My name is Brian Wilson. I am a Professor and sociologist in the
School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia. I am part of the Socio-Cultural group of students and faculty in the School, and Director of the Centre for Sport and Sustainability at UBC. My background is in Sociology (Ph.D. at McMaster University, Department of Sociology), Communications (SSHRC postdoctoral fellow, Simon Fraser University, School of Communication), and Kinesiology (MA at the University of British Columbia and BPE at McMaster University).
As you can tell from the title of this site, my main interests revolve around issues related to sport, the environment, peace and media. My most recent research includes studies on:
- environmental issues and sport — focusing especially on how stakeholders in the golf industry and mega-event organizers respond to environmental concerns
- the role of sport in peace-building and development — including studies on the role of bicycles in development efforts and research on the role of elite Kenyan runners in peace promotion efforts following Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007-2008.
- how sport-related social and environmental issues are covered in the media — and the potential for more pro-social and pro-environment sport journalism.
Some of my work related to these topics can be found in two books I’ve authored or co-authored, two books I’ve co-edited, and in a series of related articles and chapters. See publications tab for more details (and links to the books), and see below for images of the books.
Other topics I have studied over my career include: youth subcultures, media audiences, media portrayals of race and gender, social movements, and digital media. My first book concerned some of these topics: