Dr James Brighton

His theoretical and empirical research interests lie in disability studies, the sociology of the body and the social and cultural analyses of sport and fitness. Methodologically, he is interested in interpretive forms of qualitative inquiry including ethnography, life history and narrative analyses. His current publications explore wheelchair bodybuilding, body modifications amongst athletes with spinal cord injury and how disabled athletes can become sporting cyborgs.

Supervisory interests

• disability sport and identity
• fitness cultures and body perfectionism
• narrative methodologies.

James teaches on sociological and research orientated modules across Sport and Exercise Science, Physical Education and Sport and Exercise Science, Sport and Exercise Psychology and Sport and Leisure Management degrees. He is the module leader for:

Level 4: Sport, Culture and Society

Level 6: Re-thinking Sport, Health and Body Cultures

James teaches on:

Level 5: Sporting Identities and Lifestyles

Level 5: Research in Sport and Exercise 2

Level 6: Individual Research Project (Supervisor)

James is also the Level 4 year tutor for Sport and Exercise Science students.

Research projects

James is a researcher for the Centre for Sport, Physical Education and Activity Research (SPEAR). In 2012 James was involved in the NHS Change 4 Life (Primary) programme and the Lloyds TSB National School Sports Week.

Supervision

James has successfully supervised students on the MSc by Research in Sport and Exercise Sciences and the Msc in Physical Education and Physical Activity by Research.

He has successfully co-supervised PhD's on the gendered experiences of Korfball, embodied experiences of female gym users and the implementation of a CrossFit programme for children.

Professional bodies

• British Sociological Association (BSA)
• British Sociological Association Auto-ethnography Study Group
• British Sociological Association Sport Study Group
• Sport and Body Cultures Research Group (CCCU)
• International Sociology Association (ISSA) Member

International conference presentations

• The Northern American Society for the Sociology of Sport: Virginia Beach, Virginia, 2019. “It’s like throwing gasoline into the fire and seeing what happens”: Autonomic Dysreflexia in spinal cord injured, male, wheelchair rugby players.
• Cluster for Research into Coaching (CRiC) 5th International Conference: University of Worcester, 2019. Challenging ableism: Implications for coaches of disabled athletes (Workshop)
• 4^th International Conference for Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise: University of British Colombia, Vancouver, 2018. “You’d make a good Raspberry James”: Researching disabled sporting embodiment
• The Northern American Society for the Sociology of Sport: Publicly engaged sociology of sport, 2016, Tampa. Wheelchair bodybuilding: Challenging ableism or reproducing normalcy?
• The international Sociology of Sport Association: World Congress, 2015, Paris Descartes University. (Dis)abled athletes as the “ambassadors of transhumanism”
• 5^th Annual International Conference on Normalcy 2014: More questions of the human, University of Sheffield, 2014. (Dis)abled athletes as the “ambassadors of transhumanism”
• 4^th International Conference for Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise: Turning point moments in the field, 2014, Loughborough University. (Dis)ability by design: Narratives of body perfectionism amongst wheelchair athletes
• Sporting females past, present and future, Leeds Beckett University, September. Disability sport as enabling or (dis)abling? A life history of a female Paralympian
• International conference of disability sport: Changing Lives, Changing Perceptions? Coventry University, 2014(Dis)abled sporting bodies & narratives of cyborg perfectionism.
• British Sociological Society (Sport Study Group), Canterbury Christ Church University, September 2013. Researching (dis)ability in sport: Reflections from an (able)bodied ethnographer.