The Sport and Culture Group is a collaborative group of scholars based in the College of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. The unifying aim of the Group is its desire to advance critical understanding of sport through individual and collaborative research and writing projects that explore the role of sport in local and global communities. The work of Group members is multi- and cross-disciplinary, with the base disciplines being economics, history, philosophy, management, and sociology. These disciplines not only drive the operation of many of the College’s research projects but they underpin areas of postgraduate supervision. Some members of the Sport and Culture Group are affiliated with various Institutes at Victoria University, including the Institute of Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning and the Institute for Sport, Exercise and Active Living. The Group is renowned not only for hosting international conferences and local seminars, but for engagement in media presentations to promote informed and public debate on sport issues and policies, and the publication of the Bulletin of Sport and Culture for an international audience of more than 600 subscribers.

 

RESEARCH UNITS OF THE SPORT AND CULTURE GROUP

Members of the Sport and Culture Group coordinate and manage their academic interests by means of several research units. The activities of these units, which exist under the umbrella of the Sport and Culture Group, are outlined below.

 

Aquatic Studies Unit

The Aquatic Studies Unit (ASU) is an interdisciplinary unit that provides a space for sport and culture researchers with established or developing interests in aquatics to share their ideas, and work collaboratively towards understanding and strengthening aquatic culture in Australia and abroad. The work of the ASU is currently divided into three sub-themes: ‘The Aquatic Imagination’; ‘Water: A Critical Resource?’; and ‘Swimming for All?’. Work in the name of ‘The Aquatic Imagination’ explores the question of what comprises (legitimate) forms of aquatic culture and practice in Australia and abroad, and queries the connections between the aquatic imagination and the ‘social and cultural fabric of Australia’. Work under this theme also makes use of digital and web-based technologies, and creative representations to engage a wide audience in the research process and the dissemination of research findings. The second theme ‘Water: A Critical Resource?’ situates aquatic culture in the context of growing concerns over water provision and environmental sustainability. Therefore the question is asked: What might aquatic culture look like in the wake of a water crisis? How sustainable are current aquatics facilities? What are the possibilities for re-imagining aquatic activities without, or with less water? Research under the third theme ‘Swimming for All?’ examines the extent to which current aquatic programs, curricula, facilities, pedagogies, and policies, facilitate, or limit, the potential to promote and celebrate social inclusion, diversity and equity. All of the sub-themes of the ASU have direct links to the Australian Research Council’s national research priorities, and provide the platform and strategic direction for collaborative, funded projects. The ASU is lead by Dr Fiona McLachlan who is passionate about all forms of aquatic culture and has produced work on public swimming pools, swimming heroines, swimming and sexuality, and wild swimming. Other members of the unit include Assoc. Prof. Rob Hess who has a long-standing interest in the publication of swimming related research, in particular the historical aspects of aquatics; Loretta Konjarski who brings a wealth of expertise and experience in the pedagogical aspects of aquatics, and in particular swimming for social inclusion; Dr Brent McDonald whose work in the general area of sociology provides the unit with a solid grounding to further explore the social dimensions of aquatic culture. Brent has also recently published work on the narrativisation of diving sensation and gay icon, Matthew Mitcham; and Dr Caroline Symons, who is also passionate about many forms of aquatic culture and its relationship to issues of gender and sexuality, and is currently working on a ground-breaking project which examines the place and meaning of aquatics and its performative aspects at the Gay Games. Anyone interested in hearing more about the current and future activities of the ASU should contact Fiona at fiona.mclachlan@vu.edu.au

 

