Diversity Research Lab

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Welcome to the home page of the Diversity Research Laboratory! The Laboratory was established in 2001 as part of the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For the past eight years it has established itself as a leader in interdisciplinary research on issues of race, ethnicity, immigration, gender, disability, and leisure. On this website you will find descriptions of numerous research projects and outreach activities undertaken by the faculty and graduate students affiliated with the Laboratory, as well as resources that might be helpful to those involved in research on diversity and leisure.
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Student Hightlights!

Ira Sharaievska, a member of the Diversity Research Laboratory, is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois. Her research focuses on the effects of technology on leisure behavior among families as well as on transnational marriages and leisure preferences among spouses of different cultural backgrounds. Ira's paper on discrimination in leisure settings in Latino urban communities was published in Leisure/Loisir in 2010 and a paper on leisure and marital satisfaction in intercultural marriages is currently under review in Journal of Leisure Research. Ira recently presented results of her research at the 2011 Association of American Geographers conference in Seattle and is scheduled to present another paper at the 2011 Leisure Research Symposium in Atlanta.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Diversity Research Laboratory is to advocate diversity by facilitating, producing and disseminating multidisciplinary research dedicated to leisure as it relates to diverse and distinct communities.

Recent Events

In October 2010, four faculty member(Drs. Dawn Trussell, Kim Shinew, Julie Son, and Monika Stodolska) and seven graduate students (Jungeun Kim, Ira Sharaievska, Brooke Davitt, Emeka Anaza, Jerremy Robbinett, JC Acevedo, and Sebastian Burset) from the Diversity Lab attended the NRPA Leisure Research Symposium in Minneapolis, MN. Members of the Lab presented there six papers and an education session.

Korean Leisure book launched!

Drs. Dong and Yi-Kook - the book editors and Dr. Lobo - the book publisher launched their new book "Korean Leisure" during the World Leisure Congress in ChunCheon, Korea. The book has received very good reviews and many copies have been sold during the Congress.

Research Highlights

In 2009-2011, Drs. Stodolska and Shinew, along with a graduate student - Juan Carlos Acevedo and Dr. Caterina Roman of Temple University conducted a study to examine the relationship between crime and physical activity participation and outdoor recreation among Latino adolescents ages 11-14 and 15-18. The study was funded by a grant from the Salud America program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It evaluated participation in physical activity and outdoor recreation in parks, neighborhood streets, sidewalks, alleys, front/backyards, and school yards/school grounds. Ultimately, the goal of the study was to provide more information on the relationship between crime and physical activity participation among Latino female and male adolescents of various acculturation levels in order to devise strategies that would help increase physical activity participation among members of this group and, thus reducing their obesity levels. For the report from the study please see the Research Projects page.