Tag: Conferences: Sport history

To be an athlete (athlētēs) in Ancient Greece meant taking on a challenge (athlos) for the sake of some prize (athlon)—but it extended far beyond sport. Athletic striving was a feature of oratory, politics, jurisprudence, music, drama, education, and even philosophy, which understood moral virtue in terms of excellence (aretē). The purpose of this conference is to explore this athletic ethos in sport and far beyond it by reflecting on the phenomenon of competitive striving in a variety of practices at various times and places in Greco-Roman antiquity.

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King’s historic victories at Wimbledon in 1975, the All England Lawn Tennis Club is delighted to announce The Tennis History Conference: ‘Trailblazers in Tennis’. This theme celebrates individuals, innovations, and movements that have reshaped the sport of tennis and left an enduring legacy. We invite proposals for papers and sessions that explore the concept of trailblazing in tennis from a variety of perspectives. The conference will take place at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon on Tuesday 9 December 2025.

The British Society of Sports History Annual Conference is an open-themed conference. Submissions based on original research are welcomed by UK and overseas scholars and can relate to any aspect of sport, physical recreation, education and culture, as considered from a historical perspective. Please note all presenters must be BSSH members. Registration will open shortly via the Ulster University online store. Members will be informed when this is available. Abstract submission deadline is on Wednesday 7th May, 2025.

The human body is the center of all physical activity, and since prehistoric times, individuals have engaged with and understood their bodies in various ways. Humans have utilized their bodies for movement, social interaction, competition, and the construction of personal identity. Throughout history, the perception and representation of the body have evolved, influenced by a multitude of social, economic, political, and cultural changes. In the context of physical education and sport, the body represents not only biological functions and individual performance but also encompasses broader dimensions of identity and expression.

This conference is intended to provide a platform for considering the social, political and cultural significance of both combat as spectacle and sport and war, without restriction of time and space. With the Royal Armouries, the national collection of arms and armour, as the backdrop, it seeks to link the latest intellectual discoveries with the benefits of working up-close with collections and artefacts.

The British Society of Sports History exists to promote the study of the history of sport. The annual conference 2024 will be an open-themed conference. Submissions based on original research are welcomed by UK and overseas scholars and can relate to any aspect of sport, physical recreation, education and culture, as considered from a historical perspective. This year, the BSSH is also offering a small number of bursaries of up to £100 to contribute towards the costs of childcare, or other caring responsibilities.

To enhance the small state and Nordic perspective on international sports politics, we are inviting scholars from all disciplines to a workshop at Stockholm University, planned to take place in November 2024. The topic is the relationship between sport and foreign policy in the Nordic Countries during the Cold War. This topic should be understood broadly, both as the efforts of government agencies to use sports to promote their policies, and debates and strategies to handle questions in relation to foreign politics among sports federations and athletes.

What is the sport scholar’s role today? Overall, we believe it is necessary to reflect on how scholars of sport and adjacent fields tell what Fields calls “‘good stories’” to the public. We open this workshop to individuals who have gone beyond academic journals to critically examine recreation, sport, and/or leisure through teaching, museums, public policy, activism, new media (podcasts, social media, documentary), or any number of alternatives. Overall, the idea is to reflect, share, and write about their responsibility to the public and their efforts to provide “good stories.”

The aim of this congress is to improve our understanding of the interactions between individuals and groups that shape more or less interdependent worlds, the dynamics of which set the pace for the globalization of sport and Olympism. Thus, the analytical approach favoured by this congress will pay particular attention to the multiple ways, situations and (re)configurations of making (worlds) of sport and Olympism - be they cultural, political, social or geographical.

The 2024 annual International Football History Conference will take place at Cardiff City Football Club, Cardiff, Wales and will be held over two days (June 7–8, 2024). This is a call for papers to be presented at the conference. There will be an opportunity to present on any topic relating to the history of football of all codes. Keynote speaker is Florence Ayisi, a Professor of International Documentary Film at the Faculty of Creative Industries, University of South Wales, best known for films on women playing soccer in Zanzibar.