Wednesday, August 28, 2013

GRANT: Diversity in sport and physical activity

The Laboratory for Diversity in Sport from Texas A&M University is pleased to announce the 2013 Diversity in Sport and Physical Activity Grant. This year, two levels of grants are offered:
  • Gradate Student: Funding in this area is reserved for graduate students (either MS or PhD) conducting diversity research in the area of sport and physical activity. One $1000 grant will be awarded. The grant recipient should complete the research while still enrolled in school.
  • Faculty: Funding in this area is reserved for individuals with a terminal degree working at an institution of higher education. One $2,500 grant will be awarded.

Overview 
Diversity represents one of the most important issues in sport and physical activity today. Changing demographics, legal mandates, social pressures, varying workplace dynamics, and economic pressures have all increased the primacy of diversity and inclusion. Furthermore, although diversity can bring many benefits to sport organizations, there is also evidence that people who differ from the typical majority have poorer work experiences, face limited advancement opportunities, and have fewer chances to be physically active. The Diversity in Sport and Physical Activity Grant aims to address these areas. While we will review all proposals focusing on diversity and inclusion, we especially welcome proposals focusing on:

  • Analysis of how organizations create and maintain diverse and inclusive work environments;
  • Strategies to increase physical activity among members of under-represented groups; and
  • Examination of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, both within sport organizations and as sport participants


Guidelines
Researchers should complete the attached information sheet, complete a proposal for funding, and provide a detailed budget. Each proposal should be no more than three pages of singlespaced text (excluding references, tables, figures, and/or appendices). The proposalshould include (a) an introduction, (b) an overview of the theoretical framework adopted for the study, (c) the proposed methods, (d) the data analytic procedures, (e) the expected results, and (f) the implications of the research for the study of diversity in sport and physical activity. On a separate page from the written proposal, researchers should provide a detailed budget of how they plan to use the funds. Student proposals should also include a letter of support from the student’s advisor. Finally, all researchers should include a full CV with the proposal. Preference will be given to those studies focusing on the issues previously outlined.

Submission Information
 A PDF version of the full proposal should be submitted electronically to George Cunningham, gbcunningham@tamu.edu. The deadline for submission is Friday, September 13, 2013, and a decision is expected soon thereafter. Questions should be directed to gbcunningham@tamu.edu.

Additional Information 
If awarded the grant, researchers are required to: (a) list the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport as a sponsor of the research on subsequent presentations and publications, and (b) provide the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport with copies of published articles emanating from the grant.
Note that Texas A&M University System employees are not eligible for the award.

Past Award Recipients. To date, the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport has awarded 10 grants, including 9 grants to students across the US, and one faculty research team. Laboratory for Diversity in Sport Founded in 2003, the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport is housed within the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University. The Laboratory is dedicated to producing and disseminating research related to all forms of diversity within the sport context.
The purpose of the Laboratory is to examine and seek to understand how diversity impacts team and organization performance, individual affect, and people’s behaviors. Therefore, research from the Laboratory is aimed at investigating under-represented persons and groups, diverse dyads, heterogeneousteams, and individuals’ outcomes when surrounded by dissimilar others. Such research allows for a greater understanding of how diversity impacts individuals and teams, as well as the benefits of diversity.
 For more information concerning the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, please see the Lab website: www.diversityinsport.com.

JOB: Kinesiology Tenure-Track - Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, the Altoona College invites applications for a Tenure-track Appointment/Program Coordinator of Kinesiology.  The position requires an earned Ph.D. in Kinesiology beginning Fall 2014.  Specialization is open, although preference will be given to applicants with training in the sport humanities and having demonstrated strong administrative and leadership qualities necessary for directing a Kinesiology program.  Candidates should be able to teach undergraduate courses in their area of specialization as well as introductory program core courses. The position requirements include teaching three courses per semester, conducting research, and providing related service.

Located in the beautiful Allegheny Mountains of central Pennsylvania, Penn State Altoona is a largely residential campus of 4000 students offering twenty baccalaureate degree programs and the first two years of 180 Penn State baccalaureate degrees.  Only 40 miles from the University Park campus, Penn State Altoona offers the advantages of small college teaching with the readily available resources of a major research university.  Penn State Altoona offers a competitive salary and an attractive benefits package.