Career and Professional Development Unit

The Career and Professional Development Unit (CPDU) aims to resource and equip Sport and Exercise Science students for the world of work. The research areas to date have covered the area of evidence-based practice for the teaching and learning activities of the CPDU. For example, in 2008 a study was completed that investigated the career outcomes of 200 graduates from the School of Sport and Exercise Science between 1999 and 2005. The team of CPDU staff teaching students were very interested in finding out how the careers of our graduates progress once they finish their degrees. Key questions were: Where do graduates from the School work? Are our graduates finding fulltime work or part time work in the sport and recreation industry? How do our graduates get their first job and how hard was it to find employment after graduating? Does having two career placement experiences during the course help graduates to gain employment? What sort of salaries do our graduates receive? Do jobs in the sport and recreation industry provide career pathways? How satisfied are our graduates with their current employment in the industry and in hindsight with their decision to study and pursue a career in sport and recreation? What makes people in this industry change jobs? What skills do graduates need to work in the sport and recreation industry? What sort of additional education and training do our graduates undertake? In 2012 another study will be conducted to investigate the impact of the Sport and Recreation Management Internship on the career development of the 44 graduates who completed an internship between 2004 and 2011. Most internships were completed within local government leisure service departments and anecdotally it seems that the internship has played a significant role in the careers of these graduates. Please contact Angela Dressler (Angela.Dressler@vu.edu.au) for more information about CPDU.

 

Community Sport and Recreation Unit

The Community Sport and Recreation (CSR) staff are addressing a range of research issues that relate to the benefits that are accrued through the general community’s engagement in sport and recreation participation. CSR researchers are exploring issues related to social capital, community sport and recreation participation, community sport partnerships, strategies for including diverse communities, sport and recreation programming and planning, the development of outdoor recreation/education leaders, community development in sport and recreation, and the contribution that sport, recreation and outdoor recreation/education have on individual well being and quality of life. Unit members include Dr John Tower (Chair), Matt Cox, Tom Forsell and David Marsden. Staff are involved in supervising and undertaking PhD research as well as conducting research with funding from a range of sources. CSR staff are also able to provide consultancy advice on most aspects of community sport and recreation, and outdoor recreation/education. The staff have many years of community sport and recreation service delivery as well as years of experience in delivering courses and conducting research within the University. Please contact Dr John Tower (John.Tower@vu.edu.au) for more information about the CSR activities.

 

Football Studies Unit

The Football Studies Unit (FSU) is one of the longest standing and most active research units in the Sport and Culture Group. Staff of the unit were integral to the formation and promotion of Victoria University seminars known as the ‘Football Fest’ in 1994, and were responsible for convening highly successful football studies conferences in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. A number of peer-reviewed publications have arisen from these conferences, and the FSU now has a deserved international reputation as a beacon for football-related research. In addition, staff have been involved in teaching an undergraduate elective subject entitled ‘Football Studies’ since 1995, and Honours and postgraduate supervision of football research is a particular strength of the unit. FSU members include Associate Professor Rob Hess (Chair), Dr Matthew Klugman, Dr Brent McDonald and Associate Professor Bob Stewart. Alumni, sessional staff and current postgraduate students are also active members of the unit, and together with staff they form part of the Football Research Collective, an email list of almost 100 football researchers from around the world. Please contact Associate Professor Rob Hess (Robert.Hess@vu.edu.au) for more information about the activities of the Football Studies Unit or the Football Research Collective.

 

