Dr Laura Hills
Divisional Lead / Reader in SHES

Teaching

Laura is currently leading two modules that she developed based on socio-cultural understandings of sport.

Young people, Sport and Identity

The module aims to: Provide an understanding of sociological theories of identity and how they can be used to help understand young people’s sporting experiences. The module explores the relationship between identity and inequality, links identity in sport and physical education to broader social contexts; and, consider the relevance of the politics of difference and identity to different sporting and (physical) educational contexts. In this module, students conduct an analysis of the representation of young people and sport in film.

Media, Sport and Society

This module aims to: Increase students’ understanding of contemporary social theories and their application to sport; Develop students ability to critically analyse social and cultural discourses and practices; Enhance students’ appreciation of different theoretical perspectives; to consider and evaluate possibilities for social change.

Part of this module is taught with the Brunel University London Media Production Centre. In the first part of the module students’ explore sociological issues and theories and use them to conduct semiotic and discourse analyse of a sports film. In the second part of the module students create a video based on a contemporary controversial issue in sport. This includes access to industry standard equipment and training in camera work and editing using Final Cut Pro.