Becoming interested—the evolvement of research interest in case study research on sports

This article challenge research political assumptions of research interests as context specific phenomena predefined by researchers and others in case study research on sports. By adopting a Deleuzian perspective of materiality, the aim is to overturn academic power dimensions as well as anthropocentric focuses and instead explore how research interests emerge in case-assemblages. This is a radical shift that re-theorizes the production of research interests as co-produced capacities in researching bodies. The analysis is done by mapping territorializing, deterritorializing, and reterritorializing affects as well as molar and molecular affects. We use these affects to explore how our research interest evolved in a case study on a swimming event. We conclude by extending this critical exploration to the production of research interests in general and the exaggerated belief that research interests are attributes of specific human bodies (researchers) that precede studies.

Institutional Influence of Academics in Argentinean Public Universities in a Context of External Control

The paper studies the institutional influence of academics in Argentina within a context of increasing external control as a consequence of deep public reforms in the Higher Education system. Drawing on data from the Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society (APIKS) survey, the aim is to analyse how much and in what sense the recent changes on the public policy level and the intermediate level of the state agencies have affected the academic profession in Argentina over teaching, research and social engagement activities, and its effects over the perception of institutional influence. Although we assume that academic power has been reduced within the new scenario, we believe that not all academics have responded in the same manner.

Negotiating cultural appropriation while re-imagining co-production via Afrofuturism

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role of claims of cultural appropriation in negotiating who has the right to utilise specific racial, cultural or communities' ways of knowing in research co-production. Cultural appropriation is a claim made against those making illegitimate use of traditions, knowledge and practises that originate from specific racial and/or cultural group. Appropriation helps us interrogate the ways in which rewards and benefits in academia are distributed and shared, denied or hoarded, and by whom.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a dialogue between two researchers in the in-betweens of research co-production, specifically in the negotiation of claiming the right to lead or engage in Afrofuturist work with communities.FindingsThe claim of cultural appropriation is useful in naming, drawing boundaries and creating spaces for negotiation around access and ownership of academic work but must also develop as part of a broader transformative agenda towards racial equality in academia.Research limitations/implicationsIn addition to ethical considerations about power imbalances and extractive practises, research co-production should also be concerned with acknowledging and crediting knowledge production practises that originate from specific racial and/or cultural groups.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to explore issues of cultural appropriation in research co-production, and co-production in relation to Afrofuturism. This extends ethical concerns on research co-production beyond academic power imbalances with, and extracting value from, communities to negotiating the relationships between academics and traditions, knowledge and practises developed by specific racial and/or cultural groups.

Raccontare, raccontarsi. Massimo Quaini fra biografia ed ‘egogeografia’

Intertwining biographical method and autobiography. Massimo Quaini had shown much interest in the ‘egogeography’ genre, practiced by different French geographers. The work traces back, on the basis of published and unpublished writings, some significant aspect of the intellectual personality of the Italian geographer. In particular, passages are presented in which he recalls his scientific and professional training and some letters that account for the highly critical positioning towards academic power, against the management of competitions based on personal relationships rather than on scientific merits (to the detriment of the discipline itself). Some original documents testify the interest in history and philosophy and the acceptance of historical materialism that has shaped his youth work and, more generally, founded his interpretation of geographical reality.

Supervisor and doctoral student relationships: Can we call it bullying?

My research is qualitative research about the relationship between PhD supervisors and their students. It seems in some cases there are conflicts in these relationships. Especially because of the academic power of the supervisors I discussed and investigate a case to know if we can call it bullying and what are the opinion of PhD students about it. Does it causes psychological detachment for them or no.

From F-Bombs to Kissing Students: Media Framing of Male and Female Professors Accused of Sexual Harassment

This constructionist framing analysis identified media frames in news coverage of four tenured professors, two men and two women, accused of sexual harassment at research-intensive universities: Jorge Dominguez (Harvard), Coleman Hutchison (University of Texas), Avital Ronell (New York University), and Teresa Buchanan (Louisiana State University). The following four frames, some of which were distinctly gendered, were identified in the news coverage of the professors: Little Boys Being Bad; Academic Power Players; Treacherous Stay-Away-Froms; and Eccentric Freethinkers. The findings are discussed through a feminist lens, which prioritizes gendered power dynamics and social norms. The analysis indicates that news coverage of sexual harassment still limits recognition of the problem’s systemic nature and the institutional responsibility to prevent it. The article further contributes to the feminist literature on sexual harassment by demonstrating that the term “sexual harassment” is often misused to avoid including details about what has happened to victims.

Collaboration: Exploring the PGR Superpower for Addressing Inequalities within Academia

Inequalities within academia are rampant. Sexism, racism, classism and discrimination impose huge barriers to those entering academic work or study. These issues are amplified in times of crisis, such as COVID-19. As postgraduate researchers, we can often feel powerless to address these inequalities. We possess little status in academic power structures, and as such it can be difficult to ‘rock the boat’ or diverge from normalised patterns of discrimination within our fields. In this essay, I argue that while we may lack status, we can adapt and diversify our collaborations with others to effectively address inequality. I outline how collaboration can be a vital tool for elevating underrepresented voices within and outside academia and examine how students with funding in particular can play an important role in this. In diversifying our citations, networks and methods of collaboration, we can ensure increasing opportunities are available for underrepresented groups throughout the academic pipeline. As the next generation of scholars, postgraduate researchers can change the game for underrepresented groups, and ensuring we collaborate diversely is our superpower for doing so.