Gender, Sexuality and Sport Unit

The first conference organised by the Sport and Culture Group was entitled ‘Gender, Sexuality and Sport: A Dangerous Mix’ (1996). The Gender, Sexuality and Sport Unit (GSSU) has been productive ever since, with the publication of an anthology from this conference with the same title, the conduct of numerous educational seminars and workshops on addressing homophobia in sport/promoting sexual and gender diversity in sport policy and clubs, the completion of theses, books, journal articles, conference presentations and groundbreaking research projects. Dr Caroline Symons, the Chair of GSSU, led the pioneering research project ‘Come Out To Play: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Sport Experience in Victoria’, which won the 2010 VicHealth Professor David Hill Award for Knowledge and Translation. Symons was also awarded the 2011 Australian Society for Sports History book prize, and has been short-listed for the Lord Aberdare Literary Prize in Britain, for her social history of the Gay Games, published by Routledge. Current research projects of the GSSU include the impact of homophobic bullying on the mental health of same-sex attracted and gender questioning young people in Australia, a longitudinal study of the influences on physical activity and sport in adolescent females in Victoria, women in sport leadership within Australia, the history of a very queer sport event (the ‘Pink Flamingo’), the history and politics of the international LGBT sport movement, the intersections of sport and sexuality in online forums, and a social and cultural examination of sexuality diversity policy and practice within the Australian Football League. The GSSU is comprised of Dr Caroline Symons (Chair), Associate Professor Dennis Hemphill, Dr Michael Burke, Dr Matthew Klugman and Dr Brent McDonald. Other interested staff from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University includes Professor Mark Andersen, Professor Remco Polman and Dr Erika Borkoles. Together with alumni and current postgraduate students, this collective represents a diverse range of disciplines, including sport history, sociology, psychology, management, ethics and social inclusion policy. GSSU staff are also involved in Honours and postgraduate supervision, and are active in conducting research with funding from a variety of sources, organizing conferences, leading workshops, and writing government submissions and advocacy and policy development in the areas of gender and sexuality diversity, inclusion, health promotion and human rights. Please contact Dr Caroline Symons (Caroline.Symons@vu.edu.au) for more information about GSSU activities.

 

Global Sport and Olympic Movement Unit

The broad aim of the Global Sport and Olympic Movement Unit (GSOMU) is to encourage research in this field among staff and postgraduate students. A number of staff in the School of Sport and Exercise have knowledge and expertise in the staging, managing, critique and evaluation of mega-sporting events, including both the summer and winter Olympic Games, the Pacific Games, and the Commonwealth Games, and the Unit aims to draw together a critical mass of scholars from a range of disciplines. Undergraduate teaching in this area is also a feature of the Unit’s activities, with ‘Olympic Studies’ a particularly popular elective subject. Links have also been formed with other international bodies associated with global sport and the Olympic movement, and a number of related academic and exchange conferences with partners have been staged. Please contact the chair of the Unit, Dr Richard Baka (Richard.Baka@vu.edu.au), for more information.

 

Sport Ethics Unit

The general aim of the Sport Ethics Unit is to promote the development of ethical enquiry in sport and exercise related practices. The specific aims of the Sport Ethics Unit are to: 1) promote the growth of innovative and critical research in sport ethics; 2) promote postgraduate research studies in sport ethics; 3) promote ethically-informed curriculum in human movement, exercise science, physical education, sport management and other sport and fitness related courses; and 4) promote ethically informed public debate, policy and practice with respect to sport. The research of the Sport Ethics Unit includes exploring issues related to inclusion of marginalised groups in sport, the ethics of coaching and teaching, human rights and elite child athletes, legislation and participant rights in sport, ethics of performance-enhancing technologies, issues of deviance such as illicit drug use, and athlete sexual abuse and harassment. Unit members are Dr Michael Burke (chair), Associate Professor Dennis Hemphill and Carl Thomen. Staff are involved in PhD research as well as conducting research with funding from a range of sources. Unit members are also able to provide ethical opinion on many aspects of elite and community sport, physical education, fitness and exercise. Please contact Dr Michael Burke (Michael.Burke@vu.edu.au) for more information.

 

Sport Policy and Regulation Unit

The Sport Policy and Regulation Unit (SPRU) has become an integral part of the Sport and Culture Group. SPRU staff members have undertaken government policy analysis for the past decade, and were instrumental in producing the first and only comprehensive exploration of Federal government sport policy from World War 2 to the present time. More recently, SPRU has directed its attention to neo-liberalism and sport policy formation, player codes of conduct, social policy and inclusive club practices, drug management policy, dietary supplement deregulation, and gym regulation and accreditation. SPRU staff members are actively involved in student research supervision, and have a long publishing track record. SPRU membership is built on a foundation of staff with backgrounds in sport management, but other disciplines are also represented, including sociology, economics, philosophy and legal studies. Alumni and current postgraduate students are also active members of the unit. Please contact Associate Professor Bob Stewart (Bob.Stewart@vu.edu.au) for more information about the activities of the Sport Policy and Regulation Unit.

