Sport, Leisure and the Body Fall 2010 Learn Through Sport Notes from the Chair Happy Autumn! As I write this, sunlight is dancing on the few remaining leaves on the tulip tree outside my window, some chippies are attempting a break and entry burglary ob my birdfeeder, a neighbor across the way is carving jack-o-lanterns, and I’m anticipating the warmth and camaraderie of the NASSS meetings in San Diego. Not so long ago the NASSS meetings were typically my best chance to experience the fellowship of other sociologists interested in sport, leisure, and the body. Not so anymore! Although our division’s numbers are nowhere near those of NASSS (or of most SSSP divisions for that matter), what we lack in size is more than compensated for in the energy and creativity of our members. Our session at the annual meeting was very well attended and catalyzed discussions that spilled into the hallways. There were even enough sport sociologists knocking about Atlanta to have spirited, spontaneous conversations at various receptions, go out for drinks, and break bread together at the banquet. Our division business meeting was both lively and productive. We generated a list of candidates for the upcoming chair election, solicited judges for the 2010-11 graduate student paper competition, and brainstormed session ideas for next year’s meetings (more on those in a bit). In other annual meeting news, a lightly revised version of the division co-sponsored resolution regarding the Atlanta Braves passed. The SSSP executive office notified the Atlanta Braves organization and various Atlanta-area papers of the resolution a few weeks ago. As passed, the resolution condemns the use of demeaning and negative representations of Native Americans, in particular the Braves’ tomahawk chants, paraphernalia, and offensive logos. Agenda for Social Justice As you may know, SSSP’s Agenda for Social Justice will be revised for 2012. (See the CFP elsewhere in the newsletter.) This will be our division’s first chance to submit a chapter. Doing so will help alert our colleagues to the import of sport in the study and amelioration of social problems. If you’re interested in working on the chapter, and/or to suggest ideas for topics to cover, please contact Cheryl Cooky (ccooky@purdue.edu) or me ASAP. Elections for Next Chair of Division Finally, we will soon be holding the election for our next chair. Keep an eye on your inbox for election materials and VOTE. We might not be able to address the economic crisis or health care, but your division nonetheless relies on your informed participation! SPORT, LEISURE & THE BODY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING Chicago 2011 Looking ahead to 2011, I am pleased to announce that we will have five sessions when we meet in Chicago. Giovanna Follo (gfollo@emporia.edu) is organizing a session entitled “Sport Worlds/Sporting Cultures” that will explore the unique cultural formations that emerge in and around sport. How do those involved in sport and leisure make sense of what they’re doing, define identities, construct meaning and community? David J. Hutson (djhutson@umich.edu) and I (pjmcgann@umch.edu) are organizing “Sex and the Body,” co-sponsored by Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities. We are especially interested in empirical reports and/or theoretical musings that explore the role of sport in “fixing” the boundaries of sex. Of course, we are also interested in the other meaning of “sport and sex,” e.g. sport as a realm of eroticism and the erotic. Elise Paradis (eparadis@stanford.edu) is organizing our division’s thematic session on “Moving Communities.” We envision the session as a scholar-activist panel highlighting the role of sport in building community(ies). If possible we’d like to include one or two Chicago-based organizations or projects. Please contact Elise if you know of a program we should contact. We are also co-sponsoring with the Health, Health Policy, and Health Services division. That session, “Meanings of Health,” will be organized by Christina Barmon (cebarmon@gmail.com). Abstract Submission Of course, the success of our sessions depends on your participation! Please submit your work! The general CFP for the 2011 Annual Meeting is available on-line at the SSSP website (http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/390/pageid/1430/). Extended abstracts and papers must be submitted on-line no later than 31 January 2011. Please feel free to contact the organizers before that time for more information about our sessions (including inquiries about “fit” between your work and the themes). Call for Graduate Student Paper Competition The division is also sponsoring a graduate student paper competition. Papers must be submitted on or before 31 March 2011. (Please see the CFP elsewhere in the newsletter for details.) SL&B FALL ANNOUNCEMENTS I. CONFERENCES THE 6TH MEETING OF THE TRANSNATIONAL WORKING GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF GENDER AND SPORT will be held at the University of Bath (UK) on 26-27 November 2010.  The purpose of the group is to further the study of the cultural/social, political, and educational significance of the participation of females in sport, physical culture, and physical activities and to examine gender as it relates to these activities from transnational and interdisciplinary perspectives.  The group is devoted to the mentoring of young scholars in sports and welcomes scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds. If you are interested in attending, please email Dr. Megan Chawansky (mec28@bath.ac.uk) no later than 1 November 2010 so that your name can be included on the registration list. Conference fee is £20.00, payable upon arrival. THE 28TH ANNUAL QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS CONFERENCE will be held at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus in Brantford, Ontario, Canada from May 12 to 14, 2011.  