Episode 9: Running, the Environment, and Human Becoming

Episode 9: Running, the Environment, and Human Becoming

Author: Sport and Leisure Cultures Research Group December 19, 2020 Duration: 1:05:15

In this episode Dr. Thomas F. Carter, Reader in Anthropology at the University of Brighton, speaks with your host, Sean Heath, about all things running.

Tom’s ethnographically focused anthropological research centres on the relationships between the individual and the state, the movement, migrations, and mobilities of various peoples, the politics of spectacle, and the dialectic relations of spatialized embodiment. He is currently working on a project centred around the human body, human movement, and how running makes us human.

Our conversation today centres on his book entitled On Running and Becoming Human: An Anthropological Perspective. We discuss the connections between our own moving bodies, our environments, and how the act of running literally shapes our minds, our bodies and the ways we experience our environments. Tom’s decades of running experience in both mundane and exotic places across the globe provides the route of travel as we wandered through the anthropological, neurological, philosophical and experiential aspects of our very human form of locomotion: running.

From the seemingly simple acts of running through neighbourhoods when we arrive in new cities to get an understanding of the layout of where we are, to the seeking out and exploration of spaces and places near and far from the places we live, Tom weaves together an intricate argument which positions the mind as an extension of the senses and the moving body out into the world. Our being through the act of running incorporates the environments we move through as environs, our individually positioned experiences of those environments informed by our societies, cultures, and physiology.

Dr. Thomas F. Carter has a forthcoming publication in forthcoming in The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, entitled "Gender and Sport" (2020). His latest book, On Running and Becoming Human: An Anthropological Perspective can be found through the link and is published by PalgraveMacMillan. His other research is accessible via his University of Brighton staff research profile page https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/thomas-carter


Hosted by the Sport and Leisure Cultures Research Group at the University of Brighton, Transforming Sport digs into the complex and often surprising ways athletics intersect with our everyday lives. Each conversation moves beyond scores and statistics to explore sport as a powerful social force, examining its relationship with politics, health, economics, and identity. The discussions, led by researchers and expert guests, are grounded in academic insight but focused on real-world implications. You’ll hear thoughtful analysis on how communities are built through leisure, how inequalities are both challenged and perpetuated on the field, and what the future holds for physical culture. This isn’t about predicting winners; it’s about understanding the deeper currents that shape why we play and watch. The central question throughout this podcast is how sport itself must adapt and evolve to meet the pressing challenges of our time-from climate change and technological disruption to ongoing fights for inclusion and fairness. By listening, you gain a clearer picture of the transformations already underway and the ones still desperately needed. Tune in for a nuanced perspective that treats sport not just as entertainment, but as a vital lens for examining contemporary society.
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