All the videos and audio of the talks at Pushing Boarders – an academic skateboarding conference held in Malmo, Sweden in August 2019 – have now been released. Was such an honour to be invited to talk on the Panel ‘The University of Skate: Support Your Local Academic’ as part of an emerging new cohort of scholars in skateboarding research. You can catch it on YouTube here
‘The University of Skate: Support Your Local Academic’, Chaired by Dr Sander Holsgens and Stuart Maclure with Luke Cianciotto, Dr Dani Abulhawa, Dr Adelina Ong, Dr Indigo Willing and Sophie Friedel. Talk given 18 August, published 22 November 2019 at URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2PtBfpq8dw&t=4s
What an amazing event, all the more remarkable given it was run by volunteer efforts. The organisers made the conference free for all to attend, and also had it professionally documented so it is free to view for all those who could not attend. Keeping its aim for a more ethical world in skateboarding and beyond, Pushing Boarders has set a good example in so many ways for other academic conferences to learn from in terms of implementing more equitable ways for individuals to participate and observe, particularly in an era of gig economies and casualisation in the workforce. Big thanks to ReVerb Skateboarding, Skate Pal, Long Live South Bank, Skateism, Bryggeriet High School, The Skate Room, Skateistan, GoodPush Alliance, Vent City, The Smithsonian and many more who got the show on the road behind the scenes.
All the talks cover such important themes and topics and feature such insightful and interesting individuals from around the world talking about skateboarding. It is going to be a lot of fun to revisit all of them. The Globally Stoked panel was one of my favourites! You can also read Part 1 of a 3 part series I’m writing about Pushing Boarders for Yeah Girl Media featuring interviews with womxn and non binary skaters who attended here – Part 2 out soon. Stay tuned 🙂
Dr Indigo Willing 