Lisa A. Kihl, PhD, associate professor of sport management in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations (GIRSO), is quoted in a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) web article, “Former champion of northern recreation accused of stealing from N.W.T. rec group.” Kihl speaks on potential avenues for fraud in community sport organizations.
Lisa A. Kihl, PhD, associate professor of sport management in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations (GIRSO), received an “International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award 2022” in the Safeguarding Sports from Corruption category December 8, 2022. Dr. Kihl traveled to Doha, Qatar, to receive the award in its first year of offering at the Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani International Excellence Award Ceremony sponsored by the Rule of Law and Anti-corruption Center and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. The award was presented in conjunction with International Anti-Corruption Day. The award recognizes individuals and entities that have: worked to safeguard sport against local-, regional-, or national-level corruption; or who have made a measurable impact on reducing the risk of corruption occurring in a particular sport or in sport in general; or who have conducted research related to the effect of corruption on sport; or who have fought to reduce the impact of existing corruption on a particular sport or sport in general.
Lisa A. Kihl, PhD, associate professor of sport management in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations (GIRSO), was quoted in a Barron’s (AFP) article, “Sports corruption campaigner highlights match-fixing in football.” Kihl gave her remarks during her acceptance of a Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Anti-corruption Excellence Award presented December 9, 2022, at the World Cup held in Doha. Kihl emphasized gambling as a root cause for corruption.
Anna Goorevich, MS, School of Kinesiology PhD student and research assistant at the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, and Kinesiology graduate Anna Baeth, PhD, now Research Director at Athlete Ally, have published a chapter entitled “Mediated Moral Panics: Trans Athlete Spectres, the Haunting of Cisgender Girls, and Politicians as Moral Entrepreneurs in 2021” in Emerald Publishing’s Justice for Trans Athletes: Challenges and Struggles by Ali Greey and Helen Lenskyj, PhD.
Jason Hanka came on board the School of Kinesiology and the Communications and Marketing group (CM) this past summer at the end of June and has been our sole—and rock solid—intern since shortly thereafter. He brings strong writing and a graphic design toolset to the position. Read more about him below…
What is your work background? What is your educational background?
Currently, I am a junior majoring in linguistics. I started my college experience at Hamline University at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. At Hamline, I had been planning on creating my own linguistics major under the supervision of a board of advisors. Last year, I transferred to the U of M to pursue my BA in linguistics. Most recently, I worked as an online tutor in English and writing. Before that, I spent a number of months as a live-in caretaker for a family in Kansas City.
What are the responsibilities of your current position?
I work with the Communications and Marketing team to create content for and manage our social media and web presence. I have a mildly diverse set of responsibilities, but if it has to do with communications, I usually have a hand in it. The main focus of my work is taking submissions to KINtribute and putting them into the School’s news blog and the various streams into which it feeds, such as our web pages and social media. I work on feature stories, lately featuring notable alumni and students, conducting interviews to garner information such as where alumni are now, how they felt about their experience in Kinesiology, etc. I use my graphic design skills to create content, advertising, and social media. Recently, in the wake of our leadership transition, I spearheaded a CM internal campaign we called “Ditch the Doc” to revitalize our project management system using a program called Notion. I also initiated and maintained the CM social campaign, “Stay Connected,” to encourage students to attend classes in person. In my day-to-day, I maintain the job postings in the Undergraduate Wire, update our digital signage in the Cooke lobby, and have updated door signs around the building—whatever comes my way.
What do you like best about working here?
I love the atmosphere. I feel like I am a valued member of the team. I have a say in how things are done, and my opinions and insights are valued. Also, the position is afforded a lot of independence and flexibility. As long as I’m getting things done, there doesn’t need to be a lot of hand-holding or micromanaging. But if there should be something I’d want or need, the support is there. I never have to feel reluctant to ask a question.
What are you looking forward to learning in your position?