 

Sustainability Unit

The Sustainability Unit (SU) exists to research the relationship between sport and recreation and issues of sustainability in all of its key forms. Whilst questions of environmental sustainability are the primary research focus for the unit, those pertaining to social and economic sustainability are also areas of interest. SU members include Greg Dingle, and Associate Professor Bob Stewart, and in 2011, our first Honours student, Ms. Katie McDonald, became an active member of the unit. A number of peer-reviewed publications are emerging from unit members, especially works concerning the relationship between sport and recreation and climate change. In particular, climate change issues such as organisational vulnerability, resilience, risk, opportunities, adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation are all lines of inquiry for sport and recreation scholars. Additionally, staff have been involved in teaching a core undergraduate subject titled ‘AHS3505 Sport, Recreation and Sustainability’ since 2009. This subject provides a comprehensive introduction to the issues driving demand for sustainable organisational management strategies. Scholars, as well as Honours and postgraduate students with an interest in research pertaining to sustainability are invited to contact the unit about becoming a member. For more information about the activities of the Unit, please contact Greg Dingle (Greg.Dingle@vu.edu.au).

 

MEMBERS OF THE SPORT AND CULTURE GROUP

Updated profiles of the members of the Sport and Culture Group are listed below in alphabetical order by surname.  For a pdf of Sport and Culture Group profiles (with photographs) as inserted in the Bulletin of Sport and Culture in March 2010, click here.

 

Dr Richard Baka has been employed at Victoria University since 1979. He teaches a number of subjects including ‘Olympic Studies’ and the ‘Australian Sport and Fitness Delivery System’ and supervises postgraduate students. His main area of sport history research is related to the Olympic movement, especially Australia at the Winter Olympic Games as well as comparative sport research with an historical bent. He is currently on the Executive Board of the International Society for Comparative Sport and Physical Education and is an Associate of the Australian Centre for Olympic Studies. Other work he is actively involved in includes managing the School of Sport and Exercise exchange programs to such institutions as the University of Western Ontario and the German Sport University. Since 1996 he has also been the Director of the very popular Victoria University Sports Camps program which has seen thousands of primary and secondary students attend Victoria University during school holiday periods. Throughout his academic career he has been very active in the fitness area, and in 1995 he was named Australian Fitness Leader of the Year by the Australian Fitness Network. Richard can be contacted at Richard.Baka@vu.edu.au.

 

Dr Michael Burke is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University.  He is currently the course co-ordinator of the Human Movement and Physical Education suite of courses at Victoria University. His academic interests lie in the area of sport ethics and sport philosophy, and he has published widely on the topic of drugs and sport. Michael can be contacted at Michael.Burke@vu.edu.au.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Jessica Carneil is a Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Jessica’s research focuses on soccer in Australia.  Derived from her expertise in Australian immigration and multiculturalism, she is interested in how soccer has evolved from its problematic past as the ‘migrants’ game’ into a multicultural and cosmopolitan resource in contemporary Australia.  She is also interested in the dynamics of race and gender in sport, and has written on the development of metrosexuality as a new cosmopolitan sporting masculinity.  Other interests include sporting loyalty, and transnational identification and fandom.  Jessica can be contacted at Jessica.Carneil@vu.edu.au

 

 

Mr Matthew Cox is a Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. He coordinates the Outdoor Recreation stream in the popular Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management degree, where he teaches units such as the ‘Theory and Practice of Adventure Programming’, ‘Theories of Outdoor Education’ and ‘Outdoor and Environmental Philosophy’. Matthew can be contacted at Matthew.Cox@vu.edu.au.

