Tracing the relationship between sport and religion is the theme of Professor Andrew Parker’s inaugural lecture which he will deliver at the University of Gloucestershire’s Oxstalls campus on Wednesday 25 February.
Professor Parker has recently been appointed as Professor of Sport and Christian Outreach in the Faculty of Sport, Health and Social Care at the University.
The lecture will provide an overview of how mainstream sports, as we know them today, were transformed from relatively unruly pastimes by the nineteenth century English public schools and how the sport and religion relationship has developed over time. Professor Parker will also discuss the ways in which sport is currently being used as a means of outreach by churches and church organisations.
Professor Parker said, “People tend to think of sport and religion as very separate things but, in fact, they share common values and the relationship between them has become more and more evident as time has gone on.”
Professor Parker joined Gloucestershire from the University of Warwick where he was previously senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Director of the Warwick Centre for the Study of Sport in Society (WCSSS). He has specific research interests in sport and religion, sport and celebrity, physical education, and gender relations.
The lecture is open to all, and places can be booked in advance by emailing inaugurallectures@glos.ac.uk or calling 01242 714515.
2nd February 2009