The Visual in Sport - 13/14th June 2009

A Two-Day International Conference at Burwalls, University of Bristol.

Supported by BIRTHA (Bristol Institute for Research in the Humanities and Arts)

Directors

Mike Huggins (University of Cumbria) & Mike O’Mahony (University of Bristol)

Objectives

Rigorous analytical explorations of the intersections between visual culture and the history of sport are still relatively new, but have recently begun to attract vastly increased scholarly interest. It was only a few years ago sports historians still noted ‘the invisibility of the visual’, and a widespread reluctance to explore ‘the deeper levels of experience which images probe’; even a ‘condescension towards images’. Conversely, in disciplines that focus predominantly on the visual, sport has frequently been regarded as of secondary interest. Studies dedicated to the visual representation of the sports theme, for example, have been relatively few and far between and regarded as on the periphery of visual culture studies.

But the centrality of sport to popular culture has encouraged many scholars to begin to open up this new and exciting field. Indeed the organizers, both well-published authors in sport and visuality, are currently jointly editing a forthcoming special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport dedicated to the visual turn in sports history. To expand further this exciting field of enquiry we will be holding a conference in Bristol in June 2009.

Speakers will include:

Patrick Clastres (Paris), Paul Dietschy (Besançon), Lynda Nead (London), Doug Booth (Otago), Sandra Budy (Hamburg), Kenneth Cohen (Delaware), John Fagg (Nottingham), Lorettann D Gascard (New Hampshire), Cathal Kilcline (Galway), Fiona Kinsey (Melbourne), Benjamin Lisle (Texas), Jo Longhurst (London), Fred Mason (New Brunswick), Dylan Miner (Michigan), Pat Simpson (Hertfordshire), Rob Steen (Brighton), Elizabeth Tobey (Virginia), Bernard Vere (London), Paul Wells (Loughborough),Jonathan Wood (Leeds).

• Conference Programme (word, 47.5kB)
• Conference Poster (pdf, 528kB)

Venue

The conference will take place at Burwalls, an outstanding example of Victorian architecture situated in five acres of beautiful grounds and in the shadow of Brunel’s famous Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Fees & Enrolment

Full Conference Fee (including two nights basic accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea and coffee): £250 for two days
Day Rate (no accommodation, breakfast or dinner): £50 per day

• Enrolment Form (pdf, 32kB)
• Enrolment Form (word, 63 kB)

For further information please contact Mike O’Mahony (Mike.OMahony@bristol.ac.uk)

Useful links

• University Precinct map
• Burwalls
• Hotel information
• Maps and travel information
• General information for presenters