WLU Brantford was the site of the 2010 Qualitatives.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Contemporary Issues in Qualitative Research.”  Featured Speakers include Adele Clarke, Peter and Patti Adler. Conference website: www.qualitatives.ca.  II. CFPs THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL PLAY ASSOCIATION (IPA) which will be held at Cardiff, United Kingdom, 4 – 7 July 2011. Proposals are sought for 20 minute papers on a topic that fits the deliberately broad themes of the two symposium/panels in English: (1) Play and Playing in the School Environment and (2) Play and Playing in the Past. The deadline for proposals is 10th November 2010. General expressions of interest are welcome at this stage as are enquires for further details. If you would like to contribute or have any questions please contact marc@marc-armitage.eu . Conference website www.ipa2011.org THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR SPORT MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE will be held June 1-4, 2011 in London, Ontario. A variety of abstract types, including empirical, methodological, conceptual, and teaching related abstracts, are welcome. Completed research or research in progress is acceptable. Presentations may be proposed as either a (1) 20-minute oral presentation (including questions), (2) poster, or (3) 60-minute full session symposium, roundtable, forum, or workshop. All abstracts must be submitted on-line by November 1, 2010 for anonymous review. Contacts: Dr. Karen Danylchuk(karendan@uwo.ca) and Dr. George Cunningham (gbcunningham@hlkn.tamu.edu). See the conference website for details: www.nasm.com/InfoAboutConference/AbstractSubmission THE 8TH EASS CONFERENCE, PEOPLE IN MOTION: BRIDGING THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL, will be held in Umeå, Sweden, from May 18th to 22th 2011. Sport is a cultural expression in societies all over the world. Seen as an international language, sport bridges the local and global. Sport is by the engagement of the body, the equipment and the place a local phenomenon. At the same time the social significance of sport is global. Thus, studies on sport and people in motion are important with local as well as global perspectives. The 2011 eass conference will address a range of critically important issues relating to the overarching theme. Plenary speakers will include leading thinkers in sports, as well as papers and posters by researchers in the field of sport sociology within a variety of empirical, theoretical and cross disciplinary studies. Keynote speakers: Carolina Fusco (University of Toronto, Faculty of Physical Education and Health, Canada); Roland Robertson (University of Aberdeen in Scotland, Director of the Centre for the Study of Globalization, United Kingdom); Janice Wright (University of Wollongong, Faculty of Education, Australia); and Kimmo Suomi (University of Jyväskylä, Department of Sport Sciences, Finland). Abstracts may be submitted on-line by 31 January 2011 at the conference website: www.eass2011.se. The Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Toronto and the Department of German and Dutch, University of Cambridge seek abstracts for the conference SPORTS AND GLOBALIZATION: CONCEPTS, STRUCTURES, CASES, to be held June 2-4, 2011, at the University of Toronto. The conference will seek to highlight the uniqueness of sport and the consequences of this uniqueness for an understanding of the globalization phenomenon. The conference aims to gather speakers from, and contributions on, a broad spectrum of countries, but particularly from newly emerging players (such as India, China, Brazil) as well as the old-world powers of Europe (especially its Eastern and peripheral regions) and North America and their traditional capillary organizations, FIFA and the IOC. Papers on the impact of globalization on Africa and sport’s as yet unrealized potential on that continent will be vital. Comparative analyses would also be particularly welcome. Presentations might focus on the following:    * What is the theoretical link between globalization and sport, and how does this link differ from other aspects of globalization?    * What sporting case studies (e.g. soccer, basketball, baseball, hockey) help us to understand the relationship between globalization and sport?    * How are we to understand the globalization of fandom with all its attendant accoutrements and paraphernalia (fanzines, blogs, dedicated club websites, replica kit sales, etc.)?    * What are the implications of the structure of sports sponsorship?    * In what ways do the major sports events (FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games) generate or indeed distort the feeling of participation in a global conversation? Key note speakers include Professor Roland Robertson, University of Aberdeen, UK a d Professor Andrei Markovits, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. Send abstracts to be submitted to cdts@utoronto.ca by 25 November 2010. Website www.utoronto.ca/cdts Call for Chapter Proposals In 2004 and 2008, the SSSP and the Justice 21 Committee published the first two volumes of the Agenda for Social Justice. Those reports contained chapters on a variety of social problems, among them poverty, educational inequality, unemployment, environmental health risks, global economic change, capital punishment, post-Katrina disaster response, gender inequality in the criminal justice system, the vulnerability of ESL students in public schools, surveillance technologies, civil unions, domestic violence. We are now beginning our work on the third publication--Agenda for Social Justice-2012. This publication is