Submitted by Rachel Ozerkevich (she/hers) on 02/11/2026 – 9:21pm
Announcement Type: Call for Papers
Location: TX, United States
North American Society for Sport History 2026 Pre-Conference Workshop:
The Meaning of Muscle in the History of Sport, Health, and Physical Culture
Once more, muscle is making headlines. News outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic have recently published a series of articles ranging from condemnation of the “protein boom” to “weight training for senior citizens” and everything in between. Indeed, two important trade books, published just this year, signal the singular importance that muscle is taking on in the present era. Michael Joseph Gross’s Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in our Lives (2025) details how the discovery and value of muscle has shaped our perceptions of health, aging, and human potential, from the ancient Greek gymnasium to the modern nursing home. Similarly, Bonnie Tsui’s On Muscle: The Stuff that Moves Us and Why it Matters (2025) explores how individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds use muscle to achieve resilience, connection, and identity in ways different from muscle’s traditional association with strength and masculinity. Now more than ever, it seems, muscle is on many minds.
This pre-conference workshop therefore invites scholars to address the meaning of muscle throughout the history of sport, health, and physical culture. Because the topic of muscle cuts across so many disciplines, it will provide an ideal occasion for interdisciplinary and collaborative research between sport historians and those working in other fields, including sociology, anthropology, philosophy, medical history, exercise physiology, media studies, among others.
Although muscle has played a prominent role in many essential and groundbreaking articles in the Journal of Sport History, this pre-conference workshop will present the first special issue dedicated to the topic.
Scholars are encouraged to consider some of the following general questions in their proposals:
* In what ways has muscle shaped, refuted, and transformed norms of masculinity and femininity in different historical periods?
* What role has muscle played when it comes to issues of race and racism in sport, medicine, and health?
* How have ideas about muscle impacted the history of exercise and exercise science?
* How has muscle changed the trajectory and practice of specific sports?
* What role does muscle play in the history of scientific and medical discourse pertaining to health and longevity?
* What role has media played in the perception of muscle and its social value?
* How have the cultural and social associations of muscle shaped institutional policies and procedures around sport?
*What social and political functions has the emphasis on muscle played in nationalist or other ideological movements?
Organizers
Charles Stocking: charles.stocking@austin.utexas.edu
Jan Todd: j.todd@austin.utexas.edu
Tolga Ozyurtcu: tolga@austin.utexas.edu
Details
When: The Preconference Workshop will take place over two days,
Thursday May 21st and Friday May 22nd (prior to NASSH opening reception)
Where: University of Texas at Austin
Meals and 1 night hotel accommodation provided
Submission Guidelines
Invitation: Both early career and established scholars
Abstracts: Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words outlining your proposed paper
Deadline: Abstracts are due by March 1st, 2026
Submission: Please submit your abstracts to Charles Stocking (Charles.stocking@austin.utexas.edu) with subject heading, NASSH Pre-Conference
Publication: The intention is that full papers developed from the NASSH Pre-Conference workshop will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Sport History
Notification: You will be notified about accepted Paper by March 9, 2026.
Provision of Draft: to organizers by May 8, 2026.
Contact Information
Submission: Please submit your abstracts to Charles Stocking (Charles.stocking@austin.utexas.edu ) with subject heading, NASSH Pre-Conference
Contact Email