This announcement serves to ‘raise awareness’ of the Inaugural Global Congress on Sports and Christianity (IGCSC), York St John University, 24-28th August, 2016, thus, allowing interested parties to plan their attendance well in advance. Individuals who are interested in receiving further information with regard to the IGCSC, such as, the ‘Call for Papers’ and ‘Booking Forms’ (to be distributed March/April 2015), should email the congress convener, Dr Nick J. Watson at igcsc2016@yorksj.ac.uk
Please note that even at this early stage there has been significant interest in this event and delegate places are limited.
Overview of IGCSC
In light of the dramatic increase in academic research activity and practical initiatives on the topic of sports and Christianity over the last decade, the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at York St John University (YSJU), York, UK are hosting an Inaugural Global Congress on Sports and Christianity (IGCSC), 24-28thAugust, 2016. The Bible Society and YSJU are collaborating in the development and delivery of this global event (see http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/). York St John University campus is at the heart of the beautiful and historic city of York, which boasts one of Europe’s finest Cathedrals, York Minster (see http://www.visityork.org/). A part of the congress is a sport-themed service in York Minster. The Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines will be delivering a sport-themed sermon.
The IGCSC will be held over four-and-a-half-days and will comprise: a gala dinner, keynote lectures (see below), parallel sessions, a panel discussion led by the Bible Society, a three-hour seminar for each of the eleven ‘thematic strands’ (see below), a ‘student forum’, and a networking event, in which representatives from practitioner organisations, research centres and publishers will be able to share information. One of the keynote presentations (Prof Shirl J. Hoffman) will focus on the recently published ‘Declaration for Sport and Christian Life’, which is a benchmark document for the field of sport and Christianity (see www.sportandchristianity.com).
Keynote Speakers include academics, practitioners, clergy and athletes, for example: Professors Stanley Hauerwas, Shirl Hoffman, Michael Novak, Graham Daniels (Director of Christians in Sport), Bishop James Jones and Anne-Wafula Strike MBE (paralympian).
To ensure the continued development and long-term sustainability of the field, an international organising committee has been established to devise and operationalize a long-term strategic plan to ensure similar events take place every three years (in appropriate institutions around the world). The importance and timeliness of the IGCSC, 2016, has been ‘endorsed’ by a wide variety of individuals (see Appendix 1) in this PDF brochure, which, together with the congress website, provides further information on the congress.
Abstract Submission
Abstracts of 150-175 words (no less, no more) to deliver a 20 minute oral presentation (in a parallel session) should be submitted no later than Friday 5th December, 2015. Please email abstracts as MS Word (or compatible) attached files to the event administrator, Sue Copeland, Email: igcsc2016@yorksj.ac.uk Please include a presentation title, your name, institution or affiliation, a two-sentence biography (maximum), contact address, email address and telephone number. The abstract and accompanying information should be presented in size 12-text, Times New Roman font and single spaced. A maximum of two reference citations may be included in the text body of the abstract (in Harvard style). Oral presentations should last no more than 20 minutes including time for questions. See example abstracts below.
Congress Abstracts will be reviewed by the IGCSC2016 Organising Committee and contributors will be notified of the committee’s decision by 31st January, 2016.
Visit the conference homepage för further information.
If you are interested in receiving further information about this event, email the congress convener, Dr Nick J. Watson (igcsc2016@yorksj.ac.uk ), who will add you to an email-contact list.
