2020 Special Focus—Playful Minds: Physical Activity, Social Potential and Cultural Settings
The social, personal, and work demands of contemporary society, intensified by ubiquitous digital communication platforms, are increasing degrees of pressure on everyday lives of ordinary people. The effects of this intensification are mirrored in high-performance sport and the lives of its athletes. Additionally, for the lives of everyday people, levels of physical activity have been shown to decline. As a result, we see a spike in the number of everyday people and high high-performance athletes suffering from various kinds of mental or physical health condition. Thus, there comes a demand to identify potential pathways that could improve both the lives of everyday people and in high-performance athletes. At this year’s conference, we seek to understand the causes of this current situation, and the shared conditions for everyday people and high-performance athletes. We also want to focus on exploring strategies to improve health pathways, grounded in the social dimensions and cultural settings of physical activity. This includes the organizational strategies of national and international governing bodies of sport that regulate a large deal of participation in leisure and elite sport on the local, national and international levels.
We invite proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, virtual lightning talks, virtual posters, or colloquia addressing one of the following themes:
Theme 1: Sporting Cultures and Identities
On sport’s motivations, meanings and purposes. Includes the psychology of sport and the interplay between individual identities and access, equity, and participation in sports. Examines the social and sociological aspects of sport, the impact of cultural traditions and cultural differences on how sports are played or viewed, and the influence of sports on national, ethnic, or community identity.
Theme 2: Sport and Health
On the relationship of sports participation to physical, mental, or emotional health and wellbeing. Includes the study of health, nutrition, exercise science, sports medicine, and biomechanics. Examines the relationships between health/physical fitness and other aspects of life (cognitive abilities, work performance, social interactions).
Theme 3: Sports Education
On learning about and through sport. Includes physical and health education in schools and communities, teaching and coaching techniques. Examines how sports programs in schools and communities promote learning, tolerance, social cohesion, and community development.
Theme 4: Sports Management and Commercialization
On sports organizations, leadership, and management. Considers sports and sporting events as commercial activities. Explores the impact of sports and sporting events on communities, nations, international relations. Includes sports as a profession and the roles of professionals (athletes, coaches, media and marketing professionals) within it. Examines policies, rules and regulations, and laws related to governance and participation.
Further details about the conference are available from the website.
