Dr. jay johnson

Associate Professor
304 Max Bell Centre
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2

Phone: 204-474-8996
Fax: 204-261-4802
Email: jay.johnson@umanitoba.ca

Dr. jay johnson is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba and holds a PhD in Education, Sociology and Equity Studies, a Master’s in Exercise Science, a B.Ed. with an emphasis on junior, intermediate and senior education, all from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. from the University of Guelph. Jay has an extensive and interdisciplinary teaching background which has awarded him the opportunities to not only teach in diverse fields of education, both at the University as well as junior and high school levels, in addition to being involved in crafting, designing and implementing curriculum, designed to target those varying populations. Jay’s current interdisciplinary research explores child labor issues and body fascism, doping knowledges of elite female triathletes, the impact of climatic change on our physical experiences and the interface of sport, physical activity and the environment. He has published extensively in international journals on issues examining the influence of sex, level of competition, sport type, athletic identity, and social norms on hazing and initiations and co-edited Making the Team: Inside the World of Sport Initiations and Hazing. He has researched the effects of body-based harassment on girls’ and boys’ body image and participation in physical activity. As well, he is currently investigating how economically and socially disadvantaged youth experience their metropolitan landscape in a bid to identify desired environmental changes that may increase the use of active spaces. Jay is also pursuing research streams which examine the utility, function and performance of the bike and bicycle culture and community for adults and for youth. Jay is a former wrestler and hockey player who can now be occasionally seen on a triathlon course as either a coach or a participant. He is an avid cyclist who is keen to make opportunities available for all to tap into the joy of being on two wheels.

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My earlier and current research examined the culture of sport hazing and initiations with a continuation of constructing alternatives to the traditionally abusive and harmful practices adopted by teams. Given the recent, high profile, hazing incidents that have occurred in North America and more specifically in the Manitoba junior hockey system, my research and knowledge expertise continues to be relevant in the sport context. Again, it is incidents such as these that entrench my belief that university research can play a more prominent role in guiding and transforming community-based sport and recreation into positive, health-enhancing endeavours that respect the fundamental human dignity of coaches, officials and, perhaps most importantly, the athletes. Sadly, many of our sporting ventures fall short of this ideal.

Dr. M. Masucci from San José State University and myself have been fortunate enough to have conducted several interviews with Dr. Harry Edwards as part a research project on his 40 year legacy in the world of sport sociology, scholar activism and civil rights in America. As well, we have an ongoing qualitative study that is investigating the complex meanings of involvement in a local bicycle social movement, similar in some respects to Critical Mass, called the San José Bike Party. The two of us with another colleague, Dr. T. Butryn are in the finishing stages of a two-year, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) funded study that examined the culture of doping and anti doping knowledge among elite female triathletes. In addition, I am currently involved in a two-tiered project with Dr. P. Safai from York University and Dr. Moss Norman from the University of Manitoba which, on the one hand, explores child labour issues amongst junior triathletes and, on the other, body image concerns of triathletes. Finally, I have embarked on an initiative with Dr. F. Moola from the University of Manitoba and Dr. G. Faulkner from the University of Toronto to conduct a qualitative analysis of a youth-centered PhotoVoice participatory action study to investigate how youth experience and navigate their urban environments. It is hoped that the results from this project will aid in developing active transport policies that respect the concerns of children and youth in the urban context.

Most recently I have started to conduct research in the area of the impact of climatic change on our physical experiences and the interface of sport, physical activity and the environment. The first paper, Shifting Ice Floes: The Impact of Climatic Change on our Physical Experiences, examines the impact the climate change has had on our outdoor access to winter sport activities in Canada, specifically outdoor rinks for our leisure and recreation populations. 

Unpacking the complex perceptions and negotiations with our “natural” environment, particularly when the gaze is cast towards our physical, technological and environmental intersections is important to further the discussion and understandings of how to manage the environment, environmental resources, human resources and health. Perspectives on the environment are often articulated too simply to accurately portray the depth and breadth of the complex nuances of meanings. For example, many surveys, some of which inform policy, use crude indicators such as time spent in the environment or questions about the importance of the environment as indicators of environmental perspectives.

