As a kinesiology student, Janelle Joseph was struck by how much of the sport and health research she encountered focused on mainstream events, physiological experiments and elite athletic performance without paying attention to the barriers people face.<\/p>\n
Now a researcher herself, she says she\u2019s determined to build a \u201cdifferent curriculum\u201d that expands sport research to embrace studies of health and wellness among people of many races, backgrounds and abilities who may find themselves relegated to the sidelines.<\/p>\n
As Brock University\u2019s new Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Racial Justice, Health and Sport, Joseph is focused on fulfilling her long-held dream by researching how community leaders create sport and movement activities to address health disparities linked to racism and other forms of injustice.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur sport and recreation systems make so many assumptions about what people can and can’t do or who is or isn\u2019t fit,\u201d says the Associate Professor of Health Sciences and Sport Management. \u201cI\u2019m interested in how ideas of fit bodies and minds are tied to belonging and merit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph, who is the former co-president of the Black Canadian Studies Association, aims to connect Black health and sport organizations and Black Studies scholars across Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Joseph is an international\u00a0leader in transformative equity and decolonial studies,\u201d says Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon. \u201cAt the intersections of racial justice, health and sport, Dr. Joseph is illuminating ideas about leadership that have nurtured holistic well-being here and in many parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph was one of 259 new and renewed CRCs announced Wednesday, Oct. 22<\/a> by M\u00e9lanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister Responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. Also announced was the renewal of Associate Professor of Kinesiology Val Fajardo\u2019s CRC in Tissue Remodelling and Plasticity Throughout the Lifespan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brock has 13 Canada Research Chairs \u2014 all nationally recognized experts in their respective fields who contribute knowledge, understanding and solutions to society.<\/p>\n Funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation\u2019s John R. Evans Leaders Fund to support Joseph and Fajardo\u2019s lab infrastructure was also included in Wednesday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cImproving the health and well-being of everyone in this country is a top priority for the Canadian government,\u201d says St. Catharines Member of Parliament Chris Bittle. \u201cDr. Joseph\u2019s work will generate and share a wealth of ideas on how we can all meet this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Black communities are healing themselves, says Joseph, \u201cbut little attention has been paid to the physical activity, outdoor leisure, sport, mindfulness, nutrition and food security initiatives being set up in those communities. My research addresses these gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph is examining how community leaders combine three concepts when creating fitness and health community programming:<\/p>\n \u201cThe focus on Black health is often relegated to physiological processes and deficit thinking,\u201d says Joseph. \u201cWhat I want to know is how we sustain health in racialized communities. What difference does movement make to well-being and leadership?\u201d<\/p>\n Through one of her projects, Joseph says she aims to develop networks, enhance skills and facilitate storytelling about Black healing by documenting \u201cthe expansive dreaming of Black health leaders and entrepreneurs currently transforming bodies and wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n She also plans to establish the Nyansapo Research-Creation Embodiment Studio and Kokuromotie Gathering Collaboratory at Brock. In the Twi language of Ghana, nyansapo means wisdom while kokuromotie means co-operation.<\/p>\n In these two facilities, she will build teams of post-doctoral fellows and research assistants who will conduct a variety of activities including:<\/p>\n\n
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