 

 

 

 

Mr Greg Dingle is a Lecturer in Sport and Recreation Management in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Greg’s primary research interest is the management of sport and recreation organisations in an environmentally sustainable manner. He is currently the coordinator of an undergraduate subject titled ‘Sport, Recreation and Sustainability’ at VU which examines environmental sustainability issues for sport and recreation organisations and, related management strategies. Greg is also a PhD candidate at VU and his research deals with the environmental sustainability of sport organisations in an era of climate change. His thesis explores how and why organisations managing major Australian sport stadia are responding to climate change. He is an active member of the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand, and has also enjoyed a career in the sport and recreation industry that has included administrative positions in water polo, a national netball league club, and a management consultancy. He has also been a coach in both cricket and Australian Rules football. Greg can be contacted at Greg.Dingle@vu.edu.au.

 

Ms Angela Dressler is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University where she has built and manages a unique, leading holistic career and professional development program (CPD). As a part-time staff member, she has transformed a field experience program into a highly successful embedded career development program for the Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management degree. Now full-time, she manages more than 280 industry placements and sources several paid sport and recreation internships each year. Angela has also collaborated with Parks and Leisure Australia to establish a mentoring program connecting industry professionals with new graduates. Her initiative in embedded career development education, drive and leadership has recently been acknowledged with a 2010 Australian Learning and Teaching Council citation.  She has also achieved a 2009 Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development Teaching Excellence Award, a Vice Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Citation and she received the Peak Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Higher Education at Victoria University. Her program has also been recognised by the Career Development Association of Australia and was a finalist in the 2009 Sport and Recreation Awards education category. Angela can be contacted at Angela.Dressler@vu.edu.au.

 

Mr Tom Forsell is a lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Tom teaches subjects in the sport and recreation management stream including ‘Programming’, ‘Social Psychology of Sport’, ‘Inclusive Sport Programs’ and ‘Community development’. He is also PhD candidate and his research area is ‘Social capital in local level sport and recreation clubs’ and he is currently writing up his thesis. His interests lie in junior sport development, sport ethics and codes of conduct and community benefits of sport and recreation, and he has worked in a number of projects in these areas. Tom joined Victoria University in 2010 after significant time working in state and local government sport and recreation positions in project management, and in Major Events at RMIT University. He has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission on junior sport, with the Department of Sustainability on environmental programs, and in Sport and Recreation for People of all Abilities. Tom can be contacted at Tom.Forsell@vu.edu.au

 

Dr Clare Hanlon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University and an associate of the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living. Clare's areas of expertise include recruiting and sustaining target groups in physical activity, identifying how sport and active recreation organisations can develop, retain and evaluate people in programs, developing community partnerships to sustain physical activity and managing personnel at major sport events. Clare has been a team Principal Investigator in Federal and State projects funded by organisations such as the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Department of Planning and Community Development. She has also acted as a consultant for the University of Hong Kong, the Department of Planning and Community Development, VicHealth, NIKE, Ballarat University, a range of state sporting organisations and many Local Government Councils. Clare has been a guest reviewer for a number of international journals and was the secretary and representative board member of the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Clare can be contacted at Clare.Hanlon@vu.edu.au

 

Dr Dennis Hemphill is an Associate Professor in Sport Ethics in the College of Sport and Exercise Science. He is also a Research Associate of both the Institute for Sport, Exercise and Active Living, and the Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning. Dennis is a longstanding member, and currently on the Executive Council, of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport. He is also an Associate Editor for the journal Performance Enhancement and Health, and a Guest Reviewer for both the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and the International Journal of Inclusive Education. His current teaching includes a postgraduate unit in Research Integrity and Ethics, as well as an undergraduate unit in Ethics and Social Policy in Sport. Dennis is currently undertaking research on doping control and human rights; cybersport, embodiment and ethics; as well as narrative and critical pedagogy.  He can be contacted at Dennis.Hemphill@vu.edu.au

