Jennifer Dvorak

I am a sociologist working across the fields of law, criminology and bioethics.

I received my BA (Hons) from the University of Bath (UK), an MA from The Ohio State University (US) and a PhD from the University of Alberta (Canada). I am now appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Law at Canterbury Christ Church University. I am also Deputy Director of Research, Enterprise and Postgraduate Studies and Lead for Postgraduate Research in the School of Law, Policing & Social Sciences. As well as teaching on the LLB & LLM degrees I also contribute to our Sociology and Applied Criminology degree programmes.

My research focuses on the relationships between law, ethics, crime and society. I take a critical approach to bioethical issues, ranging from topics such as the medicalisation and criminalisation or legalisation of different forms of beginning and end of life interventions (abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia), to bioethical issues in sport (such as harm, violence and concussions). In 2020 I was awarded Theoretical Criminology’s Best Article Award for my article on Boxing, Biopolitics and the Body.

I welcome doctoral students in any of these areas relating to bioethics, law and society and socio-legal approaches to sport.

I am the module lead for:

Law in Society module (year 1)
Medical Law (Y3)
Law Individual Study II (20 credits) (Y3)
Sociology & Applied Criminology Individual Study (40 credits) Y3

I also contribute sessions on abortion, reproductive rights, and assisted dying, to students on our Contemporary Controversies (Sociology Y3) and Contemporary Issues in Criminology (Criminology Y3) modules, and sessions on gender & law to our LLM degree.

My research has been published in a range of peer-reviewed academic journals, and I have been fortunate enough to receive a number of national and international awards for research and consultancy work including: the Canadian Sociological Association’s Outstanding Graduating Student Award (2015); Merit Award from Alberta Justice & Solicitor General (2014); North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Doctoral and Masters Research Awards (2014 & 2008); and the British Olympic Foundation Award (2006).

Research Projects

‘A Public Health Perspective of the Impact of Spirituality on Health by People who Identify as Spiritual but not Religious’. Researcher(s): Dr Nicole Holt. Supervisor(s): Professor Douglas MacInnes, Dr Jennifer Dvorak. [Postgraduate Research Project]
'A Qualitative Exploration of Parents’ Experiences of using Food Charity Projects.'. Researcher(s): Mrs Daisy Skirton. Supervisor(s): Dr Jennie Bristow, Dr Jennifer Dvorak. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Cannabis and contemporary change: Drug decriminalization and normalization within Portugal and the Netherlands.. Researcher(s): Miss Buse Ozdirench. Supervisor(s): Professor Shane Blackman, Dr Jennifer Dvorak. [Postgraduate Research Project]
The Impact of Cyberterrorism on the United Kingdom Electric Power Grid. Researcher(s): Mr Marvin Fishley. Supervisor(s): Dr Perry Stanislas, Dr Jennifer Dvorak. [Postgraduate Research Project]
The implementation of rehabilitative initiatives in British Prisons between 1895 and 1995 and the implications of this for notions of the rise and fall of the ‘rehabilitative ideal’.. Researcher(s): Mrs Abi Carter. Supervisor(s): Dr Maryse Tennant, Dr Jennifer Dvorak. [Postgraduate Research Project]

How to be a social researcher: Key sociological studies Dvorak, J., Cant, S., (23 Jun 2023): Harper Collins. [Book]
How to be a sociologist: an introduction to A Level Sociology Cant, S., Dvorak, J., (01 Jul 2021): Harper Collins. [Book]
Governing excess: boxing, biopolitics and the body Hardes, J., (02 Aug 2019): SAGE. [Journal article]
Governing sporting brains: concussion, neuroscience and the biopolitical regulation of sport Hardes, J., Sport, ethics and neurophilosophy. London: Routledge. [Book chapter]
Women, 'madness' and exercise Hardes, J., (21 Mar 2018): BMJ Publishing Group. [Journal article]
Governing sporting brains: concussion, neuroscience, and the biopolitical regulation of sport Hardes, J., (06 Feb 2017): Taylor & Francis. [Journal article]
Law, education and Prevent Hardes, J., Revell, L., (18 May 2017): SAGE. [Journal article]
Duelling, prize fighting and boxing: science and technology in a shifting biopolitical terrain Hardes, J., 4S/EASST. [Conference paper]
Flow, skilled coping and the sovereign subject Hardes, J., Hogeveen, B., (16 Aug 2016): Taylor & Francis. [Journal article]
Law, immunization and the right to die Hardes, J., (17 Mar 2016). London: Routledge. [Book]
Legal fictions, inviolability of persons and the governance of assisted dying Hardes, J., Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities. [Conference paper]
Biopolitics and the enemy: on law, rights and proper subjects Hardes, J., (24 Mar 2014): SAGE. [Journal article]
Constituting the fighter’s body: on being-with in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Hogeveen, B., Hardes, J., Fighting: Intellectualising Combat Sport. Champaign, Ill.: Common Ground Publishing. [Book chapter]
Personhood, legal judgment, and sovereignty at The Cape, 1793-1810 Hardes, J., McLane, P., Pavlich, G., (2014), The Routledge Handbook of International Crime and Justice Studies: Routledge. [Book chapter]
Biopolitics and the enemy: law, rights and proper subjects Hardes, J., Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities. [Conference paper]
Fear, sovereignty and the right to die Hardes, J.. [Journal article]
Risking community Hardes, J., International Association for the Philosophy of Sport. [Conference paper]
The biopolitics of assisted dying Hardes, J., Law and Society Association. [Conference paper]
Ethics in sport: between transcendence and immanence Hardes, J., International Association for the Philosophy of Sport. [Conference paper]
Rethinking the female sporting community with Hannah Arendt. Hardes, J., North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. [Conference paper]
Agambian biopolitics and bare life Hardes, J., International Association for the Philosophy of Sport. [Conference paper]
Human rights in sport Hardes, J., North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. [Conference paper]
Bridging the dialectic between ethics and economics in sport management Hardes, J., North American Society for Sport Management. [Conference paper]
Deconstructing human rights in sport Hardes, J., North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. [Conference paper]
Reconstructing sport history Hardes, J., North American Society for Sport History. [Conference paper]
Sport, athletics, and virtue theory Hardes, J., North American Society for Sport Management. [Conference paper]
More than merely “Me”?: “Identity Politics” and the Paradigmatic Assumptions of sport sociologists Hardes, J., North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. [Conference paper]
The coaching act: interview with Chris Volley Hardes, J., (2007), Coaching Knowledges: Understanding the Dynamics of Sport Performance. London: A & C Black. [Book chapter]
Power, ideology, and Olympism: reflections on British sport policy Hardes, J., Women in the Olympic Games Seminar. [Conference paper]

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jennifer.dvorak@canterbury.ac.uk

01227923895

The Priory (PRs03), Canterbury

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Faculty of Science, Engineering and Social Sciences

School of Law, Policing, and Social Sciences

Dr Jennifer Dvorak

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