Applicants should send a letter of application establishing their qualifications; a current vita; a description of teaching philosophy and evidence of teaching effectiveness; a statement of research interests; transcripts (official transcripts required at the time of an interview); and names and contact information of three references.  Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications and accompanying materials electronically to AA-EDHDSS@LISTS.PSU.EDU in Word or PDF formats.  Review of applications will begin October 16, 2013 and will continue until the position is filled.  Non-electronic materials should be sent to:


Dr. Peter M. Hopsicker, Chair
Kinesiology Search
Position B-40356
Elm Building
Penn State Altoona
3000 Ivyside Park
Altoona, PA 16601-3760

For additional information about Penn State Altoona, please visit our web page at http://www.altoona.psu.edu/

Employment will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.

Peter M. Hopsicker, Ph.D.
Interim Head, Division of Education, Human Development, and Social Sciences
Associate Professor of Kinesiology

Monday, August 26, 2013

CFP: Special issue “Conflict and crisis in elite sport”- Catalan Journal of Communication and Cultural Studies

CFP: Special issue “Conflict and crisis in elite sport”
Call for papers

Special issue of the Catalan Journal of Communication and Cultural Studies 6.2

Conflict and crisis in elite sport: media, ideology, identity and politics in an era of hyper-sportisation

Guest editors: Verner Møller (Department of Sports Sciences, University of Aarhus) and Bernat López (Department of Communication Studies, Universitat Rovira i Virgili).

Professional elite sport and the closely related phenomenon of media and spectator sport are among the most global, pervasive, influential, and visible social phenomena across countries, cultures, and social strata. Modern societies seem to be clearly demanding more sport, not less (Dimeo, 2007: 138). The sportisation process (Maguire, 2007) seems to be entering a new era in which more is at stake concerning elite and spectator sports: nationalism, identity, geopolitics, the leisure economy, corporate capitalism, and the continuous (re)definition of the boundaries of human performance and capabilities. Despite commercial sport being increasingly an object of attention for social theory and social research, their expanded relevance calls for further and closer scrutiny. This proposed special issue intends to contribute to this.

Although a wide range of commodities and infrastructures, from tennis balls to stadia, are closely associated with elite sport, its basic “product” has no materiality in and of itself since it is a performance: essentially a mass-mediated performance. Sport is a cultural and symbolic phenomenon. As such it offers an ideal site for the expression of ideology, identity (re)construction and cultural and political struggle. Therefore this special issue will focus on modern elite sport as the arena for symbolic and ideological conflict, struggle and crisis. Contributions are invited from any social scientific and cultural studies perspective, such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, media and communication studies, sports studies, gender studies, economics, law, history, and political science.

Proposals are expected to focus on the relationship between elite and media sports and a wide range of issues: national, class, gender, sexual, intergenerational or racial struggle, the doping debate, symbolic violence, identity (re)construction, global versus local, the survival of small national cultures in the new global context, etc. Articles applying a stateless-nation or small nation-state perspective will be particularly welcome.

The journal plans to include articles of around 6-7.000 words, plus short research reports of around 2-3.000 words for the Viewpoint section. Full articles for proposed contributions should be sent to catalan.journal@urv.cat by 31 January 2014. Acceptance of articles will be confirmed by 30 March 2014. All contributions will be subjected to anonymous peer review. For more details about the journal guidelines please visit: http://catalanjournal.wordpress.com/

Guest editors:

Professor Verner Møller is one of the leading scholars in the field of doping and sport studies. He is co-founder of the International Network of Humanistic Doping Research (INHDR) (http://www.doping.au.dk), which brings together 30 researchers from twelve different countries devoted to the study of the philosophical, social, and cultural aspects of doping and anti-doping. Professor Møller has published extensively on the issue, in Danish and English. His main contributions include the monographs The ethics of doping and anti-doping: Redeeming the soul of sport? (Routledge, 2010), Dopingdjævlen – analyse af en hed debat (Gyldendal, 1999; English version: The Doping Devil), Doping and Public Policy (co-editor, University Press of Southern Denmark, 2004), Elite sport, doping and public health (co-editor, University of Southern Denmark Press, 2009), and Doping and anti-doping policy in sport: ethical and legal perspectives (Routledge, 2011).

