Transforming Movement Studies

What does racism have to do with studies of anatomy? Why would a motor learning specialist need to decolonize their practice? The Transforming Movement Studies team is a group of interdisciplinary scholars from universities across North America who have designed a series of outreach activities to mobilize social science research on decolonization in the interdisciplinary fields of sport, physical education, and movement (SPEM) studies. Colonial ways of knowing reproduce disciplinary silos, lack of awareness of historical and contemporary contributions to oppression, ignorance of Indigenous and Global South knowledges, and propagation of Eurocentric notions of ideal human performance, body composition, and health "deficits" in racialized communities. We are actively working to decolonize research and teaching from across the SPEM subfields on an upcoming website with a resource repository, a scholar and practitioner network, and a symposium. Stay tuned.

Transforming Movement Studies Team: Brock University: Janelle Joseph, PI, Asma Khalil , Cathy van Ingen, Talia Jermyn; Queens University: Sammi King, Gerome Manson; University of Alberta, Danielle Peers; University of Toronto: Tricia McGuire Adams, Terry Gardiner, Saidur Rahman, Daniel Uy, University of Lethbridge: Jason Laurendeau; Univeristy of Manitoba: Leisha Strachan, Delia Douglas; University of Waterloo: Aly Bailey; Ontario Tech University: Shilpa Dogra; Cornell University: Tori Justin; University of Saskatchewan: Shannon Forrester, Lee Schaefer; University of Calgary: Gagan Minhas; University of Guelph: Lori Vallis Harvard University: Anosha Waquar; University of Windsor: Dave Andrews

CEWMA

Critical Embodied Women’s Martial Art (CEWMA) International Research Group is a collective of international scholars engaging in 10 different martial arts for a combined over 100 years. We are focused on researching women and non-binary athletes’ experiences in martial arts, moving beyond simple “women’s empowerment” narratives to consider how women and non-binary people are advancing martial arts training and pedagogies, resisting masculinist and patriarchal traditions, and leading the next generation of recreational and high performance athletes. Together with Drs. Fabiana Turelli (University of Manitoba), Tricia McGuire Adams (University of Toronto), Kate Sylvester (independent scholar), and Chloe Bellec (Tohoku University), Dr. Joseph is advancing knowledge on embodiment and martial arts.

Re-Creation Collective

The Re-Creation Collective is a project-driven collaborative of scholars, practitioners, policy-makers, and knowledge holders working in the areas of sport, recreation, physical activity, and other movement cultures. Collectively, we have lived and scholarly experience related to the intersections of racism, settler colonialism, (dis)ableism, sanism, (hetero)sexism, transmisia, fatmisia, Islamophobia, and barriers around poverty and citizenship.

Co-Founders Dr. Danielle Peers (University of Alberta) and Dr. Tricia McGuire Adams' (University of Toronto) work with Dr. Janelle Joseph to secure funding and advance knowledge in the sport and recreation sectors.