School of Public Health
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1633
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
Note: Prior to July 1, 2007, the School of Public Health was named the College of Health & Human Performance.
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Item CREATING A SOCIALLY JUST KINESIOLOGY: ADDRESSING ANTI-BLACKNESS IN THEORY, RESEARCH, AND PEDAGOGY(2024) Justin, Tori Alexis; Jette, Shannon; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Currently, the National Academy of Kinesiology (NAK) is striving to create a socially just kinesiology (DePauw, 2021). The NAK call to action is informed, in part, by emergent scholarship that examines how dominant approaches in kinesiology often discount the importance of developing anti-racist, critical, and equitable pedagogy (e.g., Armstrong, 2022). While this scholarship brings attention to kinesiology’s centering of whiteness and the persistent stereotyping of (in)active Black bodies, what is missing is an examination of how/if anti-Black explanations of corporeality manifest across differing spaces in contemporary kinesiology and, if present, what form(s) they take. My dissertation addresses the above-identified gap by using a three-manuscript model to examine three 'spaces’ of kinesiology: theoretical, research, and pedagogical.In manuscript 1 (Chapter 2), I engage Black feminist theory to critically evaluate the tenets of Physical Cultural Studies (PCS). In doing so, I identify a significant theoretical and empirical oversight in PCS scholarship, namely the tendency to reify white Eurocentric epistemo-logics and disregard Black feminist thought by emphasizing Black masculinity and white feminist imperatives in examinations of race and gender. To disrupt this practice, I propose a Black feminist informed reconceptualization of four principal PCS tenets (pedagogical, political, qualitative, and theoretical). Manuscript 2 (Chapter 3) delves into research spaces by investigating how notions of “race” and “racial difference” are constructed in cardiovascular health (CVH) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) research. I conducted a scoping review to systematically identify original research articles (N=236) that included “race” in their examinations of CRF and CVH and then analyzed the sample to ascertain how each article approached “race” and “racial difference”. Key findings include: the majority (77.5%) of the studies did not define race; more than half of the studies (58.6%) compared Black and white racial groups in their examinations; 45.2% of the studies positioned white research participants as the ‘average’ or ‘normal’ in comparison to other racial groups; and only one article discussed the possible role of racism in relation to their identification of racial difference in an outcome of interest. These findings illustrate the need for CRF and CVH examinations to engage scientific best practice on how to research “race” and “racial differences” in ways that avoid reproducing racialized stereotypes. Manuscript 3 (Chapter 4) considers how Black women doctoral students experience pedagogical spaces of kinesiology departments. By conducting semi-structured open-ended interviews (N=10) with current and former Black women graduate students in kinesiology, I examine participants’ perspectives on how/if anti-Black explanations of corporeality inform kinesiology research practice and curriculum, and how the participants experience these pedagogies. Key themes identified are: kinesiological research tends to employ “colorblind research methods”; these methods contribute to monocultural and ahistorical understandings of (in)active bodies and health; and participants experience resistance to institutionally-backed attempts to disrupt white normativity. For kinesiology to transform into the socially just field that NAK is advocating, kinesiologists must consider how anti-Blackness can inadvertently manifest in their theories, research practices, and pedagogies. I provide practical suggestions throughout the dissertation on how to move toward change in each of these spaces.Item Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Type 2 Diabetes in Adults(Current Epidemiology Reports (Springer Link), 2019-02-09) Puett, Robin C.; Quirós-Alcalá, Lesliam; Montresor-López, Jessica A; Tchangalova, Nedelina; Dutta, Anindita; Payne-Sturges, Devon; Yanosky, Jeff D.PURPOSE OF REVIEW We identified 24 publications from January 2010 until September 2018 in the peer-reviewed literature addressing the relationship of long-term air pollution exposures and type 2 diabetes-related morbidity and mortality among adults. We examine key methodological issues, synthesize findings, and address study strengths and limitations. We also discuss biological mechanisms, policy implications, and future research needed to address existing knowledge gaps. RECENT FINDINGS In general, the studies included in this review employed rigorous methodology with large sample sizes, appropriate study designs to maximize available cohort study or administrative data sources, and exposure modeling that accounted for spatial patterns in air pollution levels. Overall, studies suggested increased risks of type 2 diabetes-related morbidity and mortality among adults associated with increased exposures; however, findings were not uniformly positive nor statistically significant. SUMMARY Current research is particularly limited regarding the biological mechanisms involved and the relationship between ozone and diabetes. Additionally, more research is needed to distinguish clearly the effects of nitrogen oxides from those of other pollutants and to identify potential subpopulations with greater susceptibility for certain pollutant exposures. A better understanding of the potential link between long-term ambient air pollution exposures and type 2 diabetes may provide opportunities for the reduction of health risks and inform future interventions for environmental protection and diabetes management.