Emma Karamanlian

Emma is a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education. In the first and second year of her program, Emma was required to take introductory courses in three streams of Kinesiology (Biophysical, Behavioural and Physical Cultural). It was through these courses that Emma gained an interest for physical physical cultural studies and learn about upper year research opportunities.

In her third year of studies, Emma conducted a research project under the supervision of Professor Caroline Fusco as part of the directed research course, KPE390Y. Her project involved an analysis of news articles about Canadian gymnasts speaking up about the athlete abuse they experienced. After conducting a literature review related to gender/sexuality studies, athlete maltreatment and language studies. Emma then engaged in the data collection process and compiled the findings and analysis for the project. She presented her research at the Bertha Rosenstadt National Undergraduate Research Conference in Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Currently, Emma is undertaking a research project under the supervision of Professor Caroline Fusco as part of the advanced research course, KPE490Y. Her project involves a queer spatial analysis of recreational facilities on St. George Campus (e.g., Athletic Centre, Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport and Hart House Fitness Centre). After conducting a literature review on queer theory and physical cultural spatial studies, Emma will be engaging in the data collection process after the approval from the Research Ethics Board. She will again be presenting her research at the Bertha Rosenstadt National Undergraduate Research Conference in Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Through her engagement with research, Emma notes she gained organizational and writing skills. She learned how to organize and track information gathered from multiple sources as well as how to critically analyze and draw sources together as she compiled her findings. 

Research Type(s): Independent / Supervised Study Courses (Research-Intensive), Coursework