AIM OF THE SEMINAR

Today sport is in numerous ways a part of many people’s life, it is constantly in the public eye. At the same time we see a new interest in the historical developments in sport with a special emphasis on individual stories. We, as professionals, should be ready to address ways with which to engage this interest.

We should critically look further at the topics we explore and the ways we communicate the findings of our research. We need practical experiments as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to popularise sports history as history for and by ’ordinary people’ who are seen as actors with their own voice.

On one level, this means more discussion and debate in our meetings and in public life how to conduct and write biographical studies, undertake oral histories, re-enact old pastimes and promote local history projects by individuals, self-help groups, sports clubs etc. How to re-value and preserve the sporting sites and the sporting environment (i.e. old sporting buildings/venues of significance)? How to use new technologies to investigate, analyse, document, display, inform and educate (especially Computer Assisted Learning Technologies)?

We (as individuals or through our national/international sport history organisations) can also engage other professionals in the field: journalists, archivists, museum curators, teachers to exchange ideas about informing wider public via re-enactments, exhibitions, museum displays, anniversary celebrations etc.

The challenge of popularising sport history deals concretely with the issues as sport history memory (museums, archives etc), the possibilities of new media in communicating, teaching and popularising sport, history, educational curricula, engaging and developing grass-roots activity.

INFORMATION FOR PRESENTERS

If you are interested in contributing a paper, a poster or a workshop please send an abstract in addition to your registration. The registration forms and abstract submission forms are available on the frequently updated seminar website.

All abstracts received before 29^th February 2008 and accepted will be published in a volume of abstracts and distributed to participants at the beginning of the seminar.

The selection of presentations and their allocation to the sessions will be determined by the Scientific Committee.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The official language of the seminar is English.