Doctoral College Seminar Series
Join us for our next seminar in the Doctoral College Seminar Series. This series of talks brings together postgraduate researchers and staff from across the university to share insights into researcher stories and learning.
All welcome!
If you know your ologies: Tales from the bog and other stories
Dr John Harris
Institute of Inner City Learning, UWTSD Birmingham
5th February 2026 1-2pm
Lecture Room 16, Louisa House, Birmingham and Online
Overview
This presentation will consider how individuals choose topics for research and reflect upon some of the ways in which we write about these studies. It will look at the role of reflexivity and how scholarship is (re)presented. Shaped by the sociological imagination of C Wright Mills, and the work of the cultural theorist Raymond Williams, I outline some of the challenges and possibilities of writing in the first person. It draws upon ethnographic research, case studies on the analysis of media discourse, and various consultancy and engagement projects. This story starts with a young PhD student struggling to find a research focus and ends with a much older person working on a REF submission across five units of assessment. It will include stops at some of the more interesting places in between. These include the World Alternative Games in Britain’s smallest town and the front and back pages of national newspapers.
Biography
John Harris joined UWTSD in the summer of 2025 to lead the first delivery of the DBA program on the Birmingham campus. His previous positions include those of tenured Associate Professor in Sport Administration (Kent State University, USA) and Professor of Cultural Business (Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland). John has an eclectic research profile and has enjoyed collaborating with colleagues across various subject areas. This work has been published in a range of journals including Geographical Research, Scottish Affairs, Journal of Rural Studies, Management Research Review, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, and National Identities. He is the author of Rugby Union and Globalization (Palgrave Macmillan) and editor/co-editor of several anthologies in sport, event and tourism management.
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