CALL. 19.03.2018: Athletics and identity in the Ancient and Modern World - St. Andrews (Scotland)
FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 19/03/2018
FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 20-21/09/2018
LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: Parliament Hall, University of St Andrews (St. Andrews, Scotland)
ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: School of Classics of the University of St Andrews
INFO: web - athleticsandidentity2018@gmail.com
CALL:
Despite the increasing inclusion of ancient sport into the mainstream of classical scholarship and the rise in research on the links between athletics and identity in ancient culture, there has been relatively little collaborative academic work on that subject. It is the aim of this conference to bring together scholars, especially postgraduates, researching across disciplines on different aspects of athletic practice, from a multitude of perspectives, methodologies and cultures. Through this initiative we aim to advance our understanding of the role of athletics in ancient Mediterranean society. We are not limiting ancient culture to just Greece or Rome. Recent scholarship has shown that the influence of the other earlier Mediterranean sporting cultures had a significant impact on the development of Greek sport (Decker 1992, Rolinger 1994, Scanlon 2006, Puhvel 2002). Taking this fact into consideration, we also plan to raise questions about near-Eastern as well as Greco-Roman sporting culture, and about the interrelations between them.
More specifically, this conference aims to understand what it meant to be an athlete in the ancient world, and what range of options were available for representing athletes in public commemoration. Do different kinds of sources (literature, inscriptions, art) represent athletic identity consistently? Lastly, how does the depiction of athlete and athletic identity change from the Archaic period to Late Antiquity? These are only a few of the main questions we will be addressing. We hope this conference will enlighten us on the complex relationships of identity formation, self-representation, sociopolitical identity, and the physical regime of becoming an athlete and how these aspects changed over time. We particularly welcome papers from postgraduate students on festivals, their participants and material culture; the athletic body and the culture of the gymnasion; other ancient cultures and their athletes; female athletes and their commemoration. Those wishing to present a paper of 20-30 minutes should submit an abstract of up to 300 words to athleticsandidentity2018@gmail.com by Monday 19 March 2018. Submissions must also include personal details (Name, affiliation, and email). We strongly encourage postgraduate submissions. If you have any further queries please don’t hesitate to email athleticsandidentity2018@gmail.com. *Confirmed speakers: Prof Onno van Nijf (Groningen), Prof Zahra Newby (Warwick), Prof Stamatia Dova (Hellenic College Holy Cross and Center for Hellenic Studies), Dr Sofie Remijsen (Amsterdam), Dr. Sebastian Scharff (Mannheim).