From Vancouver to Brighton

Dr Holly Thorpe, who recently carried out fieldwork at the Vancouver Winter Olympics at Whistler, is joining the University of Brighton’s Sport and Leisure Culture Department at Chelsea School in Eastbourne.

Dr Thorpe has received international recognition for her research into sport sociology and physical youth culture and she completed her PhD in 2007.
She is taking temporary leave from her position as senior lecturer at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and will work at the University of Brighton until November 2010, having been awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship.

She said: “The fellowship is a brilliant opportunity to collaborate with international colleagues and to further advance my research. The University of Brighton has a critical mass of world-class scholars in youth culture, sports, sociology, alternative and lifestyle sports, plus media studies, so I’ll get to work on a number of exciting projects.”

Holly will investigate the travel, leisure and sport experiences of young people working in sports in ski resorts including Whistler, British Columbia. She said: “I’m interest in understanding the global migration of contemporary youth facilitated by the extreme or alternative sports economy.”