Dr. Theresa Walton-Fisette
Biography
Walton-Fisette earned a B.A. in Sociology from Southern Oregon University (1993), a M.A. (2000) and PhD (2002) in Cultural Studies from the University of Iowa. She joined the Kent State faculty in 2003, attaining tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2009 and promotion to Professor in 2017. Drawing on critical cultural studies, her scholarship focuses on investigations of power relationships and the ways those relationships are both resisted and maintained within mediated sport narratives as well as in school settings. In particular, she has examined media discourse of Title IX and sport, women's amateur wrestling, and elite distance running. She has also investigated the ways high school girls understand and experience their embodied and mediated identities. Walton-Fisette's work has been accepted in the Sociology of Sport Journal, the Journal of Sport History, the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, the Journal of Popular Culture and Sport, and Education & Society.
Education
M.A. in Cultural Studies, University of Iowa
Ph.D. in Cultural Studies, University of Iowa
Expertise
Sport Media
Title IX
Wrestling
Distance Running
Track and Field
Sport in the media in particular: elite distance running amateur wrestling Title IX NBA
Physical education teacher education on high school girls experiences of embodiment media consumption and physical activity
Increasing in-class physical activity in elementary school in relation to classroom behavior and academic achievement
Awards/Achievements
- President of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, 2016 - 2018
- Research Fellow of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, 2018