designed to inform the public-at-large about the nation’s most pressing social problems and to propose a public policy response to those problems. This project affirms the commitment of SSSP to social justice, and enables the members of the association to speak on public issues with the sponsorship of the corporate body. This report will be an “agenda for social justice,” in that it will contain recommendations for action by elected officials, policy makers, and the public at large. The report will be distributed as widely as possible to policy makers, those in progressive media, and academics. The quadrennial report will be a product of the most valid and reliable knowledge we have about social problems and it will be a joint effort of the members and Divisions of SSSP. We invite you to consider preparing a chapter for the 2012 publication. We ask you, individually or with colleagues, to consider submitting a brief proposal (1-2 pp) identifying a social problem of concern to members of SSSP, and respond to the questions: - What do we know? - How do we know it? - What is to be done? As the coordinating committee for Justice 21, we invite members to prepare a draft statement for a proposed contribution to the 2012 publication, tentatively to be produced and distributed by the Edwin Mellen Press (http://www.mellenpress.com/). For the 2012 edition, confirmed contributors include the following well-known sociologists: Frances Fox Piven, Alejandro Portes, and Amatai Etzioni. Please submit a copy of your 1-2 page proposals to each of the members of the committee by March 1, 2011, and contact us if you have questions or would like additional information. Final manuscripts will be due near the end of 2011, and will appear in print prior to the 2012 SSSP annual meetings in August 2012. Glenn Muschert (chair), Miami University, muschegw@muohio.edu Kathleen Ferraro, Northern Arizona University, kathleen.ferraro@nau.edu Brian Klocke, SUNY Plattsburgh, bkloc001@plattsburgh.edu JoAnn Miller, Purdue University, jlmiller@purdue.edu Robert Perrucci, Purdue University, perruccir@purdue.edu Jon Shefner, University of Tennessee, jshefner@utk.edu For an expanded discussion of Justice 21, see the May 2001 issue of Social Problems (“Inventing Social Justice”). To see the 2004 and 2008 publications, see the SSSP website at the following address: http://sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/323 III. MEDIA/RESOURCES THE FIGHTING SIOUX: BATTLES OVER THE BRAND Now that the Blackhawks have the Stanley Cup once again, it seems unlikely they'll consider a name change. But, many sports teams with Aboriginal names have. In North Dakota it means jack-hammering the Fighting Sioux logo out of the concrete at the stadium. ReVision Quest wonders if all the concern over Braves, Warriors, and Blackhawks is insult or homage. This CBC radio broadcast of Revision Quest discusses the aboriginal sport mascot issue on both sides of the Canada US border: http://www.cbc.ca/revisionquest/episodes/ Download an mp3 version here http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/pastpodcasts.html?89#ref89 TITLE IX INFORMATION AND ENFORCEMENT Petition to Enforce Title IX in U.S. High Schools: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/861/196/689/?z00m=19865107 General information regarding Title IX can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20100420.html A new UNICEF report: PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM VIOLENCE IN SPORT: A REVIEW WITH A FOCUS ON INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES MEDIA RELEASE FLORENCE, Italy July 2010 - A study released today by UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre states that child protection and violence prevention are not embedded in sport delivery systems, and finds worrying knowledge gaps among sports teachers and coaches. As a result, the report says that the same types of violence and abuse sometimes found in families and communities can also occur in sport and play programmes. Protecting Children from Violence in Sport: A review with a focus on industrialized countries examines bullying, psychological abuse, child labour, trafficking and sexual violence. “UNICEF has long recognized that there is great value in children’s sport and play and has been a consistent proponent of these activities in its international development and child protection work,” said UNICEF’s global Chief of Child Protection, Susan Bissell. “Health, educational achievement and social benefits are just some of the many desirable outcomes associated with organized physical activity. However, in recent years it has become evident that sport is not always a safe space for children.” The UNICEF research provides examples of both good and poor practice, and makes recommendations for sport organizations that would assist in their violence prevention work. In particular, the study recommends: • Development of structures and systems for eliminating and preventing violence; • Education, awareness-raising and training on this subject; • Promotion of ethical guidelines and codes of conduct as part of the prevention system. • Improved data collection and knowledge generation; Protecting Children from Violence in Sport states that education on child protection issues among sport teachers, coaches and other stakeholders is often lacking, and that child athletes are rarely consulted about their sporting experiences. Overall, the report notes that appropriate structures and policies need to be developed for preventing, reporting and responding appropriately to all forms of abuse in children’s sport. The report states that if the benefits of sport are to be fully realised, then collaboration between the agencies responsible for ‘sport for development’ and those responsible for child protection