UPDATE: Martial Arts (11/15/03; SW/TX PCA/ACA, 4/7/04-4/10/04)

Update: deadline extended

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This year the Southwest Texas Popular Culture Association will=20
meet jointly with the national Popular Culture and American Culture
Associations in  San Antonio, Texas.
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This should be a wonderful conference, full of interesting
papers. Plus there is San Antonio to enjoy and explore.
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TRAVEL INFORMATION
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San Antonio, Texas
April 7 - 10, 2004
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San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter
101 Bowie Street
San Antonio, TX 78205 =20
Phone: 210.223.1000=20
Fax: 210.223.6239
http://sanantoniotourist.com/MarriottRiverCenter/=20
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Flight Information
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Southwest Airlines
1-800-I-FLY-SWA=AE  Great Plains Airlines
1-866-Way-To-Go=20
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Southwest has agreed to give us a discount for the conference.=20
To receive the discount, give them the following code when you=20
make your reservations: CODE.
Martial artists, theorists, artists! Submit a proposal about the martial =
arts and their place in your life.
We are interested in the martial arts as cultural phenomenon, as =
influence in film, as a way of life for those who practice a martial =
art. Think about the following topics as suggestions for papers. You can =
of course devise one of your own.
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Deadline for proposals: 15 November 2003
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Practice
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=B7        Tai chi? Only good for old people?
=B7        External/internal arts-can they theorized as =
masculine/feminine?
=B7        What is the goal of training? Should there be a goal?
=B7        So you have a black belt? How do colored belts and trophies =
signify for Americans?
=B7        What's a girl to do about the masculine culture of =
competition and training?  =20
=B7        A feminist reading of the role of the teacher/sifu/sensei? Is =
it different for men and women?
=B7        Exercise or self-defense? Which is it.? Are the martial arts =
effective as either?
=B7        How do we play? Johann Huizinga in Homo Ludens suggests that =
"play is a voluntary activity or occupation. it is an aim for itself and =
is accompanied by the feeling of tension, joy or distinction from =
ordinary life." Games and playing should influence the way we lead our =
lives, that practice is real. Using his rules for a game, explore your =
approach to practice,  how is it real and how that adds depth and joy to =
practice. I am not looking for accounts of fighting for this topic,. It =
is more philosophical than practical.
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2. Film
=B7        Deconstruct, reconstruct, construct the martial arts in film.
=B7        Are Bruce Lee's films the benchmark?
=B7        Swordsman and gunslingers or how the Western and the martial =
art films overlap.
=B7        Space traveling swordsmen or why those directors use so many =
Japanese and Chinese sword fighting styles.
=B7        Women martial artists in film.  A feminist approach.
=B7        Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hong: who's the =
best? Or are comparisons odious?
=B7        What kinds of post-colonial issues are at work in martial =
arts films?
=B7        The Hong Kong genre vs other types of martial arts films.
=B7        John Woo's films.
=B7        Humor in martial arts film.
=B7        Game theory and martial arts films. Is it playing or is it =
real?=20
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Films might include:
=B7        Seven Samurai=20
=B7        Crouching Tiger
=B7        Hidden Fortress
=B7        Yojimbo
=B7        Big Trouble in Little China
=B7        The Matrix
=B7        Wong Fei Hong  films=20
=B7        Shanghi Noon
=B7        Once Upon a Time in China, 1&2
=B7        Drunken Master
=B7        Enter the Dragon or other Bruce Lee films
=B7        Toshiro Mifune films
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