Azzarito, Laura (la2477)

Laura Azzarito

Professor of Physical Culture and Education
212-870-8601

Office Location:

GD 188

TC Affiliations:

Educational Background

  • Louisiana State University, USA. Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology. Josephine A. Roberts LSU Alumni Association Distinguished Dissertation Award in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

  • University of Maryland, College Park, USA. Master of Arts degree in Kinesiology. Alice Love Award for outstanding academic performance

  • Universita’ di Scienze Motorie di Torino. Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education with high honors

Scholarly Interests

Dr. Azzarito’s research examines the links among young people’s issues of embodiment, identity, and inequality from a pedagogical, sociocultural, and critical perspective. Her related research interests include the theorization and application of visual methods in education; the examination of the ways in which the intersection of dominant discourses of gender/sex, race/ethnicity, (dis)ability, and social class informs youth’s embodiment, and their construction and expression of the moving body with creativity; visual pedagogies; and curriculum theory. Dr. Azzarito’s current projects consider the critical and transformative aspects of using participatory visual research methods with and for young people in school contexts. She is particularly interested in studying visual methods as a means for exploring and representing youth’s embodied identities, and making sense of their moving body in their daily lives. The interdisciplinary nature of her research brings together art education, visual studies, curriculum theory, and physical culture studies. Her research is informed by a wide range of theories, including constructivism, feminist post-structuralism, CRT, Intersectionality, and post-colonialism.

Selected Publications

  • Azzarito, L. (2023). Visual Methods for Social Justice in Education. Palgrave.
  • Azzarito, L. (2019). Social Justice in Globalized Fitness and Health: Bodies Out of Sight. Routledge: London.
  • Dagkas, S., Azzarito, L. & Hylton, K. (Eds.) (2019). ‘Race,” Youth sport, physical activity and health: Global perspectives. Routledge: London.
  • Azzarito, L. (2018). Re-focusing the image of the “Superwoman” with “no color”: “Writing back to the center” from a globalized view. In K. Toffoletti, H. Thorpe, & J. Francombe-Webb (Eds.), “New Sporting Femininities” (pp. 135-157). Routledge: London.
  • Azzarito, L. & Kirk, D. (Eds.) (2013). Pedagogies, Physical Culture and Visual Methods. London: Routledge.
  • Azzarito, L. (2012). Digital photography as a pedagogical tool for investigating young people’s embodiment. Visual Studies, 27, 295-309.
  • Azzarito, L. (2011). “What it was in my eyes”: Picturing youths’ embodiment in ‘real’ spaces. In C. Phoenix & B. Smith (Eds.), The world of physical culture in sport and exercise – Visual methods for qualitative research (pp. 209-228). London: Routledge.
  • Azzarito, L., & Harrison, L., Jr. (2008). “White men can’t jump”. Race, gender, and natural athleticism. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 43, 347-364
  • Azzarito, L. (2009). The rise of corporate curriculum: Fatness, fitness, and whiteness. In J. Wright & V. Harwood (Eds.), Bio-pedagogies: Schooling, youth and the body in the ‘obesity epidemic’ (pp. 183-198). London: Routledge.
  • Harrison, L., Jr., Azzarito, L., & Burden, J. (2004). Perceptions of athletic superiority: A view from the other side. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 7, 149-166
  • Azzarito, L., Munro P., & Solmon, M.A. (2004). Unsettling the body. The institutionalization of physical activity at the turn of the 20 th century. Quest, 4, 377-396.
  • Azzarito, L. (2007). “Shape up America.” Understanding fatness as a curriculum project. Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, 3, 1-27
  • Azzarito, L. Principal Investigator. Economic and Social Research Council, August 2008. Moving in my world: An investigation into young people’s embodiment and its impact on participation in physical activity. Awarded £210,135. (Approximate, $459,025).  Loughborough University

  • Azzarito, L. Principal Investigator. The British Academy, July 2009. Geographies of girls’ bodies: A visual inquiry into minority girls’ physicality in school. Awarded £7,461.06. (Approximate, $12,690).  Loughborough University
Select Conference Presentations
  • Azzarito, L. Using digital photography to shed light on “bodies at risk” in physical culture.  Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada. SIG-Qualitative Research

  • Azzarito, L. & Marttinen, R. A visual inquiry into young people’s expressions of their embodiment.  Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Research Consortium, Boston, MA

  • Azzarito, L.  Gender, the hidden curriculum and physical education through girls’ eyes, March 2011.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Research Consortium, San Diego, CA

  • A “second home”: Ethnic minority girls’ geographies of the body in an urban school, April 2011.  Paper presented to the Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education SIG, American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA

Conference Symposia Organiser

  • Visual Methods and Identity Work, May 2012.  International Congress for Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  • Visual methods, Pedagogies & Young People, September 2011. British Educational Research Association Conference, London

Keynote Presentations 

  • Social and cultural dimensions of physical literacies, June 29, 2011. Keynote Lecture for International Conference on Physical Literacies, University of Bedforshire, UK

  • “To Run the Course” in physical education: Browsing the new condition of youth in our global era, February 2007. Invited Keynote Lecture for International Congress of Physical Education, Palma, Spain

Response to Keynote Lecture 

  • Researching young people in physical activity settings, March 2009. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Tampa, FL

Related Articles

Research by TC's Laura Azzarito Highlights Differences in How Young People See Their Own Bodies

Feeling comfortable and confident in sport, health, or PE can be very difficult for some young people who can be seen as a 'risk' of becoming obese. Young people from ethnic minorities, especially girls, are more likely to be physically inactive and unhealthy.

Research by TC's Laura Azzarito Highlights Differences in How Young People See Their Own Bodies

Azzarito, Associate Professor of Physical Education, says schools could use PE time to help students think critically about the messages they receive concerning body, health and physical activity.

Laura Azzarito

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