The 28th annual conference of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) will be held 31 October through 3 November 2007 at the Marriott City Center Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The theme for this year’s conference is “Beyond Other Boundaries: Sport within/against/across Borders.” Those interested in organizing a session should submit a session proposal by May 25, 2007 to the program chair, C. Richard King, via the Session Proposal form.
CLR James classic work Beyond a Boundary serves a touchstone and inspiration for this year’s theme, drawing on his critical engagements with cricket in the West Indies to encourage discussions of physical cultural studies that explore his core concerns, namely the complex, and often contradictory, connections between culture and politics, race and class, local and international, as well as structure and autobiography. At the same time, this year’s theme seeks to examine issues unthought by James, including
(a) diaspora and transnationalism,
(b) transgression and containment,
(c) hemispheric and comparative approaches to sport, and
(d) dis/identfications.
Indeed, “Beyond Other Boundaries,” ask its participants to think critically about the ways in which sport makes possible the creation, crossing, contestation, and complication of social boundaries, while prompting reflections on the politics of knowledge, culture, and identity central to playing, consuming, and studying sport. As such, we encourage diverse approaches to physical cultural studies from a range of theoretical, methodological, (trans)national, social, and political positions. Even as we trace the sharp edges and expose novel opening in sport studies, we welcome sessions not directly related to the conference theme. As in the past, we solicit session titles with very broad themes as in the past (e.g., “Sport and the Media”) along with sessions that promote specific or focused content related to the theme.
For further information or discuss emergent ideas, please contact Program Chair C. Richard King or a member of the program committee:
C. Richard King, Program Chair
Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies
Washington State University
P.O. Box 644010
Pullman, WA 99164-4010
Office: 509-335-2605
Fax: 509-335-8338
Email/Courriel: crking [at] wsu.edu
An Early Reminder: A second call seeking papers and posters will begin shortly after the 2007 sessions have been proposed and finalized. The final deadline for submitting paper abstracts and poster abstracts will be June 30, 2007. Look for the “2007 Call for Paper and Poster Abstracts” as well as more details about keynote speakers and conference activities in early May on the NASSS conference website.
General Time Line for 2007 Conference Planning:
Thank you for submitting a session proposal for the 2007 NASSS Conference. We are lucky to have a scholarly community that is at once engaged and enthusiastic. As you know, proposing a session provides an important service to the field, which nurtures the development of new ideas in sports studies, fosters intellectual interaction, and contributes to the vibrancy of NASSS. Although you will not begin receiving abstracts until early June, I wanted to reiterate the expectations and responsibilities associated with organizing a session.
Once the Call for Papers goes out, abstracts will be directed to individual organizers as designated by presenters or as deemed appropriate by the Program Chair. Please acknowledge receipt and at your earliest convenience the fit of proposed contributions with your session based on the criteria outlined in your session proposal, sending those founding wanting back to the Program Chair with an explanation. It is your responsibility to notify authors of their acceptance as well as to forward that acceptance to the Program Chair, who will in turn send a forma letter of acceptance. It will also be your responsibility to decide how many abstracts you will accept for your session, knowing that sessions typically contain three or four presenters and run 90 minutes. Anticipate a rush of abstracts near, or even after, the deadline. Finally, as the deadline approaches, if your session has a number of gaps, please be in communication with the Program Chair to ease the myriad pressures associated with finalizing the program.
As in the past, the submission of session once complete will follow a standard and fairly simple procedure.
If you receive more abstracts than you are able to include in a single session, you may wish to add another session on the same theme. If this is the case, please notify the Program Chair as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations can be made. If you do not wish to organize an additional session, please return these to the Program Chair so that they may be placed with another session.
Please remember you are the primary connection between the Conference Committee and individual presenters. We ask that you inform participants of their acceptance and keep the Program Chair apprised of individual concerns, including scheduling and technology requests.
Moreover, do not promise anything to participants that you cannot deliver—whether that be the scheduling of the session or financial payment.
While it is important to wait until the deadline passes before making decisions about sessions, some scholars, especially those traveling from outside the United States may need earlier notification and official documentation. In such situations, please alert the Program Chair immediately.
I look forward to working with you assemble an exciting conference program. Again, thank you for contributing to NASSS by agreeing to organize a session. Your efforts help ensure the success of the 2007 Conference. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at crking[at]wsu.edu.
Sincerely,
C. Richard King
Take me to: Session Proposals