Well, I’ve already learned a lot, so I hope to continue learning. I’ve learned many valuable soft skills related to effective communication and working in an office environment. I feel much more comfortable and confident in navigating the world because of many of the skills I’ve practiced here. As for the more concrete, I hope to continue to hone my graphic design skills. I also hope to become increasingly familiar with the evolving variety of software apps used by CM.
Tell us about you!
I grew up in the small town of Cannon Falls, MN. I come from a large family, of which I am the youngest. I have five brothers and one sister. I briefly lived in Oklahoma City and Kansas City, but now reside in Brooklyn Park. I am interested in all things art. I love music and boast an exceedingly eclectic taste. I’ve maintained a digital mailing list of daily doodles that I’ve sent out to friends and acquaintances every day since August of 2019. My favorite word is “jovial.” My favorite color is blue. I adore cats!
Do you have a special talent or interest that might surprise someone?
Although it may not be surprising, many people are intrigued when I tell them about my hobby of “conlanging.” Conlanging is the art of creating constructed languages. It is a perfect marriage of my intense passion for linguistics, my creativity and my drive to create art. Think J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Elvish” or Dothraki, or Klingon. I’ve been interested in language my entire life and as a kid, I was intrigued by codes and writing systems, doing things like making codes to pass secret notes with my friends. By the summer before my freshman year I had been studying and learning to read various writing systems including Cyrillic, Greek, and Hebrew. And knowing I would need to learn Spanish for college I began to study its grammatical constructs. With my existing interest in linguistics and having learned the IPA [International Phonetic Alphabet], it was natural for me to wonder if and how letter forms are related to their sound, and quickly discovered they could be, in writing systems called “featural scripts.” Researching further led me to Tolkien’s constructed language Quenya and a script used to write it called Tengwar…and then opened the floodgates to the world of conlanging.
Any final words of wisdom?
My personal credo that I live by is, “Assume the best intentions and love well.” Also, practice “floor time.” Lie on the floor for 15 minutes every day. It shifts your perspective and how you see the world. It helps to slow down the pace of life and clear your thoughts.
Come see Jason in 204 and exchange a word or two … or tres, or 
.
Two School of Kinesiology alumni, Judith Ray and Luke Carlson, were recognized at a reception at the November 10, 2022, CEHD Alumni Society Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony at the McNamara Alumni Center. The Society seeks to create lifelong connections with alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the college; to enhance the student experience; and to advocate for the college and university. It honors alumni who have brought distinction to their professions and communities. This year the Society recognized two of Kinesiology’s outstanding graduates.
Judith Ray has been a trailblazer her entire life. Born in a segregated community in St. Louis, she was part of the first cohort of black students to integrate Harris Teachers College. After getting her teaching degree and two different master’s degrees, Judith was hired to teach physical education at West Chester University, where she was the first and only black person in her department. While at West Chester, she took leave to pursue a doctorate in kinesiology at the U of M as part of the first cohort of Common Ground Consortium, a CEHD program that recruits black graduate education students and supports them through their advanced academic journey. Judith later moved to Cheyney University, the nation’s first Historically Black College and University, where she retired from the School of Business and Professional Studies in 2013. She also was an exceptional athlete in multiple sports, despite participation barriers for females and African Americans, and she played flute with the St. Louis Orchestra.
Luke Carlson is the founder and CEO of Discover Strength based in Minneapolis. Discover Strength’s eight strength training studios are among the highest volume and revenue boutique fitness studios in North America. Luke graduated from the Executive Leadership, Strategy and Innovation program at Stanford University, and speaks around the world on the topic of evidence-based exercise, strategy, and leadership. He is an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Exercise Physiologist and received an Honorary PhD from Solent University in Southhampton, England. Luke has a BS and MS in kinesiology, and the late Dr. Arthur S. Leon was a favorite professor. He remembers Dr. Leon’s dedication to and passion for his work and the concept of “living life in crescendo,” along with the stacks of books and journals in his office. Luke stays active by training for and competing in marathons.
