CATR 2013 - Seminar CFP - Performances Studies and Contemporary Sports

[Peter Kuling]

*Apologies for Cross-Posting*

Call for Seminar Participants
CATR/ACRT 2013 @ the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC – June 1 – 4, 2013

Seminar Topic – Performances Studies and Contemporary Sports
Seminar Leader – Peter Kuling (Wilfrid Laurier University)

“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an
endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more
than 500 drug tests and never failed one.” (Lance Armstrong)

“Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in
cycling." (UCI President Pat McQuaid)

While the results of sporting competitions appear to be rooted in facts and
statistics, athletes and spectators are increasingly confronted by a higher
degree of initiated performance strategies before, during, and after
competition. Professional sports create a complicated forum of performance
strategies regulating skill, ability, desire, performance, participation,
and celebrity; all of these “appearances” exist as part of the history of
the sporting event, despite not always being adequately reflected in the
final results or scores. Oscillations and interactions between these
different performed identities will be a key point of investigation of this
seminar.

This seminar will ask participants to use performance studies theories to
unpack and evaluate different kinds of identity performance occurring
during contemporary sporting events. Participants are encouraged to pursue
new research on specific athletes, teams, leagues, nations, fans, venues,
etc. Each participant will also be expected to produce a short paper (8 –
12 pages), which will be exchanged and critiqued prior to our seminar via
Wordpress.

What can we learn from adopting a critical focus on different performance
strategies occurring during contemporary sporting events? How do we analyze
and unpack performance input from collected groups of athletes, coaches,
commentators, and fans? To what extent do athletes, coaches, and fans enact
potentially positive and problematic identity issues in contemporary
sports?  Does “Canadian Identity” have a particular set of social qualities
associated with its identity in different leagues and sporting venues? What
approaches from performance studies are best suited to helping us publish
and circulate new research concerning contemporary sports?

Interested participants are asked to submit a 200-350 word abstract of
their proposed paper topic and a short bio to: Peter Kuling (
kuling at gmail.com) by January 15, 2013. Participants will be notified of
their acceptance by January 25, 2013, and will be expected to circulate
their 2000-2500 word papers to the group via Wordpress by May 1, 2013.
Responses to papers will also be due via Wordpress before the conference
starts on June 1, 2013. Applicants are encouraged to participate in either
English and/or French.

NB: All accepted presenters and participants are required to join CATR. For
more information on CATR and to join or renew your membership please visit
http://www.catr-acrt.ca
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