CFP: Decolonizing Fitness: Women of Color, Feminism, and the Politics of “Fit” Bodies

Call for Papers

Decolonizing Fitness: Women of Color, Feminism, and the Politics of “Fit” Bodies

Editor: Larissa M. Mercado-López, Ph.D., Women’s Studies, California State University, Fresno

Several works have broken ground in critical feminist approaches to fitness, including Leslie Heywood’s Bodymakers: A Cultural Anatomy of Women’s Bodybuilding, Shari L. Dworkin and Faye Linda Wachs’ Body Panic: Gender Health and the Selling of Fitness,Sarah Hentges’ Women and Fitness in American Culture, and, notably, Kimberly Lau’s ethnography Body Language: Sisters in Shape, Black Women’s Fitness, and Feminist Identity. However, no single book has heretofore gathered the voices and experiences of women of color to discuss the intersections of feminist theory and the study and practice of fitness.

The question “What does it mean for women of color to engage in the pursuit of fitness?” is at the core of this edited interdisciplinary anthology that seeks scholarly and creative non-fiction essays by women of color on the (cult)ure of fitness, feminist approaches to exercise and sport, representations of “fit” bodies, and, more generally, the racial, gender, class, sexual, and ableist implications of the fitness and exercise industry.

In addition to this key question, submissions may address issues such as: What assumptions do fitness media make about bodies? Class? Environment? Beauty ideals? How and to what extent does the neoliberal logic of healthism/fitism create tyrannies of health and aesthetics that colonize the meaning and “look” of fitness?

This anthology welcomes submissions that discuss the use of social technologies to expand definitions of fitness, dispel myths about health and exercise, and build supportive communities around the social and material realities of women of color. Additionally, the anthology encourages essays that discuss local and (intern)national fitness movements and initiatives, as well as works on the use of group fitness to build community.

Topics can include but are not limited to women of color and the following:

• Neoliberalist Rhetorics of Healthism/Fitism
• Hegemonic Representations of “Fit” Bodies in the media
• Racialization of fitness/exercise
• Rhetorics of fitness
• Fitness and academia
• The “spectacle” of gym/outdoor exercise
• Fitness and social justice activism
• Fit bodies as moral/good bodies
• Exercise as meditation
• Integrative strategies (i.e. meditation and health)
• Fitness and consumerism
• Competing cultural constructions of beauty
• Fitness clothing and women of color bodies
• Body shaming, as it relates to fat, fit bodies, lean bodies, and muscular bodies
• Fitness blogs/Facebook pages
• Healing from trauma through exercise
• Fitness collectives and communities
• Cultural myths about fitness/sport
• Tyranny of aesthetics
• Fitness and citizenship/belonging
• The built environment
• Folklore around health and fitness

1. An abstract of 150-250 words that summarizes the main arguments and themes of the essay, as well as the contributions of the piece to Feminist/Women’s Studies,
2. A list of 5-7 keywords included after the abstract.
3. A brief biography (50-75 words) and contact information.

Please send in a Microsoft Word file (docx):

Abstracts must be submitted electronically to decolonizingfitness@gmail.com no later than midnight May 23, 2014.

AWARD: Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship

GARY SAILES GRADUATE DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

In recognition of the recommendation made by the Racial Diversity Committee in the fall of 2003, the NASSS Conference Program Committee has implemented a scholarship for a graduate student who is a member of a racial or ethnic “minority” group. The purpose of the scholarship is to create a mechanism to identify racial and/or ethnic “minority” graduate students who are doing research in the area of sport sociology, and to provide a means of supporting their work and association with NASSS. The award is for $500 to be applied toward expenses associated with attendance at the NASSS 2014 Conference in Portland, OR.
The application process and criteria for the scholarship are as follows:
*NASSS member and graduate student status
*Applicants must prepare a one-page essay, which addresses how they plan to contribute to the field of sociology of sport/physical activity.
*Essays should be submitted along with a recommendation from a faculty member who is familiar with the student’s work and aspirations.
*Applications will be reviewed by the NASSS Diversity and Conference Climate  Committee.
*All documents must be sent via e-mail and contain the applicant’s mailing address.

