Call for Session Proposals | “Change Agents: Cultivating the Seeds of Access within the Sociology of Sport” – The 2020 Annual Conference for the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport | New Orleans, LA, November 4–7, 2020. Call ends May 12, 2020

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W.E.B Du Bois

Sport diaspora has developed beyond the allusion that it belongs to a particular group. Sport is interwoven into the lives and cultures of people globally and has an inherent and inimitable ability to connect people while providing opportunities to transform individuals and communities. However, the notion of inclusive sport diaspora in many spaces would remain exclusive without the change agents who have sojourned to empower pathways of access, which illuminate the invisible individual, thus, promoting their valuable power to the collective community. In the Sociology of Sport, diaspora can be applied as ground-breaking, pioneering, and inventive. Nonetheless, for this evolution of sport access to occur, the cultivation of the seeds that foster change, must be nurtured. As described by W.E.B. Du Bois (1995) “Proof Of The Seed”, he states “To be sure, good seed proves itself in the flower and fruit, but the failure of the seed to sprout is no proof that it is not good. It may be proof simply of the absence of manure— or its excessive presence”(p. 473). The North American Society for the Sociology of Sport is positioned uniquely to provide a platform in New Orleans, Louisiana that supports inclusive access which is primary toward the production of ideas where sport access is mandatory, and the intentionality to cultivate spaces that empower participation are vital to our global sport communities.

The theme spotlights the necessity for Ujima, collective work and responsibility. Thus, we challenge the membership to submit sessions that promote, stimulate, and encourage the values of mentorship, collaborative ingenuity, inclusive sport diaspora, and how you/we cultivate the seeds of cultural competence across the Sociology of Sport spectrum.

We encourage session organizers to illicit creativity and innovation in the development of topics. We also encourage sessions that challenge dominant philosophies of the hegemonic structures.

This call will generate session topics for conference participants to choose from during the Call for Abstracts in April. Session organizers for included sessions are responsible for accepting or declining participants to their sessions.

Session Formats

Proposed session topics are due May 12, 2020. Please note the following different format options:

      • Open paper presentation sessions (3–5 papers per session). These sessions will be open to submissions of well-developed research during the call for paper
      • Completed paper presentation sessions, whereby the entire session is pre-constituted (4–5 already selected papers fitting with the session topic). For these sessions, include the name, institutional affiliation, and title of each presenter along with the session abstract. The individual paper abstracts for these sessions will be due at the same time as other abstracts. These sessions can also include a commentator, who should be listed in the session proposal.
      • Panel sessions, with a focused theme to be addressed by a panel of discussants. Session organizers should include the names and institutional affiliations of panel members along with the session
      • Roundtable sessions, which can include less developed, preliminary or exploratory research. These sessions can include 4–5 presenters for 5 minute introductions of research, followed by discussion among those presenting and conference attendees who join the roundtable. These sessions can be open for abstract submissions or can be pre- constituted. Pre-constituted sessions should include the names and institutional affiliations of all presenters. Abstracts for pre-constituted sessions will be due at the same time as all other
      • Student Poster Presentation session. These sessions will be open to undergraduate students and graduate (e.g., masters, doctoral) students submissions of well-developed research presented in poster format during the call for paper

All session proposals must include the name, institutional affiliation, and email address of the session organizer; a title (10 words maximum); and a brief abstract (150 words maximum) that describes the session and ideally how the session fits into the conference theme. Indicate which type of session you are submitting for consideration. For pre-constituted and panel sessions, include the names, titles and institutional affiliations of the presenters in the session.

Submission Process

Submit session proposals online at: https://nasss.org/call-for-sessions/ by May 12, 2020.

Questions

Direct any questions to the Conference Committee Chair, Algerian Hart at ahnasssconf2020@gmail.com

Timeline

Session organizers will be notified of the acceptance of their proposed session on or before April 20, 2020. The Call for Abstracts will be released on May 1, 2020. Deadline for submission of individual Paper Abstracts is June 10, 2020. Session organizers will notify authors of abstract acceptance and submit their completed sessions (4–5 papers/presentations) no later than June 15, 2020. Final completed session submission is due July 1, 2020.

New Orleans +1 Initiative

In partnership with the Diversity and Conference Climate Committee Chair, Dr. F. Michelle Richardson, the 2020 Conference Committee is pleased to continue the “+1” initiative. The goal of this initiative is to expand the audience for the NASSS conference to include those who have never attended the NASSS conference or who have not attended for some time. NASSS members are encouraged to invite a +1; this can be a colleague, student, peer, or friend who has never been to NASSS and to invite them to register and participate in the conference. As you are considering organizing a session and/or submitting an abstract, we encourage you to bring your +1 to New Orleans, LA, USA!

We especially encourage bringing undergraduate students to get ambitious students engaged with NASSS early.

Share the Call

Feel free to distribute this Call for Sessions and the coming Call for Abstracts with your colleagues, other academic networks, organizations and listservs.

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