Leah Oldham

CURRICULUM VITAE

Leah Oldham has done considerable sociological work on issues related to intercollegiate and professional athletics. She has published new materials in the International Journal of Sport Communication and the Sociology of Sport Journal, and she has done corporate security management for professional sports teams.

During her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Leah double majored in Sociology and Criminal Justice. At West Virginia University, she is currently completing her dissertation in her fourth year of graduate study. Her master's thesis examined the impact and shaping of identity threatening events on the experiences of intercollegiate redshirt student-athletes. Through her successful comprehensive exam, she addressed research gaps and rationalized the necessity of the male peer support theory (MPST) by explaining the connection between sports, masculinities, and violence against women. As part of that research, she co-authoring an academic book with her advisors Dr. DeKeseredy and Dr. Schwartz on Sport and Violence Againts Women: Research, Theory, and Policy (University of Tornoto Press).

Her broad research interest focuses primarily on social psychology, focusing on the identity formation of student-athletes at the intercollegiate and professional levels. She also studies sociology of sport, social inequality (race/class/gender), feminist and gender theory, LGBTQ+ equality, and critical race theory.

Leah strives to educate one mind at a time through critical engagement in the classroom. As a teacher, Leah's intention is to empower students to foster social change at various levels through her skills and resources. Her teaching experience includes an online and in-person introduction to sociology course. Her experience includes assistant teaching anthropology and criminology capstones, research methods, and criminology of sport courses.