Application Deadline: August 30, 2014

*Announcements regarding the selected applicant will be made at the end of September 2014.
*The winner of the award will be recognized at the 2014 Annual NASSS Conference Business Meeting in Portland, OR.

Submit materials to:
Dr. Demetrius Pearson
University of Houston
Chair, NASSS Diversity and Conference Climate Committee
Dpearson@uh.edu

JOB: Sport for Development and Peace - Loughborough University, UK

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE ‘SPORT FOR A BETTER WORLD’?
(FIXED-TERM FOR 2 YEARS) 
JOB REF: REQ14201 APRIL 2014

As part of the University’s ongoing commitment to redeployment, please note that this vacancy may be withdrawn at any stage of the recruitment process if a suitable redeployee is identified.

PROJECT INFORMATION
This 2-year, full-time contract will support the research project: ‘Sport for a Better World? A Social Scientific Investigation of the Sport for Development and Peace Sector’. The project is led by Professor Richard Giulianotti (Loughborough University) and the co-investigators are Dr David Howe (Loughborough University) and Dr Simon Darnell (University of Toronto). The project is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and is scheduled to begin on 1st  September 2014.

The project provides a systematic study of the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) sector. The SDP sector features many programmes, organisations and campaigns across the world that use sport to promote non-sport social goals, such as development, peace, human rights and social justice. Key agencies within the sector include the United Nations and other governmental organisations, many non-governmental organisations, sport federations, major corporations and campaign groups.

The project has 5 main research objectives:
1. To examine how the SDP sector is constructed in social and organisational terms, notably by investigating the different policies, networking and power relations among SDP stakeholders; and how the sector may become more effective through new types of partnership.
2. To examine SDP work through the comparative investigation of three selected fields of major SDP activity: empowering people with disabilities; promoting peace and conflict resolution; and advancing human rights.
3. To examine SDP programmes and campaigns, particularly their organisation, implementation and user-group experiences.
4. To examine comparatively SDP work in 5 selected locations of major SDP activity: Bosnia, Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Zambia.
5. To produce research findings that will have significant non-academic and academic impacts.

Research will be undertaken primarily through the use of qualitative research methods.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Grade: Research Grade 6
Job Purpose: To undertake research in the Sport for Development and Peace sector, with colleagues at Loughborough and other Universities.
Job Duties:

•  Undertake research (fieldwork and interviews) into the SDP sector in two international locations of major SDP activity 
•  Undertake additional research (fieldwork and interviews) with SDP officials 
•  Undertake preparations for research that will be conducted in different international locations and with different research groups 
•  Assist in the compilation and storing of statistical data, and documentary and secondary data 
•  Assist in developing the project’s analytical framework 
•  Contribute to the analysis of research data as appropriate 
•  Write papers for academic journals 
•  Prepare presentations and reports including data presentations 
•  Facilitate rapid dissemination and exploitation of research outputs 
•  Undertake continuous reviews of relevant developments in the scientific literature 
•  Maintain the project website 
•  Assist in communications with the project’s research liaison group 
•  Assist in organising the end-of-award project symposium 
•  Work effectively and flexibly as part of a project team, and with relevant administrative, technical and academic staff in the School and across the University 
•  Engage in training programmes in the University that are consistent with the Research Associate’s needs and aspirations, and those of the project team and host School 
•  Undertake other duties as may be reasonably requested, and that are commensurate with the nature and grade of the post 
•  All staff have a statutory responsibility to take reasonable care of themselves, others and the environment and to prevent harm by their acts or omissions. All staff are therefore required to adhere to the University’s Health, Safety and Environmental Policy & Procedures.

