Dr Stephen Townsend

Research Fellow

School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences

s.townsend@uq.edu.au

Overview

Stephen Townsend is a lecturer in sport sociocultural studies with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. Stephen joined HMNS in 2019 after completing his PhD in Sport History. His current research examines social, cultural, and historical aspects of sports concussion.

His previous research has interrogated the ways that racial, religious, gendered, and political ideologies are transmitted through sports media, in addition to digital history epistemologies. He has published widely in academic journals and books, with his most recent publications analysing historical representations on sports concussion in the Australian newspaper press. His teaching and research interests span multiple spheres of sport and culture, as he seeks to critically understand the ways that people have historically constructed and transmitted meaning through sport and physical activity.

Research Interests

History of Sports Concussion
Stephen's research examines the social, cultural, and medical history of brain injuries in sport.

Research Impacts

Stephen's research engages with multiple critical issues in sport, physical activity, and leisure cultures, including health discourses, gender, race, religion, politics, protest, and press discourses. His current research aims better understand the often-invisible cultural forces that shape how sportspeople make decisions regarding their brain health. Most recently, Stephen's research has been cited in the Australian Senate Inquiry into Repeated Head Trauma in Sport and through various media appearances.

His previous research has critically press attitudes toward black athletes, especially outspoken black athletes like Muhammad Ali. Stephen's research helps us to better understand not only how sociocultural factors shape athlete experiences of sport, but also how public attitudes toward sport and athletes are shaped. His research also incorporates digital tools and methodologies. His use of digital tools, methodologies, and visualistions not only has significant implications for practitioners of history but also for members of public searching for new and more engaging ways to consume historical narratives.

Publications

Book: The playmakers: the history of Basketball Queensland

Townsend, Stephen and Phillips, Murray G. (2023). The playmakers: the history of Basketball Queensland. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Basketball Queensland.
Journal Article: ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’: searching for the value of metrics and altmetrics in sociology of sport journals

Olive, Rebecca, Townsend, Stephen and Phillips, Murray G. (2022). ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’: searching for the value of metrics and altmetrics in sociology of sport journals. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 58 (3), 431-454. doi: 10.1177/10126902221107467
Journal Article: “‘The Tragedy of the Punch Drunk': Reading Concussion in Australian Sporting Newspapers, 1843–1954”

Townsend, Stephen (2021). “‘The Tragedy of the Punch Drunk': Reading Concussion in Australian Sporting Newspapers, 1843–1954”. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3 676463, 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2021.676463
Journal Article: 'Where Cassius Clay Ends, Muhammad Ali Begins': sportspeople, political activism, and methodology

Townsend, Stephen, Osmond, Gary and Phillips, Murray G. (2018). 'Where Cassius Clay Ends, Muhammad Ali Begins': sportspeople, political activism, and methodology. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 35 (11), 1-27. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2018.1523146
Journal Article: Remembering the rejection of Muhammad Ali: identity, civil rights and social memory

Townsend, Stephen, Phillips, Murray G. and Osmond, Gary (2018). Remembering the rejection of Muhammad Ali: identity, civil rights and social memory. Sport in History, 38 (3), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/17460263.2018.1474129
Journal Article: From "Pitifully Ignorant" to the "People's Champion”: Shifting Perceptions of Muhammad Ali in the Louisville Defender, 1964–1971

Townsend, Stephen (2017). From "Pitifully Ignorant" to the "People's Champion”: Shifting Perceptions of Muhammad Ali in the Louisville Defender, 1964–1971. Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, 115 (4), 611-643. doi: 10.1353/khs.2017.0080

View all Publications

Grants

The History of Basketball Queensland

(2018–2019) Basketball Queensland

View all Grants

Publications

Featured Publications

The playmakers: the history of Basketball Queensland

Townsend, Stephen and Phillips, Murray G. (2023). The playmakers: the history of Basketball Queensland. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Basketball Queensland.
‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’: searching for the value of metrics and altmetrics in sociology of sport journals

Olive, Rebecca, Townsend, Stephen and Phillips, Murray G. (2022). ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’: searching for the value of metrics and altmetrics in sociology of sport journals. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 58 (3), 431-454. doi: 10.1177/10126902221107467
“‘The Tragedy of the Punch Drunk': Reading Concussion in Australian Sporting Newspapers, 1843–1954”

Townsend, Stephen (2021). “‘The Tragedy of the Punch Drunk': Reading Concussion in Australian Sporting Newspapers, 1843–1954”. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3 676463, 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2021.676463
'Where Cassius Clay Ends, Muhammad Ali Begins': sportspeople, political activism, and methodology

Townsend, Stephen, Osmond, Gary and Phillips, Murray G. (2018). 'Where Cassius Clay Ends, Muhammad Ali Begins': sportspeople, political activism, and methodology. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 35 (11), 1-27. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2018.1523146
Remembering the rejection of Muhammad Ali: identity, civil rights and social memory

