Diversity Research Lab

Welcome message

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.
Welcome and thank you for visiting our webpage!

Student Hightlights!

Ira Sharaievska, a member of the Diversity Research Laboratory, defended her doctoral dissertation on August 15, 2012. Her dissertation focuses on family and marital satisfaction and the use of social network technologies for leisure. Ira will be joining the faculty of Lyndon State College, VT as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2012.

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 2012, two faculty members and five graduate students (Ira Sharaievska, Jeremy Robinett, JC Acevedo, Mariela Fernandez and Courtney Weisman) from the Diversity Lab attendeded the NRPA Leisure Research Symposium in Anaheim, CA. Members of the Lab presented there four papers, one panel and one poster.

Race, Ethnicity and Leisure book to be published in August 2013.

Drs. Stodolska, Shinew, Floyd and Walker are co-editing a book on race, ethnicity and leisure.The purpose of the book is to provide an overview of the core theories, concepts, and research findings that have advanced our understanding of how race and ethnicity affect individual’s daily lives, their use of leisure services, and the provision of leisure services. The book consists of 19 chapters that explore, among others, leisure behavior of African Americans, Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans, theoretical frameworks and methodologies used in research on leisure of racial and ethnic minorities, issues of provision of leisure services to minority populations, leisure needs and motivations, constraints on leisure, and discrimination in leisure contexts.

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.