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Faculty of HS | School of Human Kinetics | Personnel

Alex Dumas

Telephone: (613) 562-5800 ext.2453
Fax: (613) 562-5149
E-mail Address: adumas@uottawa.ca
Office (building, room number): MNT 366

Rank

• Associate Professor
• Member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

Biography

Alex Dumas has received his PhD in Kinesiology (sociology) from the University of Montreal and has completed post-doctoral research in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge. He has taught undergraduate courses in the sociology of sport, history of sport, sociology of health, gerontology and qualitative research methods. His research interests focus primarily on social groups’ relation to the body, specifically building on Pierre Bourdieu’s socio-cultural theory of practice. Using qualitative research methods, his publications articulate ‘social class’ and ‘age’ to understand body dispositions towards health, physical activity, dieting and bodily appearance practices.

His research can be defined globally under the heading of sociology of health and physical activity. Generally speaking, this area of research aims to further knowledge on the social mechanisms explaining the health practices of different social groups. It also informs policy in the areas of health promotion and injury prevention. This area evolves collaborations with multidisciplinary teams, with both epidemiologists and physiologists.

He is currently involved in five research projects:

1. Social class, masculinity and cardiovascular health;
2. The rise of lifestyle sports;
3. Aging and anti-aging discourses;
4. Obesity and older women; and
5. Critical approaches towards obesity discourses in health.
   

See Research Contributions for detailed project descriptions.

University Degrees

Year	Degree	Specialty	Institution
2004-2005	Post-doctoral research	Social and Political Sciences	University of Cambridge (UK)
2004	Ph.D.	Kinésiologie	Université de Montréal
1999	M.A.	Études du sport	Université d’Ottawa
1997	B.Sc.	Sciences de l’activité physique	Université d’Ottawa

Research Interests

• Sociology of bodily practices
• The theory of Pierre Bourdieu applied to physical activity and sports
• The relation to the body of adolescents and older adults
• Contemporary discourses on anti-aging