Tag: Leah M. Monsees

In her dissertation, Leah Monsees critically examines the contemporary constructions of talent in sports. Based on qualitative research of talent representations in German and Swedish contexts, Monsees explores talent understandings from a variety of angles. Henrik Fürst has also studied the concept and contexts of talent, and in his review he relates Monsees’ research to his own. While finding room for further methodological and theoretical development of ideas in the dissertation, our reviewer nonetheless considers its contribution to the field considerable.

What is the meaning of talent? What do ancient people and the bible have to do with how we think about talent in the 21st century? And what happens when we deep-dive into the meanings and constructions of how talent is understood today? Does it mean anything at all? In her dissertation, Leah Monsees critically examines the contemporary constructions of talent in sports. Drawing from qualitative research of talent representations in German and Swedish contexts, Monsees explores talent understandings from a variety of angles.

Academics in various disciplines are writing about sport. Sport in Society is a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary forum for academics to discuss the growing relationship of sport to significant areas of modern life. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Aikido’s self-regulation and co-regulation: a promising embodied pedagogy for intercultural communication training by Greet Angèle De Baets & Ellen Van Praet.

Joseph “Joe” Baker is a proficient and frequent contributor to the body of academic publications on talent, having (co-)authored numerous journal articles as well as book chapters, and being the editor of several books on the topic of talent since 1998. His latest effort is entitled The Tyranny of Talent: How it compels and limits athletic achievement… and why you should ignore it (Aberrent Press), and it is reviewed here by Leah Monsees, soon to be a PhD with her own project within the field of talent.

För att uppmärksamma och hylla Jorid Hovdens drygt trettioåriga forskargärning har ett stort antal ledande norska idrottsforskare under Anne Tjønndals ledning tillsammans fyllt en voluminös festskrift, Idrett, kjønn og ledelse: Festskrift til Jorid Hovden (Fagbokforlaget) med 18 innehållsrika kapitel. Leah Monsees hyllar i sin tur Anne Tjønndals redaktörsgärning, och hon finner mycket i de olika bidragen att ta lärdom av för sitt eget pågående avhandlingsprojekt.

In this essay, written in the early stages of her PhD education, Leah M. Monsees takes interdisciplinarity as theoretical concept and research practice for a penetrating discursive ride. Her own background in peace research and gender studies, with topics like social justice and social equality, will be confronted by the at times limited perspectives of sport studies, and there may well be some difficult, yet fruitful, confrontations ahead for the author – and for her colleagues as well.