Dr. KRISTI Mcleod fondren
Dr. Fondren received her
Ph.D. in Sociology from Mississippi State University in 2009. Her research and
teaching interests focus on gender, culture, the environment, social inequality,
social psychology, and sports/leisure/recreation. Her dissertation research
examined the distinctive leisure subculture of long-distance hiking or
backpacking, specifically investigating how subcultural ideologies and practices
are combined with a socially significant place to forge powerful emotional bonds
among long-distance hikers and strong attachments to the Appalachian Trail. The
goal of this research is to illustrate how a geographically situated “subculture
of place” is created and sustained in a particular environmental setting in the
absence of formal institutions. This work was recently referenced in the May
2009 issue of Men’s Journal. She plans to further investigate the leisure
subculture of long-distance hiking by exploring other long-distance hiking
trails and communities, as well as the spiritual aspects of long-distance hiking
and the practice of “doing gender” in unconventional contexts like the
Appalachian Trail.
Fondren has also developed an interest in athletic recruiting, more
specifically negative recruiting and how recruiting practices intersect with the
identity of educational institutions. In this line of research she has examined
the importance of race, class, and Southern culture through the lens of college
football recruiting at two prominent universities in Mississippi. This research
demonstrates how the smash-mouth world of college football recruiting can impact
school choice decisions made by student athletes. Her goal with this research
is to promote a more racially sensitive recruiting process, especially within
the Southeastern Conference (SEC). She plans to continue this line of research
by further exploring the nature and prevalence of negative recruiting in other
sports conferences (i.e., the Atlantic Coast Conference, Conference USA), as
well as investigate how the lesbian label is used to influence female
student-athletes’ decisions concerning school choice. Her works are forthcoming
in a variety of outlets such as Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics
and Review for Religious Research.
You may learn more about her
research through a recent article published in
Journal of Issues in
Intercollegiate Athletics.
Teaching Philosophy
My general teaching philosophy emphasizes principles of student-centered teaching and the integration of research into the classroom. I try to impress upon students various ways of seeing what many take for granted in life. While I acknowledge students do not have to agree with sociology, I believe they should, as educated citizens, be aware of the diversity of perspectives on any one issue that sociology offers. In my classes, I emphasize the usefulness and relevance of sociology to the past, present, and future.
You may view a
