Parissa Safai

Professor

Chair, School of Kinesiology and Health Science

Faculty & School/Dept.

Faculty of Health - School of Kinesiology & Health Science

Degrees

Doctor of Philosophy - 2005
Department of Exercise Sciences
University of Toronto

Bachelor of Kinesiology - 1998
Department of Kinesiology
McMaster University

Master's of Science - 2001
Department of Exercise Sciences
University of Toronto

Biography

Parissa Safai is Professor and Chair of the School of Kinesiology and Health Science in the Faculty of Health at York University.  Her research interests focus on the critical study of sport at the intersection of risk, health and healthcare.  This includes research on sports’ “culture of risk”, the development and social organization of sport and exercise medicine, as well as the social determinants of athletes’ health.  Her research and teaching interests also centre on sport and social inequality with focused attention paid to the impact of gender, socio-economic, and ethnocultural inequities on accessible physical activity for all. She served as Interim Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Health from 2017-2018.  From January 2021 to April 2022, she served as Special Advisor to the President for Academic Continuity Planning and COVID-19 Response. She is currenlty serving as President of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA) until 2028.

Selected Publications


Books (* indicates students):




  • McSweeney, M.*, Svensson, P., Hayhurst, L., and Safai, P. (Eds.). (2022).  Sport, Entrepreneurship and Development.  London: Routledge.

  • Harvey, J., Horne, J., Safai, P., Darnell, S., and Courchesne-O’Neill, S.* (2014). Sport and Global Social Movements. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

  • Baker, J., Fraser-Thomas, J., and Safai, P. (Eds.), (2014). Health and Elite Sport: Is High Performance Sport a Healthy Pursuit?  London: Routledge.

  • Malcolm, D. and Safai, P. (Eds.). (2012). The Social Organization of Sports Medicine: Critical Socio-Cultural Perspectives. London: Routledge.



Select Invited Book Chapters (* indicates students):




  • Safai, P. (in press).  Sport and Health.  In J. Scherer and B. Wilson (Eds.), Social Dimensions of Canadian Sport and Physical Activity, 3rd edition (10670 words).  Toronto: Pearson.

  • Krahn, A. and Safai, P. (2024). The Socially Reproductive Labour of Female Sport Coaches. In A. Knoppers and P. Markula (Eds.), Research Handbook of Gender and Diversity in Sport Management (pp. 181-191). London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

  • Safai, P. (2023). Sport, Participation, and Well-being.  In L. Wenner (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Society (19 pages).  Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

  • McCullogh, E. & Safai, P. (2021). Beyond the Reach of Policy? Making Sense of Care and Caring in Competitive Youth Sport. In M. Lang (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Athlete Welfare (pp. 43-53).  London, UK: Routledge.

  • Safai, P. (2019).  “Sport and Health.”  In J. Scherer and B. Wilson (Eds.), Social Dimensions of Canadian Sport and Physical Activity, 2nd edition.  Toronto: Pearson.

  • Safai, P. and Cappe, S.* (2019).  “Disability, Sport, and Society.” In J. Maguire, M. Falcous and K. Liston (Eds.), The Business and Culture of Sports (pp. 299-320).  London: Macmillan Reference.

  • Fraser-Thomas, J. and Safai, P. (2018).  “Tykes and Timbits: A Critical Examination of Organized Sport Programs for Preschoolers.”  In R. Dionigi and M. Gard (Eds.), Sport and Physical Activity across the Lifespan (pp. 93-116).  London: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Safai, P. (2016). Medicalised and Scientized Bodies.  In M. Silk, D. Andrews and H. Thorpe (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Physical Cultural Studies (pp. 193-201).  London: Routledge.



Select Articles in Refereed Journals (* indicates students):




  • Millington, B., Naraine, M.L., Wanless, L., Safai, P. and Manley, A.(in review). "Sport and the Promise of Artificial Intelligence: Human and Machine Futures." Sociology of Sport Journal, Manuscript ID# ssj.2024-0150.

  • Safai, P. and Krahn, A. (in review). “We haven’t agreed on that and you’ll never get people to agree on that.” Contestation within the Canadian sport coaching professional project. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Manuscript ID#IRSS-24-0161

  • Jorgensen, M.P.*, Safai, P., and Mainwaring, L., (2024). An examination of social relations and concussion management via the Blue Card. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living: Sport Politics, Policy and Law (Section: Sport Psychology; Research Topic: Protecting the Welfare of Individuals Operating in Organized Sport), vol. 6. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1392809

  • Shirazipour, C.H., Eichler, E.*, Safai, P., and Bassett-Gunter, R.L. (2024). Exploring quality participation through dance movement therapy for Parkinson’s Disease. European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 14(4), https://doi.org/10.5507/euj.2024.001

  • McCullogh, E. and Safai, P. (2023). Self-care as self-preservation: Where is the support for coaches’ self-care in Canadian sport? Frontiers in Sports and Active Living: The History, Culture and Sociology of Sports, vol. 5. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1278093

  • Barnes, S., Nakamura, Y. and Safai, P. (2022).  A formula for success? Institutional statements and their silences in Canadian Kinesiology Programs. Quest, 74(4), 344-358.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2022.2101495

  • McCullogh, E. & Safai, P. (2022). Translating care from policy to practice: Limits and lessons from an institutional ethnographic study examining Ontario youth volleyball. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 14(3), 529-544. DOI: 10.1080/19406940.2022.2090994

  • Sedaghat-Modabberi, R., Meisner, B.A., and Safai, P. (2022). Lived Experiences of the Admissions Process among Administrative Staff of Long-Term Care Facilities.  Canadian Journal of Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 41(4), 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980821000702

  • McSweeney, M.* and Safai, P. (2020).  Innovating Canadian Sport Policy: Towards New Public Management and Public Entrepreneurship? International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 12(3), 405-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2020.1775678

  • Pritlove, C., Safai, P., Angus, J., Armstrong, P. and Jones, J. (2018). “It’s Hard Work:” A Feminist Political Economy Approach to Reconceptualizing ‘Work’ in the Cancer Context," Qualitative Health Research, 29(5), 758-773. 