Townsend, Stephen, Phillips, Murray G. and Osmond, Gary (2018). Remembering the rejection of Muhammad Ali: identity, civil rights and social memory. Sport in History, 38 (3), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/17460263.2018.1474129
From "Pitifully Ignorant" to the "People's Champion”: Shifting Perceptions of Muhammad Ali in the Louisville Defender, 1964–1971

Townsend, Stephen (2017). From "Pitifully Ignorant" to the "People's Champion”: Shifting Perceptions of Muhammad Ali in the Louisville Defender, 1964–1971. Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, 115 (4), 611-643. doi: 10.1353/khs.2017.0080

Book

The playmakers: the history of Basketball Queensland

Townsend, Stephen and Phillips, Murray G. (2023). The playmakers: the history of Basketball Queensland. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Basketball Queensland.

Book Chapter

Wicked Wikipedia: communities of practice, the production of knowledge and Australian sport history

Townsend, Stephen, Osmond, Gary and Phillips, Murray G. (2014). Wicked Wikipedia: communities of practice, the production of knowledge and Australian sport history. Sports History. (pp. 269-286) edited by Wray Vamplew. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge.

Journal Article

The golden ratio in baseball: the influence of historical eras on winning percentages in major league baseball

Cairney, John, Townsend, Stephen, Brown, Denver M. Y., Graham, Jeffrey D., Richard, Veronique and Kwan, Matthew Y. W. (2023). The golden ratio in baseball: the influence of historical eras on winning percentages in major league baseball. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 5 ARTN 1273327, 1273327. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1273327
‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’: searching for the value of metrics and altmetrics in sociology of sport journals

Olive, Rebecca, Townsend, Stephen and Phillips, Murray G. (2022). ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’: searching for the value of metrics and altmetrics in sociology of sport journals. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 58 (3), 431-454. doi: 10.1177/10126902221107467
“‘The Tragedy of the Punch Drunk': Reading Concussion in Australian Sporting Newspapers, 1843–1954”

Townsend, Stephen (2021). “‘The Tragedy of the Punch Drunk': Reading Concussion in Australian Sporting Newspapers, 1843–1954”. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3 676463, 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2021.676463
Review of Oppy: The Life of Sir Hubert Opperman

Townsend, Stephen (2020). Review of Oppy: The Life of Sir Hubert Opperman. Australian Historical Studies, 51 (2), 232-233. doi: 10.1080/1031461X.2020.1746995
Clay vs. Ali: Distant Reading, Methodology, and Sport History

Townsend, Stephen, Osmond, Gary and Phillips, Murray G. (2019). Clay vs. Ali: Distant Reading, Methodology, and Sport History. Journal of Sport History, 46 (3), 380-395. doi: 10.5406/jsporthistory.46.3.0380
'Where Cassius Clay Ends, Muhammad Ali Begins': sportspeople, political activism, and methodology

Townsend, Stephen, Osmond, Gary and Phillips, Murray G. (2018). 'Where Cassius Clay Ends, Muhammad Ali Begins': sportspeople, political activism, and methodology. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 35 (11), 1-27. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2018.1523146
Remembering the rejection of Muhammad Ali: identity, civil rights and social memory

Townsend, Stephen, Phillips, Murray G. and Osmond, Gary (2018). Remembering the rejection of Muhammad Ali: identity, civil rights and social memory. Sport in History, 38 (3), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/17460263.2018.1474129
From "Pitifully Ignorant" to the "People's Champion”: Shifting Perceptions of Muhammad Ali in the Louisville Defender, 1964–1971

Townsend, Stephen (2017). From "Pitifully Ignorant" to the "People's Champion”: Shifting Perceptions of Muhammad Ali in the Louisville Defender, 1964–1971. Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, 115 (4), 611-643. doi: 10.1353/khs.2017.0080
A Bird’s-Eye View of the Past: Digital History, Distant Reading and Sport History

Phillips, Murray G, Osmond, Gary and Townsend, Stephen (2015). A Bird’s-Eye View of the Past: Digital History, Distant Reading and Sport History. International Journal of the History of Sport, 32 (15), 1725-1740. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2015.1090976
Wicked Wikipedia? Communities of practice, the production of knowledge and Australian sport history

Townsend, Stephen, Osmond, Gary and Phillips, Murray G. (2013). Wicked Wikipedia? Communities of practice, the production of knowledge and Australian sport history. International Journal of the History of Sport, 30 (5), 545-559. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2013.767239

Other Outputs

Becoming Ali: digital history, newspaper discourse, and America’s most famous boxer, 1960–1975

Townsend, Stephen (2019). Becoming Ali: digital history, newspaper discourse, and America’s most famous boxer, 1960–1975. PhD Thesis, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.63

Grants (Administered at UQ)

The History of Basketball Queensland

(2018–2019) Basketball Queensland

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

Sport, Culture, History, Race, Politics

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

The University of Queensland

UQ Researchers