Anna Posbergh, PhD, President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Kinesiology, has published an article, “Beyond Caster as object? Examining media constructions of Caster Semenya through decolonial thinking,” in the journal Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. Posbergh and her co-author Samuel M. Clevenger, Ph.D. (Towson University) examined the discursive construction of 800-meter runner Caster Semenya’s public biography by popular newspaper outlets in the United States and South Africa.
School of Kinesiology doctoral graduate and Behavioral Physical Activity Laboratory (BPAL) alumna Dr. Eydie Kramer-Kostecka is the lead author on the article “A Novel Method to Map Community- and Neighborhood-Level Access to Rural Physical Activity Built Environments in the United States,” published in Preventive Medicine Reports. Kramer-Kostecka co-authored with current doctoral student and BPAL member, Amanda Folk, and BPAL director Dr. Daheia J Barr-Anderson.
Dr. Eydie Kramer-Kostecka, Amanda Folk, Dr. Daheia J. Barr-Anderson
The article describes research using rural-specific geospatial mapping techniques and a fine scale, within-rural grouping strategy to identify differing levels of access to a physical activity (PA) built environment because all rural spaces are not the same, even in similar regions. All measures of household access to PA infrastructure significantly differed by group. This paper provides future researchers with innovative strategies to map and examine how access to the PA built environment differs within a rural area.
Amy Stiehl, who took her 2016 master’s degree in applied kinesiology from the School of Kinesiology, has been named the new head boys swim and dive coach for the Albert Lea Area Schools. Stiehl also obtained her teaching licensure at the University of Minnesota in K-12 physical education, 5-12 health education, and PK-12 developmental adaptive physical education. She took her undergraduate from Iowa State Univeristy in 2015 with a degree in Kinesiology and Health and a minor in Psychology.
Bridget Sturch, a third-year PhD student in the School of Kinesiology and team member of the Sports Medicine Psychology Lab (SMPL), directed by Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, PhD, professor and associate director in the School, was recently selected to attend and present at the “International PhD Course: Designing, Conducting, and Evaluating Interventions in Sport and Exercise Psychology” hosted by the Universität Leipzig, in Leipzig, Germany. This PhD course brings together young professionals in sport and exercise psychology to promote international collaboration, offer a platform for students to share their research on a global stage, and provide educational and research-to-practice sessions led by world-renowned scholars. Sturch presented her dissertation work that is focused on developing and implementing a mental skills education and training program to address psychophysiological injury risk factors in athletes.
Rachel Hawe, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the NeuRAL Lab, and Ally Richardson, masters student, presented a poster entitled “Examining the role of vision in upper extremity movements in typically developing children” at the Society for Neuroscience Conferences in San Diego, CA. Ellie Kohl and Danielle Wang, undergraduate Honors students in the class of 2022, were also co-authors on the poster.
Emily Kringle, PhD, assistant professor of physical activity and health promotion in the School of Kinesiology, presented a symposium titled “Community Participation During the COVID-19 Pandemic” with collaborators and community partners from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Washington University in St. Louis during the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) Annual Meeting held in Chicago, IL, on November 8-11, 2022. During the meeting, Kringle also co-led a meeting of the ACRM Stroke Health and Wellness Task Force to plan for activities related to secondary stroke prevention and chronic stroke which will take place in the the upcoming year.
Anna Posbergh, PhD, President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Kinesiology, was invited to speak on October 19 at the FIESTA de las Ciencias y las Humanidades (FIESTA of the Sciences and Humanities), hosted by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, National Autonomous University of Mexico). Last year, the FIESTA reached an audience of 4,760,065 through social media, with 340 researchers involved and more than 100 institutions in Mexico and around the world. With the theme for this year’s 9th annual event being “Science, Technology, and Sports,” Dr. Posbergh spoke about research she has conducted at the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne on fairness, science, human rights, and protection in the context of transgender athletes and transgender eligibility policies.