is needed. To this end, the Committee on the Rights of the Child should monitor the rights of the child in sport and ensure that States’ ombudspersons incorporate sport in their work. The Innocenti Research Centre report also recommends that the Committee on the Rights of the Child become a de facto ‘international observatory’ for children in sport. In addition, every country should identify a designated authority with responsibility for child protection in sport – ranging from the school to the community and to elite athletes. Protecting Children from Violence in Sport notes that many of the industrialized countries covered in the report have yet to recognize the need to strengthen child safety and violence prevention measures within sport. Until and unless this is done, the many potential benefits of sport will never be fully realized by all children. The report is available for download at the UNICEF website http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/violence_in_sport.pdf for more information contact Patrizia Faustini, Senior Communication Assistant, Communication and Partnership Unit, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Piazza SS. Annunziata 12, 50122 Florence, Italy phone: +39-055-2033 253 fax: +39-055-2033 220. email: pfaustini@unicef.org website: www.unicef-irc.org NEW FILM: Ella Es el Matador (She Is the Matador) Ella premiered 1 September 2010 on PBS: www.pbs.org/pov/matador/film_description.php As related in Ella Es El Matador (She Is the Matador), a new documentary airing in PBS' POV (Point of View) series, there is a long and surprising history of women fighting in the Spanish bullring — and fighting to have the chance to do so. For all of Spain’s traditional machismo and the image of the matador as a quintessentially male figure, women have always wanted to fight bulls. A 1908 law banning women from bullfighting is testament to women’s determination to perform in the ring and not just shout “Olé!” from the stands. But if not unique, Vega and Florencia remain rarities in the world of contemporary Spanish bullfighting. Vega, a Spaniard, is currently the world’s only professional female matador and is on the verge of achieving top ranking. Florencia, a young runaway from Italy, is a neophyte driven by a childhood dream. Both women must deal with the legacies of sexism in Spanish bullfighting — condescending male colleagues, promoters who won’t book them in the best arenas, audiences attached to the rich symbolism and pop-star status of the male matador. Yet the passions that propel Vega and Florencia are similar to those of male bullfighters — a drive to express themselves in a grand and peculiarly Spanish rite as theatrical as it is bloody and as integral to Spanish culture as it is mysterious to much of the rest of the world. In the period documented by Ella Es El Matador (She is the Matador), the greatest threat to the women, or at least to their dreams, turns out to be not the bulls and their horns, but the patriarchal regime that guards bullfighting's masculine image. Vega's real challenge, despite all her success, is getting the chance fight in the prestigious arenas that would vault her to prominence; Florencia's challenge is simply getting the 25 official matches she needs to realize her dream. "Bullfighting is the quintessential symbol of masculinity and bravery in Spanish culture," say filmmakers Cubero and Carrasco, both born and raised in Spain. "Making this documentary about female matadors means changing this symbol and shifting the gender roles that have been defined for centuries. We want to open a window for viewers to enter into a unique world without judgment, while exploring the universal struggle of our two protagonists." Ella Es El Matador (She Is the Matador) is a production of Talcual Films and is distributed in North America by Women Make Movies (WMM). Another film: JUMP! http://www.jumpmovie.com/shortsyn.html JUMP! is a feature-length character-driven documentary about competitive jump rope that follows kids on five teams from around the country who push physical and psychological limits in pursuit of winning the World Championship. Part extreme sport, part art form, their moves are masterfully choreographed and bursting with rhythm, sweat and originality. These teens sacrifice everything to get where they are and each has his or her own reason to be so driven. After arduous drilling and mind-boggling performances, rivalry and collaboration have dramatic unexpected results. IV. DISSERTATION FUNDING DIVERSITY IN SPORT DISSERTATION GRANT The Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University is pleased to announce the Diversity in Sport Dissertation Grant. This is a $1,000 award presented to a student who will complete a doctoral dissertation by August 15, 2011. Any doctoral student conducting research in the area of diversity in sport and physical activity is eligible for the grant. For more information concerning the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, please see the Lab website: www.diversityinsport.com. The deadline for submission is November 19, 2010. A decision will be made by December 10, 2010, and funding distributed thereafter. Three faculty members associated with the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport will make the funding decision. Direct questions to: George Cunningham, PhD; Director, Laboratory for Diversity in Sport; Email: gbcunningham@tamu.edu; Phone: (979) 458-8006. V. MEMBER NEWS SL&B division member Leonard Gordon (Dean, Emeritus College, Arizona State University) periodically teaches a four week non-credit course open to the public on “Sports, Politics, Race, and Gender.”   