  • Safai, P., johnson, j and Bryans, J. (2016). “The Absence of Resistance Training? Exploring the Politics of Health in High Performance Youth Triathlon.”  Sociology of Sport Journal, 33(4), 269-281.


Other Research Outputs

  • Doherty, A. with Caron, J., Cowle, S., Gassewitz, D., Greenhow, A., Misley, J., Pennock, K., Riggin, B., Safai, P., Sibbald, S., Tanenbaum, B., Watson, M. (2024, May 28). New research released: Influences to concussion symptom under-reporting and removal from play in youth sport. SIRCuit. Retrieved from https://sirc.ca/news/new-research-released-influences-to-concussion-symptom-under-reporting-and-removal-from-play-in-youth-sport/

  • McCullogh, E. and Safai, P. (2023, May 26). Care and Caring in Competitive Youth Sport: Experiences and Challenges. Research Insights, Coaching Association of Canada (CAC). Retrieved from: https://coach.ca/sites/default/files/2023-05/Research-Insights-McCulloch-Safai_EN.pdf
  • Millington, B., Naraine, M., Safai, P., Manley, A., and Wanless, L. (2023, January 23). Sport after Moneyball: Exploring sports analytics and the digital economy. Sircuit. Retrieved from: https://sirc.ca/blog/sports-analytics/
  • Invited Speaker and Panelist, “Sport and Health,” The Sport Conference, University of Alberta, June 2019.
  • Panelist, ““Why does (sport) sociology matter? Different perspectives on a similar problem,” 2022 Joint EASS-ISSA World Congress of the Sociology of Sport, Tübingen, Germany, June 2022. 
  • Panelist, “Industry Bailouts due to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Scholars Hub @ Home Special Edition, York University, July 2020.
  • Speaker and Panelist, “Sport and Health,” The Sport Conference, University of Alberta, June 2019.
  • Panelist, “Gender, Sports, Health/Wellness,” Game Changers: Gender, Sports, and Society.  Annual Conference of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, April 2017. https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news-and-ideas/game-changers-exploring-sports-and-gender 

Affiliations

Centre for Sport Policy Studies

International Sociology of Sport Association

Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society

North American Society for the Sociology of Sport

Service/Community Activities

Special Advisor to the President for Academic Continuity Planning and COVID-19 Response, 2021-22, York University

Vice-President Research and Innovation (VPRI) Search Committee
Member

HR Service Transformation Team, 2019-2020
Academic Lead

International Sociology of Sport Association
President, 2024-2027

Faculty of Science Decanal Search Committee
President's Designate

International Sociology of Sport Association, 2020-2023
General Secretary

Faculty of Health Decanal Search Committee
Member

Awards

Faculty of Health Service Award (Early Career) - 2013

Dean's Faculty, Service & Engagement Impact – Established Career Award - 2020

Supervision

Currently available to supervise graduate students: Yes

Currently taking on work-study students, Graduate Assistants or Volunteers: No

Available to supervise undergraduate thesis projects: Yes

Current Research

My major research interests, to date, have focused on the critical socio-cultural study of sport and physical activity at the intersection of risk, health and healthcare including such key themes as:

·      The re/production and naturalization of sport’s “culture of risk,” its dialectical relationship with a “culture of precaution,” and the negotiation of treatment between patient-athletes and medical/paramedical clinicians;

·      The tension between risk and safety in the ‘risk society’ and the ways in which the risk-safety binary operates in contemporary sport;

·      The social organization and socio-historical development of the field of sport and exercise medicine in Canada, including the development of sport medicine’s ‘system of professions’ (i.e., the varied medical, paramedical and complementary/alternative healthcare occupational groups that comprise the field of sport medicine and their jurisdictional interrelationships and negotiations); and

·      The production of high performance sport and its impact on athletes, with particular interest in the social determinants of athletes’ health and the ways in which the material conditions of athletes’ lives, as framed by the Canadian high performance sport system and sport policy, influences their health and well-being.

 

Research Projects

KIN Games? Examining the Construction of Relevance in Kinesiology in Canada
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $208090
Year Funded: 2019
Duration: 4
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Exploring the Sport-work-gender Nexus in Canadian High-Performance Sport Coaching
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $18000
Year Funded: 2021
Duration: 2
Funded by: Other...
Other funding: E-Alliance: Research Hub for Gender & Equity in Sport

A Labyrinth of Inequity: A Feminist Political Economy Approach to the Gender Gap in Academic Medicine
Role: CoInvestigator
Amount funded: $71164
Year Funded: 2021
Duration: 2
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Sport and the Digital Economy: A Case Study of the Canadian Sports Analytics Industry
Role: CoInvestigator
Amount funded: $86348
Year Funded: 2022
Duration: 4
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council