How does body awareness develop in childhood? This question was addressed in a study now published in the Journal of Motor Behavior. Dr. Jinseok Oh, a recent member of the Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSC) and graduate from the School of Kinesiology, is the first author of the paper “Typical Development of Finger Position Sense From Late Childhood to Adolescence.” Dr. Oh was the lead investigator on the project, which resulted in collaboration with Dr. Hannah Block from Indiana University.
Fifty years after the passing of Title IX—the 1972 landmark civil rights federal law—the landscape of intercollegiate athletics for women has changed dramatically. The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport’s 2022 Fall Distinguished Lecture series panel, “The Changing Landscape of College Sport & the Impact on Women,” features multidisciplinary scholars discussing the accomplishments of Title IX as well as the injustices, unevenness, and structural inequalities that persist, and what the next 50 years might look like for women in college athletics. In addition, panelists will offer scholarly insights into many current sociocultural, political, legal, and policy changes, how the media covers these issues, and the impact on women in US college sports and beyond. The Tuesday, October 25 (6-7:30pm) event is free and open to the public. Download a printable flyer here. Zoom registration: https://z.umn.edu/tc-DLS-2022-fall-registration
Courtney Boucher, PhD, assistant director for research at the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport in the School of Kinesiology, is the keynote speaker at the October 3 Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School District Female Athlete Empowerment Symposium. The 4th annual symposium is planned with a focus on empowering athletes in grades seven through 12, and includes a variety of topics of interest to the 140-150 female sports participants.
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Please join the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport virtually on October 25th from 6-7:30pm CT for “The Changing Landscape of College Sport & the Impact on Women,” this year’s Distinguished Lecture in the annual series. Fifty years after the passing of Title IX—the 1972 landmark civil rights law—the landscape of intercollegiate athletics for women has changed dramatically. A panel of multidisciplinary scholars will discuss the accomplishments of Title IX as well as the injustices, unevenness, and structural inequalities that persist, and what the next 50 years might look like for women in college athletics. In addition, panelists will offer scholarly insights into many current sociocultural, political, legal, and policy changes, how the media covers these issues, and the impact on women in US college sports and beyond.
Erin Buzuvis, J.D., Dr. Victoria Jackson, Dr. Ajhanai Keaton, Dr. Elizabeth (Libby) Sharrow, Dr. Erin Whiteside
Learn more about the event and register here: http://z.umn.edu/tc-dls .
Dr. Divya Bhaskaran, postdoctoral researcher at the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, will leave the university at the end of 2022 to join the faculty of Hamline University. Bhaskaran has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the Department of Biology and will teach primarily in the Exercise Science program. Dr. Bhaskaran has been a lead investigator of an NIH funded clinical trial to investigate the use of vibro-tactile stimulation as a non-invasive neuromodulation treatment for people with the voice disorder spasmodic dysphonia.
Dr. Jinseok Oh, a member of the Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSC), successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on August 30, 2022. Oh’s cumulative dissertation was titled Assessment of human finger position sense and the effect of vibro-tactile stimulation on proprioceptive acuity. Finger position sense, the awareness of where our fingers are in space, is imperative for daily activities requiring manual dexterity, such as typing or opening up a jar. A deficit in this sense, associated with different movement disorders or neurodegenerative diseases, would degrade the performance proportional to the amount of deficit. However, there is not yet an objective and quantitative measure of this sense. Oh’s work centered around the development of a new device and testing method to enable researchers and clinicians to assess the proprioceptive function of human fingers.
Oh has accepted a position as a postdoctoral researcher at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The HSC Lab wishes him all the best for his future.
Beth Lewis, PhD, professor of physical activity and health promotion and Director of the School of Kinesiology, was appointed Chair of the University of Minnesota’s search for a new director for the Center for Educational Innovation (CEI). The search committee, appointed by the Provost’s office, also includes Tabitha Grier-Reed, PhD, Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Development, and comprises members from across the coordinate campus system. Through research-informed, transformative, and inclusive leadership, CEI guides and supports major strategic educational initiatives that advance the systemwide strategic plan as well as the teaching and learning mission of the University.