Indeed, although there is much rhetoric and ubiquitous discourse concerning the environment and the need to preserve this largely undefined space it occupies in our lexicon, there is little academic literature to indicate that there are many shared narratives that profess a raised consciousness or even awareness which connects accessing the natural environment for physical activity and it having potentially negative environmental impacts which in turn can impact our collective and individual heaths. To this end, I have begun to construct and pursue interdisciplinary collaborations to evaluate the use, utility and impact that recreationalists are having on urban and wilderness spaces, particularly schools and parks.

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Selected Publications

johnson, j., & J. Chin. (Forthcoming). Glory (D)haze: The transformative space(s) of team orientation rituals as a replacement for historical hazing.

johnson, j. (Forthcoming). Shifting Ice Floes:The impact of climatic change on our physical experiences

Masucci, M., & j. johnson (Forthcoming). After Mass: An Exploration of the San José Bike Party and Neo-Activist Bicycle Movements in North America

johnson, j., Butryn, T., & M. Masucci. (2012). A qualitative examination of doping knowledge among elite female triathletes. Sport in Society. (In Print)

Butryn, T., johnson, j., & M. Masucci. (June, 2012). A qualitative examination of knowledge of doping and anti‐doping education among elite US and Canadian female triathletes. Report prepared for the World Anti-­‐Doping Agency (WADA), June, 2012, p. 1-33. http://www.wada-ama.org/en/

L. Eliopulos. & j. johnson. (2012). Inside the vortex of sport celebrification: A textual analysis of Jessica Simpson, Tony Romo, and traditionally constructed gender roles. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5 (2), p. 210-230

Chin, J. W. & j. johnson. (2011).Making the team: Threats to health and wellness within sport hazing cultures. The International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society, 1(2), p. 29-38.

johnson, j. (2011). Across thethreshold: A comparative analysis of communitas and rites of passage in sport hazing and initiations. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 36(3), p. 199-226.

Holman, M., johnson, j. & M. K. Lucier. (2011). Sticks and stones: The multifarious effects of body-based harassment on young girls’ healthy lifestyle choices. Sport, Education and Society, 16(3), p. 1-23.

johnson j. & M. A. Masucci. (2009). No final victories: 40 years on the frontlines of race, sport, and culture An interview with scholar/activist Dr. Harry Edwards. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletics in Education, 3 (2), p. 233-251.

johnson, j. (2009). From the sidelines: The role of the coach in effecting team unity and cohesion. The Journal of Coaching Education, 2(1), p. 1-28.

johnson, j., Holman, M. (book) (August, 2004) (Eds). Making the Team: Inside the World of Sport Hazing and Initiations. Canadian Scholars’ Press.

Selected Supervised Student Theses

Laura Andersson - Sudden Cardiac Death in Running:  The Psychosocial Impact on Running Communities- (College Outstanding Thesis Award) 

Lindsey Eliopulos - “Firing the Pigskin Real Right”: Media Representations of Jessica Simpson & Tony Romo

Ryan Laperle - Monitoring ankle rehabilitation with Wii fit

Jim Rubalcava - The Forgotten Man: A Historical Account of Mark Brown’s Involvement With the First Gay Games

Brittany Syrovatka - Hazing in High School Athletics: A Qualitative Examination of Private and Public Academic Institutions-Defended

Kirky Kirkendall - Into the Wild: A Qualitative Exploration of Outdoor Experiential Adventure First Year Female University Students

Josh Pendleton - Program Directors’ Perceptions of Quality in NATA-Accredited Post Professional Athletic Training Education Program

Robert Wright - Framing Barry Bonds: A Mixed Methods Inquiry into Media Framing

Paul Ramirez - Barriers to Physical Activity for Latino Youth

Lisa Herbert - The Relationship Between Marathon Race Size and Medical Infrastructure

Tony Gianotti - Academic Achievement, Delinquent Behavior, and Sport: The ability of organized school-based sports programs to positively impact educational opportunity, motivation, and ability for low-achieving students through positive youth development

 

Selected Courses Taught

Culturally Relevant Physical Education and Health;

Conflict and Cooperation;

Graduate International Sport and Physical Cultures;

An Examination of Hazing in the Sporting Context: Emphasizing Alternative Orientations;

Philosophy and Ethics of Sport and Physical Activity;

Principles of Sport Management, Conflict and Cooperation;

Games of the World, Historical and Cross-Cultural Perspective

 

Key Words

hazing; gender; violence; masculinity; education; policy, triathlon; doping; environment; environmentalism; physical activity; socio-cultural; bicycle communities; youth; active transportation; physical geographies; body image,; education; sport