CfP/CfA event (On site)

Conference: Sports, Recreation, Leisure, and All Manners of Pleasure in the 18th Century


Event date:

19.02.2026-21.02.2026

Abstract submission deadline:

25.09.2025

Since its inception in 1975, the South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (SCSECS) has provided a forum for scholars of the "long" eighteenth century (1660-1850). A regional affiliate of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, SCSECS is an interdisciplinary scholarly organization that enjoys a reputation for exceptional conviviality and inclusiveness. This year, we invite you to join us at North Carolina's fabled Pinehurst Resort for our annual meeting and celebration of our fiftieth anniversary.

We especially encourage subjects related to recreation and leisure: rural sports; golf, spas, and resorts; shopping; competitions; gambling; drinking; music; theatre, and any other eighteenth-century pleasures. Encouraged with equal enthusiasm are presentations on any idea related to the long eighteenth century.Those speaking on any eighteenth-century topic will be providing pleasure, hence in keeping with the theme.

A list of panels that need papers can be found on our website at https://www.scsecs.net. If you see one that fits your interests, please contact the panel chair directly (contact information is provided along with the list on our Call for Papers page). If you don't see a good fit, feel free to contact the SCSECS President, Catherine Parisian, directly to submit an individual proposal with title and abstract. Abstracts should be approximately 200-250 words.

Presenters should aim for 15 minutes or, if the full paper is to be read, about 2500 words (on a four-person panel) or 20 minutes or about 3200 words (on a three-person panel).

In keeping with the conference theme and this year's sport-related venue, our plenary speaker will be Peter Radford, Professor of Sport Sciences at Glasgow University and Brunel University in London and, recently, a Fellow of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. A former British sprinter who has broken world records and won Olympic medals, Professor Radford is the author of The Celebrated Captain Barclay: Sport, Money and Fame in Regency Britain (Headline Book Publishing, 2001). In 2023 his new book, They Run with Surprising Swiftness: The Women Athletes of Early Modern Britain, was published as part of the University of Virginia's Peculiar Bodies: Stories and Histories series. 

Founded in 1895 by the Boston philanthropist James Walker Tufts, Pinehurst served as a health resort where members of the middle class retreated from cities to recuperate from respiratory ailments. Pinehurst continues today as a world-class resort and frequent host to the prestigious U.S. Open Championship golf tournament. Nestled in a late 19th-century village, it features bountiful restaurants, quaint shops and an array of activities. See the Hotel & Travel page on our site for further information about the venue and hotel options.

 

 https://www.scsecs.net

 Catherine.Parisian@uncp.edu

 Catherine Parisian

Venue

Pinehurst, United States of America
Created by: Redaktion avldigital.de
Published on: 14.07.2025
Last change: 14.07.2025, 18:17

Proposed citation:
"Conference: Sports, Recreation, Leisure, and All Manners of Pleasure in the 18th Century" (CfP/CfA event), avldigital.de, veröffentlicht am: 14.07.2025. https://avldigital.de/en/networking/information/call-for-papers/conference-sports-recreation-leisure-and-all-manners-of-pleasure-in-the-18th-century