Tucker Center Newsletter - 2011 Fall
Director | Feature: Conference | Research | Documentary | Kudos | Film Festival
Feature: Tucker Center to Host Conference on Girls & Women in Sport
In the nearly 40 years since Title IX was made law, significant changes and positive outcomes for girls and women in physical activity contexts are clearly evident, yet disparities and inequalities still exist in many key areas. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of Title IX and to capitalize on the North American Society of Sport Sociology's (NASSS) annual meeting November 3-6 in Minneapolis, the Tucker Center is hosting a pre-conference focused solely on girls and women in sport. The Girls & Women in Sport and Physical Activity 2011 Conference: Creating Change will be held Wednesday, November 2 on the University of Minnesota campus in the TCF Bank Stadium.
This fast-paced, accessible, community-building, collaborative event will bring scholars, practitioners, advocates, and leaders of women's sport from across disciplines together for one day to discuss a variety of issues around inequality, including the lack of females in positions of power; inclusion/exclusion; health disparities; and media portrayals of female athletes. Some features of the conference include interactive "ChimeIn" participant response technology, invited keynote scholars, a Creating Change photo booth, poster sessions, three accepted paper sessions with expert respondents, and a lunch session panel of leaders in women's sport [see tuckercenter.org/conference for more detail]. The interactive poster session featuring over 40 research and programmatic projects from around the globe will launch the conference and provide an opportunity for participants to meet colleagues and engage in discussing the latest discoveries and ideas throughout the conference and beyond.
Opening Keynote
Don Sabo, Professor of Health Policy & Health Education at D'Youville College in Buffalo, NY, will give the opening keynote, "From Exclusion to Leadership: What History and Research Tell Us About Women's Continuing Achievements in Sports." Professor Sabo is considered one of the most important empirical researchers in the United States on girls and women in sport, especially as related to youth sports, gendered participation opportunities, and family and health correlates. Professor Sabo is author or editor of eight books, numerous peer- reviewed articles, and several ground-breaking research reports including: The White House Project Report: Benchmarking Women's Leadership (2009); Go Out and Play: Youth Sports in America (2008); and Physical Activity and Sport in the Lives of Girls (1997). In addition to his scholarship, he founded and directs the Center for Research on Physical Activity, Sport & Health and is currently a Senior Health Policy Advisor of the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) where he also served as Research Director. In 2009 Sabo was bestowed the American Association of Physical Education, Health, Recreation and Dance (AAPEHRD) Scholar of the Year Award, and in 2010 the WSF honored him with the Darlene Kluka Women's Sports and Physical Activity Research Award.
Sabo's keynote will assert that women's interest and participation in sport are undergoing a major transformation in western societies. Gender and sex segregation no longer exclude women from sport, and the traditional equation, "sport = masculinity," is losing its cultural primacy. He will argue that not only is sport changing girls and women, but girls and women are also transforming sport. In this wider context, Professor Sabo will discuss an array of evidence-based research that documents the links between athletic participation and the physical and emotional health of girls and women. He will suggest that aspects of the fitness revolution, women's athletic achievements, and the erosion of traditional gender beliefs are giving rise to a new policy vision for sport as a public health asset rather than a social hierarchy that promotes winning at all costs and male dominance. Professor Sabo will also point to women's sports advocates, researchers from a wide array of disciplines, and women athletes who are playing key leadership roles in helping to create change.
Lunch Session Keynote Panel
Many groups and individuals are doing exceptional work to create change for girls and women in sport. We have invited a remarkable group of leaders in women's sport to discuss key initiatives of their respective groups or research centers. The panelists for the "Groups Creating Change for Girls & Women in Sport" include Karin Lofstrom, Executive Director of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS); Kathy Babiak, Director of the newly developed joint venture of the University of Michigan and the Women's Sports Foundation; the Sports, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center for Women and Girls (SHARP); Lynda Ransdell, President of the National Association of Girls & Women in Sport (NAGWS); Nicole M. LaVoi, Associate Director of the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport; Chris Shelton, representing the International Working Group for Women in Sport (IWG) and Women Sport International (WSI); and Celia Slater and Judy Sweet, Co-Directors of the Alliance of Women Coaches. The most current and cutting-edge information about women's sport and social change will be discussed in this information-packed session!
The conference also will include three research presentation sessions by scholars from around the world. Themes of the sessions include: females in positions of power; inclusion/exclusion; and sport media. Not the typical conference presentation format, these sessions will be short, concise, and focused on creating lively discussion. An expert respondent will draw out key take-away messages and the audience will have the ability to "chime in" via real-time, audience response technology or to participate in the Q&A that will conclude each session.
Closing Keynote Panel
"A Great Conversation with Sport Media Scholars" will feature three seminal scholars who have shaped the landscape of sport media scholarly inquiry. Panelists will discuss a number of current issues, including insights into the persistent patterns of underrepresentation of female athletes in sport media in terms of amount of coverage and continued emphasis of femininity and heterosexuality over athletic competence. This accessible conversation will be a unique opportunity to hear first-hand how seasoned researchers conceptualize decades of research, discuss personal and professional experiences, reflect on outcomes and impact of their research, reveal future directions, and illuminate remaining gaps in sport media research. Moderated by a rising star in sport media research, this distinctive conversation promises to be captivating!
About the Panelists
Margaret Carlisle Duncan is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Human Movement Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Professor Duncan has examined portrayals of female athletes and women's sports in the media, as well as media depictions of women's bodies and body practices. She has co-authored four sport media studies commissioned by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (now called LA84). She is a former president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS), and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology—the highest academic honor in her field.
Mary Jo Kane is a Professor and Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota. Professor Kane is an internationally recognized scholar who has published extensively on media representations of athletic females and is also considered one of the nation's leading experts on the social and political implications of Title IX. She is a Fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology, and in 2004 received the Scholar of the Year Award from the Women's Sports Foundation. This award is given to individuals who make significant research contributions in the areas of women's sports and physical activity. In 2007, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sport.
Michael A. Messner is a Professor of Sociology & Gender Studies at the University of Southern California. Professor Messner examines the social construction of gender in sport and has published several studies on gender and televised sports. He is author or editor of 11 books, and two-time winner of the NASSS book award for Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports (2002) and It's All for the Kids: Gender, Families and Youth Sports (2009). He is a past President of NASSS and has served as a consultant to the California Women's Law Center relative to his work on Title IX. In 2007, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sport.
About the Moderator
Cheryl Cooky is an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in Health & Kinesiology and Women's Studies at Purdue University. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology and Gender Studies from the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on gender and sport participation and gender in sports media coverage. She has published in the Sociology of Sport Journal, Sociological Perspectives, and the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, as well as in several edited books and anthologies. Cooky is the co-author (along with Michael Messner) of the report, Gender in Televised Sport: News and Highlight Shows: 1989-2009, which has been downloaded over 3500 times in 48 states and 68 different countries. A rising star in sport sociology, in 2008 she was awarded the Dorothy Harris Women's Sports Foundation Dissertation Scholarship.
For the full conference program, list of accepted papers and posters, registration, hotel and travel, detailed schedule, and additional information about the conference, visit our Web site at www.tuckercenter.org. This event will not be streamed live on the Web. To keep apprised, follow the Twitter hashtag #GWSC2011! and @TuckerCenter tweets during the conference. We have many registration options to make it easy for you to join and be part of creating change for girls and women in sport. See you in November!