Overview
Background
Rebecca Olive joined the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences in 2017. Her work about lifestyle and nature sports contributes to critical cultural, social and historical teaching and research relating to sport, physical cultures, bodies, and health. Rebecca publishes in journals and books across Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Sport Sociology, and Sport History, and has co-edited a book with Holly Thorpe, Women in Action Sport Cultures: Identity, Politics and Experience (2016).
In 2019, she was awarded a DECRA for her project baout human-ocean health, 'Understanding ecological sensibilities in recreational lifestyle sports'. This project explores practices and cultures of ocean swimming and surfing to understand intersections human and environmental health. The project uses ethnographic methods (fieldwork and interviews) to make sense of ocean-swimmers’ and surfers' relationships to sharks, plastics, and localism at a range of urban and regional beaches. You can read more about this work on her Moving Oceans website.
Rebecca also continues focus on issues of equity and diversity and action/lifestyle sports and cultures, in particular women's experiences. Taking a feminist cultural studies approach to theories of power, ethics and pedagogy, she is interested in how we influence cultural change in everyday lived physical cultures towards more inclusive access and participation. Current projects include:
- Bluespaces and health
- Nature sports
- Women in sport, physical activity and leisure practices
- Self-representation on social media – elite athletes, recreational sports and fitness cultures
- Feminist research methods
Availability
- Dr Rebecca Olive is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Sydney
- Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, Southern Cross University
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Bluespaces and human-ocean health
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Women, gender and recreational lifestyle sports
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Localism and settler-colonial politics in sport
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Sport, health and social media
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Feminist ethnographic research methods
Research impacts
Rebecca's research engages with questions of power, ethics, and pedagogy in everyday life including online, and is driven by a commitment to community engagement. She is interested in how cultural change happens and ensure research intersects with teaching, policy, media, and community. As well as scholarly publications, Rebecca is committed to connecting teaching and research, and has developed a presence in cultural media and communities relevant to her research in coastal cultures, recreational lifestyle sports, social media, and ethnographic methods. Rebecca has had stories and interviews published with ABC news and radio, is a regular contributor to surf media and festivals, and writes her blog, Making Friends With the Neighbours.
Since 2018, Rebecca has been a Research Fellow with AustLit, compiling data sets about 'swimming wild' and surfing in Australian literature. These ongoing projects are producing publicly available archives of swimming and surfing sources, as well as a list of relevant scholarship. You can explore the project and resources via the AustLit site.
Recent conference organisation:
- Co-convener, Moving Futures: Researching bodies and health in the 21st century, Centre for Sport and Society, The University of Queensland, 14 November 2017
- Co-organiser, Technicity. Temporality. Embodiment. Somatechnics conference, Byron Bay, Australia, 1-3 December 2016
- Co-convener, Surfing social: Challenging surfer identities and spaces, Raglan, NZ, 10-12 Feb 2016
- Convener, The Future of Cycling: Challenges and Possibilities, Cambridge, NZ, October 1-2 2015
- Convener, The University of Waikato Gender Research Network, 2015
- Organising committee for The University of Waikato, Women in Leadership Day, 2015
Works
Search Professor Rebecca Olive’s works on UQ eSpace
2020
Journal Article
Sinking and Floating on a Shoreless Sea: Co-Reading ‘The Fool and His Inheritance’
Mills, Catriona, Olive, Rebecca and Clark, Nina (2020) Sinking and Floating on a Shoreless Sea: Co-Reading ‘The Fool and His Inheritance’. Paradoxa, 31 271-292.
2019
Journal Article
The trouble with newcomers: women, localism and the politics of surfing
Olive, Rebecca (2019). The trouble with newcomers: women, localism and the politics of surfing. Journal of Australian Studies, 43 (1), 39-54. doi: 10.1080/14443058.2019.1574861
2019
Book Chapter
Surfers and leisure: 'Freedom' to surf? Contested spaces on the coast
Britton, Easkey, Olive, Rebecca and Wheaton, Belinda (2019). Surfers and leisure: 'Freedom' to surf? Contested spaces on the coast. Living with the sea: knowledge, awareness and action. (pp. 147-166) edited by Mike Brown and Kimberley Peters. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315161839-10
2019
Conference Publication
Surfers and leisure 'Freedom' to surf ? Contested spaces on the coast
Britton, Easkey, Olive, Rebecca and Wheaton, Belinda (2019). Surfers and leisure 'Freedom' to surf ? Contested spaces on the coast. Seascapes Symposium - Living with the Sea, Auckland, New Zealand, 16-19 February 2016. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2018
Journal Article
Embodied pedagogies in human movement studies classrooms: a postgraduate pathway into teaching and learning
Olive, Rebecca (2018). Embodied pedagogies in human movement studies classrooms: a postgraduate pathway into teaching and learning. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 40 (3), 227-248. doi: 10.1080/10714413.2018.1472485
2018
Book Chapter
Stories of surfing: surfing, space and subjectivity/intersectionality
Olive, Rebecca, Roy, Georgina and Wheaton, Belinda (2018). Stories of surfing: surfing, space and subjectivity/intersectionality. Surfing, sex, genders and sexualities. (pp. 148-167) edited by lisahunter. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315201238
2018
Book Chapter
Feminist ethnography and physical culture: towards reflexive, political, and collaborative methods
Olive, Rebecca and Thorpe, Holly (2018). Feminist ethnography and physical culture: towards reflexive, political, and collaborative methods. Physical culture, ethnography, and the body: theory, method, and praxis. (pp. 114-128) edited by Michael D. Giardina and Michele K. Donnelly. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315266602-7
2018
Book Chapter
Un/intentional pedagogies: impacts of feminist ethics and methods in practice
Olive, Rebecca (2018). Un/intentional pedagogies: impacts of feminist ethics and methods in practice. The Palgrave handbook of feminism and sport, leisure and physical education. (pp. 335-349) edited by Louise Mansfield, Jayne Caudwell, Belinda Wheaton and Beccy Watson. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_21
2017
Journal Article
Exploring critical alternatives for youth development through lifestyle sport: surfing and community development in Aotearoa/New Zealand
Wheaton, Belinda, Roy, Georgina and Olive, Rebecca (2017). Exploring critical alternatives for youth development through lifestyle sport: surfing and community development in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Sustainability, 9 (12) 2298, 2298. doi: 10.3390/su9122298
2017
Book Chapter
The political imperative of feminism
Olive, Rebecca (2017). The political imperative of feminism. Routledge handbook of physical cultural studies. (pp. 51-60) edited by Michael L. Silk, David L. Andrews and Holly Thorpe. London: Routledge.
