School of Behavioural & Community Health Sciences (University of Sydney)

Mr Ian Andrews(Sociology of Sport)
Lecturer

Mr Andrews teaches and researches in the general area of Sociology of Sport.

Faculty of Education (University of Sydney)

Dr Richard Light (Social And Cultural Aspects Of Sport)
Senior Lecturer of Social Theory in Human Movement Education.

Richard has an extensive background as a general primary school teacher, secondary physical education teacher and coach in a range of cultural settings. He coached rugby in Japan from 1990 to 1996 and has trained in martial arts for over twenty-five years. He is one of the few Western scholars researching and writing on sport in Japan able to access its culture and is a prominent researcher in this field. Richard's research draws on social theory to examine the social, cultural and educational significance of physical education and sport. Through this focus he strives to provide insight into the breadth and depth of learning that takes place through the body that is implicit yet deep and lasting. In particular his work focuses on the role that sport and other regulated physical activity plays in the embodiment of culture, class and culture specific forms of gender. Richard is Section Editor, Pedagogy, for the Asian Journal for Research in Sport Science and sits on the review board for International Sports Studies and Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. He is a leading figure in research on Games Sense pedagogy in Australia and convened the Second International Conference: Teaching Sport and Physical education for Understanding in December 2003.

School of English, Art History, Film & Media (University of Sydney)

A/Prof Catharine Lumby (Media, Gender, Player Attitudes To Women)
Chair of Media and Communication School

School of English, Art History, Film and Media
A widely published print journalist, Catharine has worked as a news reporter, feature writer and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald , The Age and The Australian newspapers. She has also worked as a news reporter for ABC television and currently writes a fortnightly column for The Bulletin magazine. Her PhD thesis examined the rise of a tabloid culture in news and current affairs reporting in the US and Australia. Catharine is the author of two books - Bad Girls: The Media, Sex and Feminism in the 90s (1997, Allen and Unwin) and Gotcha: Life in a Tabloid World (1999, Allen and Unwin).

Associate Professor Lumby has worked closely with the National Rugby League to investigate players’ attitudes towards women and to develop educational programmes for improving off-field behaviour. She currently holds a large ARC grant with Professor Elspeth Probyn to investigate media consumption by young women. Catharine is a member of the Advertising Standards Board, a national body which oversees the regulation of advertising.

School of Philosophical & Historical Inquiry (University of Sydney)

Prof Elspeth Probyn (Gender, Self Image)
Department of Gender Studies

Elspeth Probyn has taught media studies, sociology, and literature in Canada and the US, and is now the Professor of Gender Studies at the University of Sydney. She has held several prestigious visiting appointments, including the Mellon Distinguished Scholar, The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Honorary Professor, Albert Schweitzer International University, Geneva. In 2002 she was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Her work focuses on questions of identity, sexuality and bodies. She has been constantly interested in what people think and do with their bodies – from eating, sex, to emotions and writing.

Elspeth has published several books in these areas, including Sexing the Self, Outside Belongings, Carnal Appetites, Sexy Bodies. Her latest book, Blush: Faces of Shame (University of Minnesota Press, and UNSW Press, 2005) focuses on shame as a positive force in society. She is also interested in ethics, the media and popular culture, and recently co-edited (with Catharine Lumby) Remote Control, a book on media ethics, and new forms of television such as reality TV and food shows.

From her background in food, sex, bodies and the media, Elspeth has recently become interested in the panic about youth obesity, and is planning a project that examines how boys and girls, and their teachers deal with eating disorders. She is also writing Girl Cultures with Catharine Lumby on girls and media which follows from a three year project involving detailed interview material with high school girls as they talk about how they see themselves portrayed in the media.

Prof Richard Waterhouse (Popular Culture, Leisure & Sports)
Head of School

Prof Waterhouse has written about popular culture, leisure and sports.

School of Society, Culture & Performance (University of Sydney)

Dr Paul Dwyer (Sport As Performance)
Dr Dwyer is working in the area of sport as performance.

School of Leisure, Sport & Tourism (University of Technology, Sydney)

Ms Johanna Vescio (Gender, Participation)
Senior Lecturer

Johanna Vescio joined UTS in 1990, with over 12 years professional experience in the Human Movement field, having taught Physical Education and Sport in schools in both Australia and the Netherlands. Her area of research relates to gender issues in sport and physical activity. Her most recent projects include 'good practices to increase teenage girls' participation in sport and physical activity' and 'role models in sport for teenage girls.' She is President of Womensport and Recreation NSW, the state's peak body to advance the status of women in sport. In 2000 she received an Australian Sports Medal as well as the Wendy Ey Women in Sport Award for her contribution and commitment to women's sport. Representing the Netherlands in the Europe Cup for Hockey, she was a member of the team that won gold for four consecutive years (1975-1978).

Teaching Areas: human growth and development, sociocultural foundations of leisure, sport and tourism, gender and sport, workplace learning.

Research Areas: Has published several articles in scholarly and professional journals of sport, gender and cultural diversity.