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I received my PhD in Kinesiology (Sport History/Philosophy) from Penn State University in 2005 and my MHK (Sport Psychology) from the University of Windsor in 1998.
In addition to faculty appointments at Laurier, I previously served as a faculty member at the University of Windsor (1999-2000), Penn State University–Altoona College (2004-05) and Brock University (2006-07).
Generally, my scholarship focuses on sociocultural/humanistic aspects of sport/human movement.
Within this context, current scholarly projects can be divided into three (interrelated) areas:
In addition to publishing in academic (peer-reviewed) journals and edited books, my scholarship recently featured in public forums including The Conversation, Fortune magazine, the CBC, BBC World Service, Corus national radio, i24 News (Israel) Al Jazeera, as well as radio stations in Kitchener-Waterloo, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Academic-informed projects have also been profiled by Laurier Research, Laurier's News Hub, The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo), and the American Kinesiology Association.
At this time Dr. Elcombe is not supervising MSc graduate students. Students may contact Dr. Elcombe to discuss possible graduate supervision in Kinesiology & Physical Education.
Students interested in graduate studies related to international affairs and sport can contact Dr. Elcombe regarding the Masters in International Public Policy program delivered through the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
Undergraduate students entering fourth year (with the requisite academic standing) may contact Dr. Elcombe to discuss possible KP490 Thesis opportunities related to sport ethics, sport development/governance, or cultural/political issues in sport.
Wenn, Stephen, & Elcombe, Tim (2011). “A Path to Peace: Some Thoughts on Olympic Revenue and the IOC/USOC Divide”. The SAIS Review of International Affairs, 31 (1), 117-133. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27000241
Elcombe, Tim L. (2010). “The Moral Equivalent of ‘Don Cherry’”. Journal of Canadian Studies, 44 (2), 194-218. DOI: doi.org/10.3138/jcs.44.2.194
Elcombe, Tim L. (2010). “Hockey New Year’s Eve in Canada: Nation-making at the Montreal Forum”. International Journal of the History of Sport, 27 (8), 1287-1312. doi.org/10.1080/09523361003714347
Elcombe, Tim L. (2005). The Oberlin Experiment: The Limits of Jack Scott’s ‘Athletic Revolution’ in Post 1960s America. International Journal of the History of Sport, 22 (6), 1060-1085. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/09523360500286767
Select Sport Philosophy/Sport Ethics publications
Elcombe, Tim L. & Hochstetler, Douglas (2022). Rethinking Sport Ethics in a Complex Post-COVID World. In Jeffrey Fry and Andrew Edgar (Eds) Philosophy, Sport and the Pandemic (pp. 247-260). London, UK: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003214243.
Elcombe, Tim L. (2017). "Jogos Bonitos? Sport, Art, and Aesthetics". In R. Scott Kretchmar (Ed.) Philosophy: Sport. Macmillan’s Interdisciplinary Handbooks: Philosophy Series (pp. 299-317). Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillian Reference USA/Gale. https://www.gale.com/ebooks/9780028663371/philosophy-sport
Elcombe, Tim, Hochstetler, Douglas, & McLaughlin, Douglas (2014). “The Sport Philosophy Literature: Foundations, Evolutions, and Annotations”. In Cesar Torres (Ed.), The Bloomsbury Companion to the Philosophy of Sport (pp. 427-461). London, UK: Bloomsbury. https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/bloomsbury-companion-to-the-philosophy-of-sport-9781472924087/
Elcombe, Tim (2012). “Sport, Aesthetic Experience, and Art as the Ideal Embodied Metaphor”. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 39 (2), 201-217. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2012.725901
Select Sport/Athlete/Physical Activity Development publications
Tracey, Jill, & Elcombe, Tim L. (2015). "Expert Coaches’ Perceptions of Athlete Performance Optimization." International Journal of Sports Science, 10 (6), 1001-1013
Robertson-Wilson, Jennifer, Gayman, Amy, Tracey, Jill, Elcombe, Tim L., Fortier, Michelle, & Manske, Steve (2018). Perceptions and experiences of pre-service teachers with physical education (PE) and daily physical activity (DPA). PHEnex Journal, 10 (1), 1-16. Available at: https://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/article/view/1669
Fredericksen, Ashleigh, McLeman, Robert A., & Elcombe, Tim L. (2018). Building Backyard Rinks in Canada: An Exploratory Study. Leisure/Loisir, 42 (1), 47-68. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2017.1411822
Tracey, Jill, & Elcombe, Tim L. (2004). A Lifetime of Healthy Meaningful Movement: Have We Forgotten the Athletes? Quest, 56 (2), 241-260. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2004.10491825
KP141: Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Kinesiology
KP/GS343: Sport Development, Governance, and Globalization
KP443: Ethics in Sport and Physical Activity
Elcombe, Tim, Hardman, Alun, & Harman, Alanna (2022, December 18). Looking back on the 2022 FIFA World Cup: A tournament of surprises and controversy. The Conversation. Available at https://theconversation.com/looking-back-on-the-2022-fifa-world-cup-a-tournament-of-surprises-and-controversy-194493
Elcombe, Tim (2022, June 2). Taking a look back at the evolution of sport during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. The Conversation. Available at https://theconversation.com/taking-a-look-back-at-the-evolution-of-sport-during-queen-elizabeths-platinum-jubilee-184119
Elcombe, Tim (2022, March 31). Heading to the FIFA World Cup impacts Canadian identity – and helps us play on a bigger political field. The Conversation. Available at https://theconversation.com/heading-to-the-fifa-world-cup-impacts-canadian-identity-and-helps-us-play-on-a-bigger-political-field-180277
Elcombe, Tim (2022, January 13). Get caught in the Olympic Spirit, but keep your (political) eyes wide open. The Conversation. Available at https://theconversation.com/get-caught-up-in-the-olympic-spirit-but-keep-your-political-eyes-wide-open-174223
Elcombe, Tim (2021, July 29). What the NFL’s vaccination policy says about the inescapability of politics. Fortune. Available at: https://fortune.com/2021/07/29/nfl-covid-vaccination-forfeit-policy-rules/
Elcombe, Tim L. (2019, November 17). Don Cherry’s Xenophobia Forces Canada to Grapple with Tough Questions. The Conversation. Available at https://theconversation.com/don-cherrys-xenophobia-forces-canada-to-grapple-with-tough-questions-126914
Interview for i24News.tv article entitled “World Cup controversy: A sportswasher’s dream or a tool for peace?” (Written by Jake Pemberton). Article published [online] December 21, 2022. Available at: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/sport/1671635687-world-cup-controversy
Interview for 570 AM CityNews Kitchener (The Mike Farwell Show) – Looking back on the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Available at: https://kitchener.citynews.ca/all-audio/the-mike-farwell-show/tuesday-december-20th-2022-6273827 (segment begins at -2:07:20), December 20, 2022.
