Samantha King

PhD (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

MA (Queen’s University)

BSocSci (University of Birmingham)

Cross Appointments

Gender Studies, Faculty of Arts & Science

Cultural Studies

Sociology

Undergraduate Courses

HLTH 334 – Health, Illness and Society

HLTH 434 – Social Movements in Health

Graduate Courses

KHS 869 – Bodies and Social Theory

Research Summary

Trained in cultural studies and sociology, I am an interdisciplinary scholar of the body, health and sport.  I work with feminist, queer, and critical race theories to research a broad variety of topics ranging from drugs to food.  My first book, Pink Ribbons, Inc:  Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, is the subject of an NFB documentary by the same name: 

Graduate Student Opportunities

Students at all levels (MA, PhD, postdoctoral) with an interest in qualitative research on the embodied dimensions of consumer culture are encouraged to apply.  Recent graduates have conducted critical, theoretically-informed work on the following subjects:  student mental health, acne, Movember, mud running, sport for development and peace, hockey nostalgia, and Russian breast cancer culture.  Although some internal funding is available, Canadian applicants are encouraged to apply for external funding from SSHRC or CIHR.

Sample Publications

• King, S. & Weedon, G. (Forthcoming). Protein: The Unofficial Biography of a Nutritional Superstar. Duke University Press.

• Ventresca, M, & King, S. (2023). “Anesthetized gladiators:” Painkilling and Racial capitalism in the NFL. Sociology of Sport Journal, 40(1): 21-29.

• King, S. (2022). Of companionship, curfew, and conflict: Multispecies leisure in the age of COVID, Leisure Studies, 41(3): 301-309.

• King, S. (2021). Meat, markets, and monopolies: The politics and economics of animal agriculture. Contemporary Sociology, 50(3): 202-205.

• Ali, A. & King, S. (2021). “He could be dangerous”: Orientalism, the “migrant crisis”, and the ‘risky’ representation of Muslim boxers in TSN’s Radical Play. Sociology of Sport Journal, 38(4), 335-344.

• King, S. & Weedon, G. (2021). The nature of the body in sport and physical culture: From bodies and environments to ecological embodiment. Sociology of Sport Journal, 38, 131-139.

• King, S. (2020). Towards a multispecies sport studies. In Newman, J., Thorpe, H., & Andrews, D. L. (Eds.), Sport, Physical Culture, and the Moving Body: Materialisms, Technologies, Ecologies (pp. 193-208). Rutgers University Press

• King, S., Carey, R. S., MacQuarrie, I., Millious, V.N., & Power, E. M., (Eds.). (2019). Messy Eating: Conversations on Animals as Food. New York: Fordham University Press.

• King, S. & Weedon, G. (2019). Enacting bodies: The multiplicity of whey protein and the making of corporealities. In M. McDonald & J. Sterling (Eds), Sports, Society, and Technology – Bodies, Practices, and Knowledge Production (pp. 175-194). Palgrave-Macmillan.

• King, S. & Weedon, G. (2019). Embodiment is ecological: The metabolic lives of whey protein powder. Body & Society, 26, 82-106.

• King, S. (2018). Feminist cultural studies. In L. Mansfield, J. Caudwell, B. Watson & B. Wheaton (Eds.), Palgrave Handbook of Feminism and Sport, Leisure and Physical Education. London: Palgrave.

Links

King Research Group Webpage