 

Dr Rob Hess is an Associate Professor in Sport History in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. His most recent book is the co-authored A National Game: The History of Australian Rules Football, published by Penguin/Viking in 2008, but he has also written extensively about the ‘secret’ history of female players and the ‘hidden’ ethnic dimensions of the game, especially the longstanding involvement of the Chinese community in the code. He is the convenor of the Football Research Collective, and on behalf of the Victorian Amateur Football Association he also coordinates an annual football history essay competition. Other interests include nineteenth century cycling, the relationship between sport and spirituality, and the history of sport in India and Pakistan. Rob is the current President of the Australian Society for Sports History, an Academic Editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport, and Executive Editor of the Bulletin of Sport and Culture. He also serves as honorary historian for the St Bede’s/Mentone Tigers Amateur Football Club. Rob can be contacted at Robert.Hess@vu.edu.au.  Click here to see a list of Rob's publications.  Click here for a link to the Australian Society for Sports History webpage.

 

Dr Matthew Klugman is a Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. He has written widely on the passions of Aussie Rules football fans, including the recent book, Passion Play: Love, Hope and Heartbreak at the Footy (Hunter Publishers, 2009). Matthew has also co-authored a paper with Gary Osmond tracing the history of the transformational photograph of the indigenous Australian Football League (AFL) player Nicky Winmar pointing to his skin. He is currently working collaboratively on a number of projects including the history of Australian images of race and sport, straight-identifying footy fans who eroticise footy players, and a comparison of AFL fans in Melbourne and soccer fans in Rome. Matthew previously worked in the history of medicine history, where he published a book on Blood Matters: A Social History of the Victorian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2004). Other research interests include sport and religion, the visceral nature of sporting passions and suffering, psychoanalytic understandings of sporting excess, anti-football sentiments, and the cultural history of blood exchange and gift relationships. Matthew can be contacted at Matthew.Klugman@vu.edu.au

 

Dr Brent McDonald is a Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Having played rugby union in Japan, Brent developed an interest in the cross cultural influences on sport. His PhD utilised sociological perspectives (particularly those of Pierre Bourdieu) to examine the position of sport in Japanese education. His research into Japanese sport as been published in multiple international journals and has focused on areas such as Japanese masculinities, embodied learning and spiritual capital, the ‘secondary’ curriculum, and the effects of globalisation on Japanese sporting practice. Brent is the regional editor for the International Journal of Eastern Sport and Physical Education. He is currently involved in the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program and ways of learning language through embodied practice. Brent is also conducting research into Polynesian youth and identity in conjunction with the Victorian Rugby Union and the Victoria Police. Other areas of interest include pedagogical processes in coaching, youth sports, diversity and masculinities. Brent can be contacted at Brent.McDonald@vu.edu.au.

 

Dr Fiona McLachlan is a Lecturer in the College of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Fiona joined the College in 2012 and teaches into a range of units in the socio-cultural aspects of sport and exercise. Fiona's research explores the place and meaning of sport in contemporary life, and she has a specific interest in visual and digital culture. Fiona draws from areas such as sociology, history, cultural studies, geography and gender and sexuality studies to inform her work. She has presented her material at education, sport history, and social science conferences and has several publications in the field of sport history. Fiona also has a strong theoretical interest in trans-disciplinary research methods and methodologies in sport studies and she is currently refining a novel form of historical representation called ‘reconfiguration’ which she has developed from her work on swimming and the aquatic imagination.

 

Dr Bob Stewart is an Associate Professor in Sport Studies in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Bob has a special interest in the corporatisation and regulation of sport, and the ways in which sport leagues clubs go about structuring their operations and managing player behaviour. Bob is currently researching drug-use-in-sport and ways in which commercialisation, culture and identity influences attitudes to drug use in sport, and drug-use practices. This project is funded through an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, with the linkage partners being the Australian Drug Foundation and the Turning Point Drug Treatment Centre. Bob can be contacted at Bob.Stewart@vu.edu.au.

