Dr Alberto Testa

Alberto Testa has an academic background in Law and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Brunel University. He is a  social behaviourist and an accredited member of the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology. Applied sociology can be defined as the "practical side" of sociology and this is where Alberto's research interests lie. His particular focus is on problem solving at MICRO and MESO level.

Alberto also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE). He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a Fellow of the UK Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (FCIEA).

Alberto is currently engaged in two international collaborative projects: one is an evaluation focusing on European Counter-Hooliganism Models and Policing and the other one is researching Muslim Youth, Sport and Social Inclusion.

He is available for research consultancy on European Neo-Fascist and Neo-Nazism Activism; Sport Crowd Disorders/Soccer Violence and Counter-Hooliganism Law and Policing. He welcomes the opportunity to supervise PhD students and invites informal enquiries from prospective students who share any of his research interests (Cf. the Research Interests page).

Visiting Titles

Alberto is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow (Sociology and Qualitative Research Methods) at the SportComLab, Laboratorio di Comunicazione sportiva dell "Alma Mater Studiorum", University of Bologna, Italy.

Hobbies

In his spare time Alberto is a 3rd dan in Full Contact Karate and Self Defense Instructor (British Combat Association) and a Fitness and Weight training enthusiast; his coaching qualifications include ISSA, FIF, IFBB, FIA.

Martial Arts website: http://authentic-okinawan-karate-uk.com/alberto-testa.html

Alberto is a member of the following professional organisations:

• Member of the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology
• Member of the American Society of Criminology
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (FCIEA)
• Accredited member of the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (MIMSPA)

Alberto also holds the following pedagogical and editorial posts:

• Editorial Board Member for the International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences and Sport Social Studies published by the University of Lille 2, France;
• Peer reviewer for these academic journals: Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture; Modern Italy; Urban Studies; Sport in Society and Sociology Mind.
• Peer reviewer of monographs published by Pearson Education;
• Member of the European Applied Social Sciences Research Network led by Prof. Dr. Nicola Porro (Professor of Sociology and President of the European Association for Sociology of Sport)
• Adjunct Fellow of the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research (USA);
• External Examiner/Sociology Assessor: Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (The Cambridge Assessment Group -University of Cambridge-UK)

Alberto is module leader on the following undergraduate sport sciences modules:

• SP1041: Sociology and Management of Sport
• SP2040: Sporting Environments
• SP2045: Management of Sports Development
• SP2055: Work Placement

Research Interests

• Sport Sociology and Sport Development (in particular policy and legal issues in sport)
  
• Islam and Islamophobia;
  
• Socio-Psychological aspects of Deviance;
  
• Policing
  
• Fascism, Neo-Fascism and Populist Movements;

His recent book publication is:

Testa, A. and Armstrong, G. (November 2010). Football, Fascism and Fandom: The UltraS of Italian Football, A&C (Bloomsbury), London, Black Publishers.

Research Centre

Publications

Journal Papers

(2011) Testa, A., Experiences of Online Learning: An evaluation of first-year Sport Sciences University students’ attitudes towards the use of U-Link, International Education Studies 4 (4) : 13- 21

(2010) Testa, A., Contested meanings: The Italian media and the UltraS, Review of European Studies 2 (1) : 15- 24

(2010) Testa, A. and Armstrong, G., Purity and Danger: Policing the Italian Neo-Fascist Football UltraS, Criminal Justice Studies: A Critical Journal of Crime, Law and Society 23 (3) : 219- 237

(2009) Testa, A., The UltraS: an emerging social movement, Review of European Studies 1 (2) : 54- 63

(2008) Testa, A. and Armstrong, G., Words and actions: Italian ultras and neo-fascism, Social Identities 14 (4) : 473- 490

Conference Papers

(2011) Testa, A., The normalization of the exception: Issues and controversies of the Italian counter hooliganism model, 13th Annual Conference on Global Sociology for a Global World

(2010) Testa, A., Using Moral panic to shape the Padania Identity: the Italian Lega Nord and the Islam Invasion, Moral Panics in the Contemporary World.International Sociological Conference

(2010) Testa, A., ‘Getting off on the wrong foot can doom a relationship before it begins’: An evaluation of first year sport sciences university students’ attitudes towards the use of the online virtual learning system, 9th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences

(2009) Testa, A., The importance of ethnography in making sense of sport, 16th Erasmus-Socrates Sociology Intensive Course

(2007) Testa, A., Revolution from the right? Neo-Fascism in the 21st century Italian football stadia and society, Local Sport in Europe. Proceedings of the 4th EASS Conference of the European Association for the Sociology of Sport., In D. Jutting, B. Schulze and U. Muller (Eds) 142- 144

(2006) Testa, A., The Italian ultras and nationalism. Sport, Nation and Nationalism, Proceedings of 3S International Conference on Social Science in Sport and 8th ISHPES Seminar. (International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport and the International Sociology of Sport Association)

Book Chapters

(Forthcoming) Testa, A. and Armstrong, G., The UltraS: the extreme right in comtemporary Italian football. In: Mammone, A., Godin, E. and Jenkins, B. eds. The contemporary extreme right in Western Europe: Nature, Identity, Passions. Oxford : Berghahn Books (Forthcoming)

(2011) Testa, A., Bosman Ruling. In: Sports Around The World: History, Culture and Practice. Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-CLIO

Books

(2010) Testa, A. and Armstrong, G., Football, fascism and fandom: The UltraS of Italian football. A and C Black Publishers Ltd