The course is offered in various locations in the general community and at the Arizona State University West Campus. Course Description:   Professional and collegiate sports involve an entertainment and leisure time area of high interest in our social life, either directly or though family and friends.  Consideration of sports can provide insights into other aspects of life including family relations, religious affiliation, school participation and allegiance, and economic aspects of our society.  Sports also reflect as well as influence our political landscape and social behaviors in major areas including race and gender relations.  While sometimes socially divisive, sports interests can cut across our familial, religious, economic status, political views and attachments, and the nature of our racial and gender behaviors.  In doing so, sports advances social cohesion and a larger sense of belonging in our society.  In our society there is no more an American traditional saying than “apple pie, hot dogs, and baseball.”   Other sports have joined that for many and we will explore that and its social meanings.   The topics to be covered in four 1 ½ hour class sessions are:   1-       Sports and politics as social influences: Exploring how governments and globalization influence sports and how sports can influence politics and governments.  Considered are the effects on our institutional life including family life and our economic expenditures.  The mass media provides the information that is processed for most of us and calls for special attention on this topic. 2-       Sports connections to national and international developments:  Politics use of sports to influence others to achieve political goals are considered.  Examples include the 1938 Jo Louis-Max Schmelling World Boxing Championship fight broadcast world wide including throughout the United States and Nazi Germany and President Carter’s cancellation of U.S. participation in the 1980 Olympics after the Soviet Russian invasion of Afghanistan, with current implications. 3-       Sports, politics, and race relations:  Explored are the entry of Jackie Robinson as the first Black in Major League Baseball and the entry of Black athletes into other major sports.  The participation of Blacks, long excluded from baseball, football, basketball and other sports is now the norm. Included is the ongoing issue of on-field performance and low inclusion of Blacks and Hispanics into the ranks of management and ownership of sports teams. 4-       Sports, politics, and gender connections:  Explored are major developments over the past half century on women’s participation and interest in sports.  There is discussion of the southern strategy of trying to kill implementing aspects of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by placing women as one of the protected group of people guaranteed equal treatment in collegiate athletics. Instead, Title IX was passed in 1972 with women included along with Blacks and Hispanics, the initial concern. The passage of Title IX has had a major and substantive impact on women in major collegiate and increasingly in professional sports with implications beyond sports. For more information, contact Len at Len.Gordon@asu.edu or (480) 965-0002. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND WOMEN’S SPORTS FOUNDATION ESTABLISH NEW RESEARCH POLICY CENTER Partnership Aims to Enhance Experiences of Girls and Women with Sports and Physical Activity through Research and Policy Development The Women’s Sports Foundation has officially selected the University of Michigan (UM) to establish a joint research and policy center. The center will be known as the Women’s Sports, Health and Activity Research and PolicyCenter (SHARP). The new center – which opens in January 2011 in UM’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) – is the first girls’ and women’s sports research partnership involving a university and non-profit. The center will generate interdisciplinary research on issues related to women’s sports, health, gender issues and kinesiology. This research will have a profound impact on the lives of girls and women and will enhance existing and establish new relationships with policymakers, academia and women’s sports organizations. In addition, SHARP will also advocate for the benefits of athletics for positively influencing the lives of girls and women. The Women’s Sports Foundation has been a national leader in conducting and executing high quality evidence-based public interest research on girls and women in sports and physical activity for 25 years. “This new partnership offers us a host of new resources to further our goals in fighting childhood obesity and improving the overall health and well-being of girls and women through their sports and physical activity,” said Kathryn Olson, chief executive officer for the Women’s Sports Foundation. “By using cutting-edge research tools and methods, we are now in a position to make larger strides in our efforts to educate the public and affect policy.” The center’s research agenda will be comprised of public interest research and proprietary research. As a result of the collaboration, the new center will generate a variety of information and tools central to the foundation and university’s educational role of supporting evidence-based public debate that informs public policy and encourages elimination of the obstacles girls and women face in sports participation. Issues that SHARP might explore include. A quality newsletter is a collective endeavor. Please send CFPs, information about recent publications, reviews of films, books and articles and other information of interest to Section Chair PJ McGann, pjmcgann@umich.edu or Newsletter editor, Giovanna Follo, gfollo@emporia.edu. Depending on the amount of materials, we may send out a biweekly or monthly announcement email. Deadline for Spring 2011 Newsletter is January 7, 2011. 1