Special Issue Editors
- Kate McPherson, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
kathryn@yorku.ca - Kevin Witherspoon, Lander University, Greenwood, S.C., USA
kwitherspoon@lander.edu
Women’s basketball today is enjoying unprecedented media attention and popular support – contemporary trends which are both fascinating and fun. The histories of the women’s game are equally compelling: while there has been some important research on (often) American university teams and leagues, many elements of the sport’s past need significantly greater scholarly attention.
This call for papers seeks scholarly articles which explore elements of women’s basketball’s histories in diverse global and local contexts.
We welcome articles that consider women’s roles as athletes, coaches, officials, administrators, investors, athletic therapists, journalists, fans and even legislators. Submissions may focus on any chronological period and any geographic region and may centre amateur, community, professional and/or elite level of play. We are particularly interested in submissions offering critical analyses on how sexuality, age, race/racism, nationalism, feminism, or faith might have shaped women’s opportunities and experiences in basketball, including the organizational power of the gender binary itself.
Given the range of historical perspectives possible, we understand that articles may well draw on diverse forms of evidence, including archives, newspapers and the periodical press, memoirs/autobiographical publications, oral histories, league records and visual materials.
Submission Instructions
- We seek scholarly articles based on original research.
- We expect a Fall 2026 publication for the special issue.
- Final papers must be less than 10,000 words, inclusive of endnotes. Please see IJHS website for submission format.
- Paper proposals should be 300-500 words. Please add a shor firefat author bio with the proposal.
- Submit proposal to kathryn@yorku.ca.