SCHOOL OF SPORT, EXERCISE AND HEALTH SCIENCES
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Job Title: Research Associate ‘Sport for a Better World’?
Job Grade: Research Grade 6

	Essential	Desirable
Qualifications	An excellent educational profile(1,3); A PhD in a relevant social science discipline or in the social scientific study of sport (1,3)	Post-doctoral or equivalent research experience (1,3)
Experience	Doctoral or recent postdoctoral research work in relevant research areas (1,2,3); Proven experience of undertaking qualitative research (1,2,3)	Current or recent work in the field of sport for development and peace (broadly defined) (1,3); Experience of undertaking social research in developing nations (1,3); Experience of authoring original work for academic journals and conferences (1,3)
Skills and Abilities	Ability to co-ordinate and monitor progress of work (1,3); Good interpersonal and organisational skills (1,3); Self-motivated with ability to meet deadlines (1,3); Ability to work independently and as part of a team (1,3); Ability to undertake research in international contexts, particularly in developing nations (1,2,3); Ability to write original papers for academic journals and conferences (1,3)	Knowledge of the sport for development and peace sector (1,3); Good IT and administrative skills (1,3)
Training	A willingness to undertake further training and adopt new procedures as appropriate (1,3)
Other	A degree of flexibility and a commitment to meet deadlines as appropriate (1,3); Willingness and ability to travel to undertake research in international contexts (1,3); Commitment to observing the University's Equal Opportunities policy at all times (1,3)

Stages in Assessment (shown in brackets): (1) Application Form, (2) Assessment, (3) Interview.

Conditions of Service
The appointment will be made on a full-time, fixed-term contract for 2 years on Research Grade 6, £28,132 to £29,837 per annum, at a starting salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.
The appointment will be subject to the University's normal Terms and Conditions of Employment for Academic and Related staff, details of which can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/wwwlboroacuk/content/humanresources/downloads/acadrelatedcos_v1.pdf

Informal Enquiries
Informal enquiries should be made to Professor Richard Giulianotti via email to r.giulianotti@lboro.ac.uk or telephone +44 (0)1509 226350.

Application
The closing date for receipt of applications is 20 May 2014.

PHD: Sport Management - University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

Sport Management Doctoral Program

Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies

The Sport Management doctoral program at the University of Tennessee has an opening for the fall 2014 semester. The program is housed in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies and is a specialization in the Sport Studies concentration. This position includes a tuition waiver and a monthly stipend. The candidate will teach classes in the Sport Management curriculum each semester and possibly teach classes in the Physical Education and Activity Program.

Candidates should have research interests in at least one of the following areas: 1) collegiate athletics, 2) sport communication, 3) law and governance, or 4) environmental sustainability.

The Sport Management doctoral program prepares graduates for positions as faculty members in higher education. The coursework for the program is developed between the student and the faculty advisor to meet the educational goals of the student. Students have the flexibility to develop a program that allows them to focus on the area of Sport Management in which they have an interest.

Doctoral students will receive training in research design and methodology and are expected to conduct research outside the requirements of the classroom. The program consists of 15 hours within the concentration, 18 hours of research courses, nine hours within the specialization and a minimum of six hours in an outside or cognate area.

Contact Dr. Rob Hardin (robh@utk.edu or 865-974-1281) for more information.

PHD: Sport Studies Doctoral Student Opening Fall 2014 - University of Tennessee

Sport Studies Doctoral Student Opening Fall 2014 - University of Tennessee

Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies

PhD program in Kinesiology and Sport Studies with a concentration in sport studies and a specialization in socio-cultural studies

The PhD concentration in Sport Studies with a specialization in socio-cultural studies has an opening for a doctoral student for the fall semester 2014. This position includes a tuition waiver, a monthly stipend, and health insurance. The candidate will teach socio-cultural foundation courses in the Sport Management curriculum each semester.

Applicants should also have an interest in conducting research in areas associated with UT’s Center for Sport, Peace, and Society.

Possible research areas include but are not limited to the following:

·      International sport/globalization

·      Sport diplomacy

·      Women and sport

·      Sport in outreach and engagement

·      Sport and religion

·      Sport and (sexual) violence

The Sport Studies emphasis in the doctoral program primarily prepares graduates for positions as faculty members in higher education. The coursework for the program is developed between the student and the faculty advisor to meet the educational goals of the student. Students have the flexibility to develop a program that allows them to focus on the area of study in which they have an interest.

Doctoral students will receive training in research design and methodology and are expected to conduct research outside the requirements of the classroom. The program consists of 15 hours within the concentration, 18 hours of research courses, nine hours within the specialization and a minimum of six hours in an outside or cognate area.

Contact Dr. Lars Dzikus (ldzikus@utk.edu or 865-974-0451) for more information.