contributors are therefore asked not to confine their investigation only to so-called professional athletes. In fact, the term “sham professionalism” shows that paid athletes are not the only ones prepared to do the work needed to achieve high-level performance. In addition, research should not be restricted to sports practitioners alone; although they are often the ones in the spotlight, performance needs to be approached as a collective production. So it is important to explore the ecology of that performance and the contributions of the multiple actors (professionals, institutions, media, sponsors, spectators, family and friends, etc.), in other words to understand the athlete as a component in this productive and reproductive system. Finally, the objective of this number of the journal, with its focus on sports performance, is to take account of the variety of the ways in which the organisation, the experiences, the vagaries and the markets of the performance process are configured, by bringing together contributions on a wide range of sporting disciplines.

Potential contributors should describe their research subject and its relation to the literature, the empirical study, the materials used and the nature of the findings.

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The procedure is a three-stage process: 
1. Contribution proposals should take the form of a text of 8000 to 10,000 characters (excluding bibliography). They must be e-mailed to the assistant editor of the journal before 30 October 2013. 
2. The shortlist will be established by the coordinators, and distributed no later than 15 December 2013.
3. Authors whose proposals have been shortlisted should send their article (max 75,000 characters) to the sub-editor no later than 15 March 2014. The articles will be anonymously reviewed under the usual conditions by the journal’s editorial committee.


Assistant editor: socio.dutravail@sciences-po.fr
Coordination : Olivier Aubel, Didier Demazière, Olivier Le Noé, Fabien Ohl, Catherine Paradeise.

POSTGRAD: Sport for Social Coexistence and Conflict Resolution

Enrolment Open

I am writing with excitement on behalf of the UNESCO-FFCB-UOC Chair to share that the second edition of our bilingual online Postgraduate and Master program in Sport for Social Coexistence and Conflict Resolution is now open for enrolment and seeking talented students to start this fall.

http://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/campus_pau/formacio/fcb/index.html

The program brings together a team of internationally renowned specialists from the diverse fields of conflict resolution, international development, peace education, and sociology. It aims to explore the potential of sport as an agent of social cohesion and peace-building in volatile contexts, while equipping students with the knowledge and skills to design and implement projects for constructive change. Applicants are invited to enroll in one of two postgraduate programs, year-long each, or the entire two-year Master’s degree comprising the programs, and can choose between English and Spanish as their language of instruction.
We are happy to invite you to become a trainer for peace by joining our postgraduate or MA program and to help us spread the word about our initiative among your colleagues and friends. Please find more details in the attachment, and thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,
Claudia Solanes
Coordinator, MA Sport for Social Coexistence and Conflict Resolution
UNESCO-FFCB-UOC Chair
Campus for Peace, Open University of Catalonia
csolanesr@uoc.edu