This conference focuses on the relations between martial arts, culture and politics. Martial arts can be understood in any of many ways, and the conference aims to reflect this diversity and plurality of understandings of the term. Similarly, ‘culture’ and ‘politics’ can be understood in a variety of ways. Again, the conference is open to works that use any academic approach to the theory and analysis of culture and politics.

The organizers are specifically interested in interrogating the relations between martial arts, the cultural industries, cultural heritage and macro and micro politics, ranging from the ethnic, gender and sexual politics of everyday life all the way to regional, national and international relations and politics.

Selected papers will be published as a special issue of the journal Martial Arts Studies (Cardiff University Press).

The conference is a collaboration between Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Department of Political Science, and The Martial Arts Studies Research Network, and hosted by Chapman University. The organizers are Andrea Molle (Chapman University, School of Political Science; founder of Budo-Lab) and Paul Bowman (Cardiff University, UK; founder of The Martial Arts Studies Research Network and co-founder and co-editor of the journal Martial Arts Studies).

Registration

We are delighted to announce that this conference is free. However, you must apply for tickets by making a request directly Mr. Paul Bowman at BowmanP@cardiff.ac.uk

Proposals and Abstracts for Paper Presentations

If you would like to apply to give a paper, you must submit a proposal. To submit a proposal, send one Word Document to Paul Bowman (BowmanP@cardiff.ac.uk) and Andrea Molle (molle@chapman.edu), containing the following information:

• Title
• Abstract (200 words max)
• Bio-note (100 words max)
• Keywords (5 max)
• Contact email address
• Link to personal or professional webpage (if available)

Deadline for submission of abstracts: Friday, November 30, 2018.

Successful applicants will be informed by Thursday, Decemeber 20, 2018.