 

 

Dr Caroline Symons is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. She is an authority on the Gay Games and the international Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) sport movement. Her multi-award winning PhD entitled ‘Gay Games: The Play of Sexuality, Sport and Community’, has recently been updated and turned into a book. Caroline is currently a principal investigator in three funded research projects. In collaboration with the University of Ballarat and Deakin University, she is examining transitional developmental stages of adolescent girls within Victoria in relation to the barriers and facilitators of their sport and physical activity participation. The second project funded by the Department of Planning and Community Development examines the context and success factors of women in leadership positions within Australian sport administration, coaching and officiating. The third project is the first of its kind to be funded in Australia (by Vichealth and Victoria University) and investigates the LGBT sport experience in Victoria. Caroline won two Victoria University teaching awards in 2007 and is well recognised for her work on sexuality diversity and inclusive curriculum development in the sports studies field. She established the organisation Challenging Homophobia in Sport Initiative in 2008 to promote programs, policies and education in this area within Australian sport, and in the same year she convened the Asia Pacific LGBT Human Rights conference that coincided with the Melbourne Outgames. Her academic discipline areas are history, sociology, politics, policy studies, ethics and event management. Caroline can be contacted at Caroline.Symons@vu.edu.au.

Click here for news about Caroline's success in winning the Australian Society for Sports History Book Prize for 2011.  Her award-winning book is entitled The Game Games: A History, and is published by Routledge.

 

Dr John Tower is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. His main research expertise is the management of community sport partnerships and relationships. He is also conducting research in the analysis of recreation and sport participation in Australia using the ERASS data, and the application of learning in the workplace and community experiences in sport and recreation courses. He also conducts market research for community, and recreation and sporting organisations. John has received research funding from VicHealth, Sport and Recreation Victoria, other government organisations, and community sport and welfare organisations. John is supervising a PhD student investigating the nature of social capital in local sport and recreation clubs, and is exploring opportunities to recruit students to conduct research in the area of recreation planning. He coordinates the teaching of ‘Introduction to Sport and Recreation’, ‘Research and Evaluation’, ‘Sport and Recreation Services Marketing’, ‘Recreation Planning and Policy’ units in the Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management courses. John also manages the School’s portfolio of Communication, Marketing and Engagement, and is a Board member for the Australian and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies. John can be contacted at John.Tower@vu.edu.au.

 

Ms Melissa Walsh is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. Melissa's research focus is on the construction of 'memory'. In her current research she is applying critical theories of oral history to the study of Australian football spectator culture. She is particularly interested in exploring how spectators 'compose' their personal memory in relation to 'popular memory' about Australian football. Recent publications include ‘What If?: Australian Rules Football and the Uchronic Imagination - Collingwood, Grand Finals and Memory’, in Matthew Nicholson, Bob Stewart and Rob Hess (eds), Football Fever: Moving the Goalposts (Hawthorn: Maribyrnong Press, 2006).  Melissa can be contacted at Melissa.Walsh@vu.edu.au

 

Dr Zhu Zhang is a Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University. His primary research interests lay in the areas of sport fan behaviour and social responsibility of sport organizations, specifically how professional sports can be utilized to address social issues and concerns through their influence on sport fans. His recent research project to investigate community participation in socially responsible programs of professional sports was funded by Victoria University. His research work has been published in international sport management journals such as the International Journal of Sport Management and the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing. He teaches mainly in the area of sport and recreation facility management and sport industry development projects in sport and recreation management courses at Victoria University. Zhu can be contacted at Zhu.Zhang@vu.edu.au.

 

LEADERSHIP OF THE SPORT AND CULTURE GROUP

Leadership of the Sport and Culture Group rotates on a semester-by-semester basis. The first round of the convenorship schedule of the Group is listed below.

