2024 Annual Conference of the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Call for Paper and Session Proposals

The North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) will gather in 2024 on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute nations and peoples. We recognize that these lands are a historical and contemporary site of trade and gathering for other Native peoples and honor knowledge keepers of these lands.

The 2024 NASSH annual conference will take place on May 24-27, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. Participation in NASSH 2024 will be available to both in-person and virtual participants. All sessions will be hybrid, with no separate pre-recorded virtual presentations. Virtual participants will be able to attend all sessions live via the Hopin/Ring Central platform. Registration fees will be tiered according to the nature of participation.

Key Dates

Participation Modes

The Program Committee encourages NASSH members and others interested in the scholarly study of sport history to submit proposals and/or participate in one of the following categories:

Individual papers, with or without discussant (see below)

Proposals for individual 12-15-minute research presentations (both in-person and virtual), which the Program Committee will then group into appropriate sessions. NASSH members submitting abstracts will be asked whether they wish to be scheduled in a session that includes a discussant/commentator. The program committee will endeavor to accommodate all NASSH members who wish to their papers included in such a session. Requesting a session with a discussant indicates that NASSH members agree to submit their completed full paper to the discussant by the May 1, 2024, deadline.

Complete themed panels (3 papers + moderator and/or discussant)

NASSH members are encouraged to submit complete three-paper themed sessions. Such sessions are strongly encouraged to include a discussant/commentator and can include virtual participants. The Program Committee strongly encourages themed panels that explore diverse topics in sport history and whose composition reflects this diversity.

Themed sessions

NASSH members both interested in proposing a themed session and in publicizing this session to reach potential presenters are encouraged to share their proposed theme/topic and a 250-300-word abstract with the Program Committee chair, Russell Field (russell.field@umanitoba.ca) by January 15, 2024. These details should be accompanied by the name and email address of the session organizer (to allow NASSH members to contact them directly). Session topics will be publicized through NASSH communication channels. The Program Committee takes no responsibility for ensuring that presenters are assigned to proposed topics. The session organizer is responsible for recruiting session participants and submitting complete session abstracts by the January 31, 2024, deadline. A proposed session will be reviewed by the Program Committee for acceptance/rejection in the same manner as other papers and themed sessions (see above).

Moderators and Discussants/Commentators

NASSH members, particularly those who are attending NASSH 2024 but not presenting a paper are encouraged to volunteer to be session moderators and/or discussants/commentator. The Program Committee welcomes expressions of interest. Please click here.

A Note regarding Scheduling

NASSH members submitting abstracts for individual papers or as part of themed panels should be aware that the presentation of their work will be scheduled at the discretion of the Program Committee sometime between Saturday, May 25, and Monday, May 27 (inclusive). Specific scheduling requests are not being accepted.

A Note regarding Virtual Participation

NASSH members who choose to participate in the conference virtually will have their presentations integrated within the in-person program. Virtual presentations should be pre-recorded and submitted by May 1, 2024 (details can be found in the NASSH Participation Guidelines: https://conference.nassh.org/). These will be played live during the relevant session. Virtual participants are expected to attend their session and be part of the live post-panel Q-and-A discussion. Presenters who cannot attend the live Q-and-A will not have their pre-recorded presentations shown live. The Program Committee will endeavor to schedule the presentations of virtual participants at a time that respects the time zones in which they reside, but not all requests can be accommodated.

Attending NASSH

Registration and accommodation

Details regarding registration and accommodation will be available on the NASSH website early in 2024 (https://conference.nassh.org/). Note: registration and accommodation bookings will open in mid-January 2024.

First-time attendees

First-time attendees of NASSH 2024 (in-person only) are eligible for a 50% discount on their registration fee regardless of registration category. Use the coupon code FIRSTTIME when registering.

Graduate students

Graduate students who have an in-person presentation accepted for NASSH 2024 are eligible for a grant from the Roberta Park Graduate Travel Fund. (The value of the award for 2024 is TBD, but students should not rely on this award to cover all travel, registration, and accommodation expenses.) No application is needed; Treasurer Thomas Hunt will distribute checks at the conference. Annual interest from the Park Fund is divided equitably among all graduate students presenting at the conference.

Graduate students are encouraged to submit their papers to the competition for the NASSH Graduate Essay Award (https://www.nassh.org/awards/graduate-student-essay-award/).

Abstract/Proposal Submission

All abstracts/proposals should be submitted using the Conftool platform. To submit an abstract, you will need to register for an account using your preferred email and contact information.

A guide to using the submission system is available (https://conference.nassh.org/). Additional questions can be referred to conftool@nassh.org.

Guidelines for Submitting Individual Abstracts (in-person or remote)

Submit abstracts for individual papers to https://www.conftool.org/nassh2024/.

Required information includes:

• Selecting whether presentation will be in-person or virtual
• title of presentation
• corresponding author’s name, email address, and affiliation
• if relevant, co-authors’ names, emails addresses, and affiliations
• session topic suggestions/keywords
• abstract (250-300 words)
• Abstracts should include the question(s) addressed in the paper, the evidence used, a statement of the argument and conclusions, and what significance the paper has to our understanding of sport history.

Guidelines for Submitting Complete Sessions

Submit proposals/abstracts for complete sessions to https://www.conftool.org/nassh2024/.

Required information includes:

• title of session
• name of session organizer (including email address and affiliation)
• names of session participants (including email address and affiliation), including an indication of which participants will present in-person and which will be virtual
• name of discussant, if applicable (including email address and affiliation)
• name of moderator, if applicable (including email address and affiliation)
• session abstract (250-300 words), which describes the theme of the session, how the individual papers contribute to a consideration of that theme, and an explanation of the theme’s significance to the study of sport history
• abstracts for each individual paper (250-300 words each)
• Abstracts should include the question(s) addressed in the paper, the evidence used, a statement of the argument and conclusions, and what significance the paper has to our understanding of sport history.

Decisions on abstract/proposal submission

• Individual authors and session organizers will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their submission by February 29, 2024.The Program Committee will evaluate all submissions according to their individual merit, contribution to the field, and fit within the total program. Proposals missing requested information will be returned to the author(s).

Fine print
Submission of an abstract/proposal for the NASSH 2024 program indicates acceptance of the NASSH Participation Guidelines (found at https://conference.nassh.org/).

To be included on the program for NASSH 2024, presenters must be current NASSH members and registered conference participants, with all relevant fees and dues paid in full no later than May 1, 2024.

The NASSH Program Committee has sole discretion over all decisions related to the content and scheduling of the NASSH 2024 program.

For any enquiries, please contact Russell Field (russell.field@umanitoba.ca).

Program Committee
Kate Aguilar, Gustavus Adolphus College
Chris Bolsmann, California State University Northridge
Russell Field, University of Manitoba (chair)
Jennifer Guiliano, IUPUI/IU Indianapolis
Matthew Hodler, University of Rhode Island
Amanda Schweinbenz, Laurentian University
Samantha White, Manhattanville College