Bernat López has recently moved into the field of sport and doping studies where he has published on the social history of cycling in Spain and Catalonia, and already contributed recognised insights into the social construction of the doping issue. His previous research activities dealt mainly with minority cultures, media, and communication and cultural policies in Catalonia. He is the author of, among other, “Sport, Media, Politics and Nationalism on the Eve of the Spanish Civil War: The First Vuelta Ciclista a España (1935)” (International Journal of the History of Sport 27, 4, 2010), “Doping as Technology: A Rereading of the History of Performance-Enhancing Substance Use” (International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics 4, 1, 2012) and “The invention of a ‘drug of mass destruction’: deconstructing the EPO myth” (Sport in History 31,1, 2011).​

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

JOB: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Sport and Recreation - Lincoln University, NZ

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Sport and Recreation (two positions)
Vacancy 13-62
The Department of Social Science, Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Sport in the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design is seeking to appoint two Lecturers/Senior Lecturers in Community Recreation and Sport and Sport and Recreation Policy and Planning.
The appointees will teach into inter-disciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, as well as complement and support our existing strengths and focus on sport and recreation, and their links with the associated areas of tourism and parks. An appreciation of sport and recreation policy at various scales (local, regional, national, global) and/or an appreciation of both the range of community recreation issues (e.g. sporting, cultural, tourism) at various scales (local, regional, national, global), along with relevant experience and theoretical awareness, is, therefore, highly desirable. Some expertise in associated areas, such as recreation management, would also be an advantage. An active research profile which demonstrates an engagement with current issues, theory and practice is essential.
Initial enquiries can be directed to Dr Gary Steel, Head of Department – Social Science, Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Sport.
Vacancy 13/62 A – Community Recreation and Sport Position description 
Vacancy 13/62 B – Sport and Recreational Policy and Planning Position description
Application form online
Guidelines for application
Further information please contact Human Resources on +64 3 423 0591. All applications must state what position they are applying for with a completed Lincoln University application form, Cover letter and CV.
All applications must be received by 5.00pm on 13 September 2013.

http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/About-Lincoln-University/Job-vacancies/Academic-vacancies/

JOB: Associate Dean for Academic Affairs - U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Open Position
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College of Applied Health Sciences
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

The College of Applied Health Sciences (AHS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) invites nominations and applications for the position of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA). The ADAA provides senior mentorship to the faculty, interfaces in a leadership role with the campus on matters of educational policy, ensures implementation of policies and procedures regarding faculty reviews, promotion and tenure guidelines, and professional development. The Associate Dean reports directly to the Dean. AHS has nationally recognized units in their fields, and is home to the interdisciplinary undergraduate program in Health, the Departments of Kinesiology and Community Health; Recreation, Sport and Tourism; and Speech and Hearing Science. The College enrolls about 2000 undergraduates and 300 graduate students. Our service unit, the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES), has a record of leadership and is nationally recognized for providing outstanding support and services for students with psychological, physical and learning disabilities.

Qualifications: Candidates should hold an earned doctorate, with research and teaching credentials that would qualify them for the rank of Professor with tenure in one of the departments of the College. Administrative or leadership experience, an understanding of the mission of a land-grant university, and a demonstrated record of success in working with students and faculty from a wide variety of disciplines are desirable. The position is a 12-month, full-time (100%) academic professional appointment. As part of their appointment, successful candidates will be encouraged to maintain an active research program.

Salary and Start Date: Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The anticipated contract begins August 16, 2014. Earlier start dates can be negotiated.

Closing date: For full consideration an application must be received by October 18, 2013.  Review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

Application procedure: Please create your candidate profile at https://jobs.illinois.edu and upload a letter of intent; complete curriculum vitae; a statement of leadership philosophy; and the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of three references by the closing date. All requested information must be submitted for your application to be considered. For more information about the position, applicants may contact:

Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, PhD
Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor and Head
Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Louise Freer Hall
906 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL
IL 61801
USA
e-mail: wojtek@illinois.edu
http://kch.illinois.edu/
work     +1 (217) 244 0823
fax        +1 (217) 244 7322


Further information about the College may be found at http://www.ahs.illinois.edu/

Illinois is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity. (www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu).