Dr. Jay Coakley, a leading scholar in sport and culture will visit West Virginia University to discuss the conditions and context when sport practice and events contribute to create social integration.

Coakley will present Sport and Social Integration: Global Possibilities and Limitations at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 13 to WVU College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences faculty and students in room 172 at the Coliseum. The presentation is free and open to the public.

“Having Dr. Coakley come to WVU to share his expertise in sport sociology is a great opportunity for our students, faculty and for everyone who wants to understand the complexity of how sports work” said Gonzalo Bravo, associate professor, sport management, CPASS. Although many believe that sports create emotional unity, Coakley’s research will show that this unity does not automatically lead to lasting forms of social integration or forms of development that contribute to the common good.”

“Coakley gives special attention to sport mega-events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA’s World Cup tournaments,” Bravo added. “These events involve large expenditures of public resources that are justified with promises that they will generate the social capital needed to achieve sustainable forms of development.”

As professor emeritus in the Sociology Department at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Coakley gives lectures worldwide in the field of sport sociology. He has authored Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies, which has been translated to in numerous languages and is in its 11th edition. He has co-edited books and authored more than 150 articles and book chapters, primarily on sport, society, and culture, with a focus on youth sports. Coakley currently holds a visiting professor appointment at the University of Chichester in West Sussex, England where he was also awarded an honorary fellowship in 2007.

He serves on national and international committees and is currently doing research with colleagues in Slovenia and Brazil, and is working with the newly formed Latin American Association for the Socio-cultural Study of Sports. He has been honored by various national and international sport organizations.

Coakley received his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Notre Dame.

For more information on the event, contact gonzalo.bravo@mail.wvu.edu

-WVU-

kc/02/28/13

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CONTACT: Kimberly Cameon, CPASS
304-293-0827, Kimberly.Cameon@mail.wvu.edu