2017
Book Chapter
Culture, meaning and sustainability in surfing
Lazarow, Neil and Olive, Rebecca (2017). Culture, meaning and sustainability in surfing. Sustainable surfing. (pp. 202-218) edited by Gregory Borne and Jess Ponting. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315680231-13
2016
Journal Article
Technicity, temporality, embodiment: guest editors’ introduction
Aghtan, Kamillea, Ford, Akkadia, Kerruish, Erika, Olive, Rebecca, Sellberg, Karin and Stephens, Elizabeth (2016). Technicity, temporality, embodiment: guest editors’ introduction. Australian Feminist Studies, Virtual Special Issue
2016
Conference Publication
Going surfing/doing research: Learning how to negotiate cultural politics from women who surf
Olive, Rebecca (2016). Going surfing/doing research: Learning how to negotiate cultural politics from women who surf. Melbourne, Australia: Routledge. doi: 10.1080/10304312.2016.1143199
2016
Book Chapter
Conducting observations in sport and exercise settings
Thorpe, Holly and Olive, Rebecca (2016). Conducting observations in sport and exercise settings. Routledge handbook of qualitative research in sport and exercise. (pp. 124-138) edited by Brett Smith and Andrew C. Sparkes. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2016
Journal Article
Review of Seascapes:shaped by the sea, first edition, by Mike Brown and Barbara Humberstone, Farnham, Ashgate, February 2015, 216 pp., £65 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-4724-2435-8
Olive, Rebecca (2016). Review of Seascapes:shaped by the sea, first edition, by Mike Brown and Barbara Humberstone, Farnham, Ashgate, February 2015, 216 pp., £65 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-4724-2435-8. Leisure Studies, 35 (4), 506-508. doi: 10.1080/02614367.2015.1040627
2016
Book
Women in action sport cultures: identity, politics and experience
Holly Thorpe and Rebecca Olive eds. (2016). Women in action sport cultures: identity, politics and experience. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-45797-4
2016
Book Chapter
Surfing together: exploring the potential of a collaborative ethnographic moment
Olive, Rebecca, Thorpe, Holly, Roy, Georgina, Nemani, Mihi, lisahunter, Wheaton, Belinda and Humberstone, Barbara (2016). Surfing together: exploring the potential of a collaborative ethnographic moment. Women in action sport cultures: identity, politics and experience. (pp. 45-68) edited by Holly Thorpe and Rebecca Olive. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-45797-4_3
2016
Book Chapter
Surfing, localism, place-based pedagogies, and ecological sensibilities in Australia
Olive, Rebecca (2016). Surfing, localism, place-based pedagogies, and ecological sensibilities in Australia. Routledge international handbook of outdoor studies. (pp. 501-510) edited by Barbara Humberstone, Heather Prince and Karla A. Henderson. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315768465-56
2016
Book Chapter
Looking back, moving forward? reflections from early action sport researchers
Thorpe, Holly, Olive, Rebecca, Beal, Becky, Booth, Douglas, Laurendeau, Jason, Palmer, Catherine, Rinehart, Robert E. and Wheaton, Belinda (2016). Looking back, moving forward? reflections from early action sport researchers. Women in action sport cultures: identity, politics and experience. (pp. 23-44) edited by Holly Thorpe and Rebecca Olive. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-45797-4_2
2016
Book Chapter
Women who surf: female difference, intersecting subjectivities and cultural pedagogies
Olive, Rebecca (2016). Women who surf: female difference, intersecting subjectivities and cultural pedagogies. The pedagogies of cultural studies. (pp. 179-195) edited by Andrew Hickey. New York, NY United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315689739
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Rebecca Olive is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Ocean sports and environmental activism
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Murray Phillips
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Doctor Philosophy
Sports betting as an everyday practice
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Murray Phillips, Associate Professor Nicholas Carah
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Doctor Philosophy
Experiencing participation in-the-moment: The insightfulness of nonverbal interactions of children during physical activity (The Unsaid Story).
Associate Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Exploring the role of community dance on wellbeing in Australian culture
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Leigh Sperka
Completed supervision
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Creativity, practices, and place: The (re)creation of a transnational subculture
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Diana Young
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Rebecca Olive directly for media enquiries about:
- action and lifestyle sports
- nature sports
- ocean swimming
- sport and social media
- surfing
- swimming
- women and sport
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