Interview for 630 AM CHED Edmonton (CHED Mornings with Daryl McIntyre) – International Affairs and 2022 Qatar World Cup. December 20, 2022.
Interview for Corus Radio National (A Little More Conversation with Ben O’Hara-Byrne – Chelsea Bird guest host) – Looking back on the 2022 FIFA World Cup: A reflection on the tournament’s best moments, surprises, and controversies. Available at: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-little-more-conversation-with-ben-ohara-byrne/id1604604064?i=1000590703697. December 19, 2022
Interview (featured scholarship) for The Record article entitled “Laurier prof tackles politics and soccer through World Cup news hub” (Written by Josh Brown). Article published [print pp. A1, A5 and online] December 8, 2022. Available at: https://www.therecord.com/sports/soccer/2022/12/08/laurier-prof-tackles-politics-and-soccer-through-world-cup-news-hub.html
Interview for CBC.ca article entitled “Despite the protests, celebrities have their reasons for appearing at the World Cup” (Written by Jenna Benchetrit). Article published [online] December 4, 2022. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/world-cup-celebrities-1.6673006
Interview (featured scholarship) for Laurier News Hub entitled “Laurier researcher takes a kick at World Cup international affairs analysis.” Article published [online] December 1, 2022. Article available at https://wlu.ca/news/spotlights/2022/dec/laurier-researcher-takes-a-kick-at-world-cup-international-affairs-analysis.html
Interview for AM800 Windsor (The Morning Drive with Mike Kakuk & Lisa Williams) – World Cup and Global Politics. Available at: https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800/audio/world-cup-and-global-politics-1.18863684?mode=Article. November 30, 2022.
Interview for i24News.tv (Israel) article entitled “Sportswashing: ‘A dirty, rewarding game’” (Written by Jake Pemberton). Article published [online] July 9, 2022. Article available at https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/sport/1656590390-sportswashing-a-dirty-rewarding-game
Interview for BBC World Service (BBC SportsHour) – The Queen and Sport. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172yg8j6792lc0 (segment begins at 8:45), June 4, 2022.
Interview for Corus Radio National (A Little More Conversation with Ben O’Hara-Byrne) – How heading to the World Cup could help Canada play on a bigger political field. Available at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-little-more-conversation-with-ben-ohara-byrne/id1604604064?i=1000556744326 (segment begins at 0:00), April 9, 2022
Interview for 980 CKNW Vancouver (Weekend Mornings with Raji Sohal) – Canada Qualification for the FIFA World Cup. April 3, 2022.
Interview for 630 AM CHED Edmonton (CHED Mornings with Chelsea Bird and Daryl McIntyre) – Canadian Soccer and World Politics. April 1, 2022.
Interview for Zoomer Radio AM740 Toronto (Fight Back with Libby Znaimer) – The Beijing Olympics: How China is hosting a Games in a tense political climate. Available at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/erin-otoole-ousted-impact-of-truck-protest-on-businesses/id1451843877?i=1000549988964 (segment begins at 39:15), February 3, 2022.
Interview for Al Jazeera English (@AJStream Discussion) – Politics and the 2022 Winter Olympics. Available at https://youtu.be/fYFwfVhVfXw (segment begins at 8:25), originally aired January 27, 2022
Interview for 980 CKNW Vancouver (Weekend Mornings with Stirling Faux) – China Olympic guidelines. Available at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/saturday-podcast-china-olympic-guidelines-feds-pending/id1593658246?i=1000548675814 (segment begins at 0:00), January 22, 2022.
Interview for 630 AM CHED Edmonton (CHED Mornings with Daryl McIntyre) – Politics and the Beijing Olympics. January 17, 2022.
Interview for 570 AM CityNews Kitchener (Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke) – Olympics and Politics. January 17, 2022.
Interview for BBC World Service (BBC SportsHour) – NFL Vaccination Policy and Politics. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172y0q3zwdtdgj (segment begins at 40:00), September 4, 2021
Contact Info:
Office location: BA509
Office hours:
On sabbatical until January 1, 2024
Languages spoken: English