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Prof. Janet O’Shea (UCLA) “Risk, Failure, Play: Sport Beyond the Demands of Competition”

20th of November at 5Pm 2018 in G41, Hillbrow, Eastbourne
In this seminar, I will introduce the central tenet of my most recent research: that play gives us techniques for managing difficult realities with intelligence. In the case of martial arts, the reality we contend with is human violence. Thinking about play as a method for grappling with contentious realities allows us to move beyond the parameters of competition and to understand sport as arena in which participants can experience mastery, manage risk, confront their own vulnerability and that of others, and negotiate failure. Doing so can teach us to become more engaged and more sociable members of our communities.
Janet O’Shea is author of Risk, Failure, Play: What Dance Reveals about Martial Arts Training (2018, Oxford University Press) and At Home in the World: Bharata Natyam on the Global Stage (2007, Wesleyan University Press). Recipient of a UCLA Transdisciplinary Seed Grant to study the cognitive benefits of Filipino Martial Arts training, she gave a TEDx Talk on competitive play and has offered keynote presentations at the Martial Arts Studies conference and Dance/Performance in Interdisciplinary Perspective Symposium. She is professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA. Reserve your free place by emailing Dorthe Green D.Green3@brighton.ac.uk