45th American Indian Workshop
April 16 - 19, 2024
Sport, Body and Movement & Current Research
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of Pardubice, Pardubice/Czech Republic
Organizers: Lívia Šavelková, Milan Durňak
Email: aiw2024pardubice@gmail.com
Webpage: https://kska.upce.cz/aiw2024/
Call for Papers
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Call for Papers
The American Indian Workshop (AIW) is the largest conference in Europe focused on Indigenous peoples of North America. Since 1980, AIW annual meetings have been held in 22 European countries. For the first time ever, sport is the main theme of AIW. The topic of the conference is responding to the contemporary debates about the role of sport in politics, representation, cultural identity, healing, gender, and transnationalism. The discussion about the possible participation or elimination of the Haudenosaunee National Lacrosse Team in the future Olympics with return of lacrosse to the Olympics in 2028, brings focus on issues of Indigenous status and sovereignty in a global context. Therefore, this conference will be dedicated to the transdisciplinary discussion about sport and leisure activities significance for lives of North American Indigenous peoples in past and presence. As the conference will bring together scholars from Northern America, we hope many of them being Indigenous, and Europe, various trans-Atlantic perspectives will be emphasized, and the cross-cultural or transcultural approach should be stressed. Based on the research of scholars from various disciplines presented at the conference, we expect to discuss and find out answers to the following questions:
- Are cross-cultural or transcultural phenomena related to sport and leisure in relation to North American Indigenous peoples viewed by scholars differently in North American and European spaces and if so, why?
- Are the specific historical experiences of certain nations a reflection of the attitude towards North American Indigenous peoples in general and in sports in particular?
- Does the experience of former, predominantly socialist countries with repressive regimes in Europe reflect in the attitudes of their populations towards Indigenous peoples on issues of sports participation, representation, and performance?
The organizers welcome various approaches from humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary ones, too. Visual and digital media and arts are welcome as well.
Topics include historical and contemporary issues related to sport (but are not strictly limited to):
- Politics, policies
- Sovereignty, nationalism, and transnationalism
- Rituals and/in sport
- Leisure activities, play, gambling
- Globalization/glocalization
- Representation, performances, mascots
- Colonization and decolonization of body and mind through sport
- Gender and Age in Sport
- Elite Indigenous athleticism, The North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), Olympic Games, Arctic Games
- Healing, illness, destruction of body, injuries
- Decoration and clothing
- Material culture – objects and their use in sport
- Social movements, revitalization in/through sport
The AIW always has a current research session, where scholars and students can report about their most recent research. A Poster session is also welcomed especially for young scholars and doctoral or M. A. students.
In the event of a high number of abstract submissions, priority will be given to those related to the main theme of the conference, depending on quality.
If you are interested in participating, please submit your proposal for hosting a panel, presenting a paper or poster to aiw2024pardubice@gmail.com by October 31, 2023, including the following information:
- Title of your presentation
- Abstract (max. 300 words)
- A short biographical note (max. 5 sentences)
The organizers will notify of proposal acceptance by January 10, 2024 at the latest.
We are looking forward to your participation!