 

Round One

Caroline Symons	Semester 1, 2013
Dingle	Semester 2, 2013
Hess	Semester 1, 2014
Hanlon	Semester 2, 2014
Hemphill	Semester 1, 2015
Dressler	Semester 2, 2015
Klugman	Semester 1, 2016
Matthew Cox	Semester 2, 2016
Forsell	Semester 1, 2017

Marsden

Semester 2, 2017

Carniel

Semester 1, 2018

Walsh

Semester 1, 2018

McLachlan

Semester 1, 2019

 

Round Two

Bob Stewart	Semester 2, 2019
Brent McDonald	Semester 1, 2020
John Tower	Semester 2, 2020
Zhu Zhang	Semester 1, 2021

Michael Burke

Semester 2, 2021

Richard Baka

Semester 1, 2022

 

Bulletin of Sport and Culture

For details of the Bulletin of Sport and Culture, the flagship publication of the Sport and Culture Group, click on the link at the left of screen.

 

Sport and Culture Group Research Digest

Bob Stewart edits a Research Digest on behalf of the Sport and Culture Group.  These documents are available as pdfs.  Click on the appropriate links below.

 

Research Digest, March 2010

Research Digest, April 2010

Research Digest, May 2010

Research Digest, June-July 2010

 

Undertaking an Honours Degree with Sport and Culture Group Staff

Click here to find out general information about undertaking an Honours degree in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University.

 

Current Honours projects (arranged alphabetically by author surname) include:

Student: Lauren Camilleri

Title: 'Cede Nullus: The Impact of World War II on the Footscray Football Club’

Completion: Forthcoming 2011

Supervisor: Associate Professor Rob Hess

 

Student: Ashley Humphrey

Title: 'Sport and Community: An Early Socio-Cultural History of the Loddon Valley Football League’

Completion: Forthcoming 2012

Supervisor: Associate Professor Rob Hess

 

Past Honours projects (arranged chronologically by date of completion) include:

Student: Caroline Leach

Title: 'Female Patriots: Case Studies of Women's Participation in Australian Rules Football in Victoria During 1943’

Completion: 2010

Supervisor: Dr Rob Hess

 

Student: Kathryn Sinclair

Title: ‘"Who Won? Who Cares?": Media Coverage of Women Playing Australian Rules Football in Melbourne During 1947' Completion: 2009

Supervisor: Dr Rob Hess

 

Student: Rachel Winterton

Title: 'For "Duty and Pleasure": The Development of Competitive Swimming in Victoria, 1900-1908'

Completion: 2005

Supervisor: Dr Rob Hess

 

Student: Timothy Shellcot

Title: 'Press Coverage of Sport in Melbourne: A Content Analysis of the Age, 1925–1975'

Completion: 2005

Supervisor: Dr Rob Hess

 

Undertaking a MA or PhD with Sport and Culture Group Staff

Click http://www.vu.edu.au/future-students/postgraduate-studies/research-degrees to find out general information about undertaking a MA or PhD degree in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Victoria University.

 

Current PhD projects (arranged alphabetically by author surname) include:

Student: Ms Katherine Haines

Title: 'Baulking at Shadows: Women's Rugby League in 1921'

Completion: Forthcoming 2014

Supervisors: Associate Professor Hess and Dr Nikki Wedgwood

 

Student: Mr Ali John

Title: 'Sports City: A Critical Analysis of Melbourne's Sportscape'

Completion: Forthcoming 2014

Supervisors: Associate Professor Bob Stewart and Dr Brent McDonald

 

Current MA projects (arranged alphabetically by author surname) include:

Student: Mr Daniel Eddy

Title: 'Dick Reynolds: Sport, Leadership and Community, 1933-1951'

Completion: Forthcoming 2013

Supervisors: Associate Professor Rob Hess and Dr Matthew Klugman