Mahfoud Amara BA MA PhD
Lecturer
Contact details
Room: JJ.0.20
Phone: +44 (0)1509 226370
Fax: +44 (0)1509 226301
Email: M.Amara@lboro.ac.uk
Background
Dr. Mahfoud Amara after his graduation from the University of Algiers in 1998, came to the UK to undertake his postgraduate Studies. At the University of Wales Institute of Cardiff (UWIC) he obtained a Masters Degree (MA) in Sport and Leisure Studies in 2000. Subsequently, he undertook a PhD at Loughborough University, which was awarded in 2003. Since 2003 he worked as a Research Associate with Professor Ian Henry in three EU commissioned projects. Dr Amara was appointed as a lecturer in Sport and Leisure Policy and Management at Loughborough University in 2004.
Research Interests
His principal research area is comparative sports policy, and he has a specific interest in sport in Arabo-Muslim contexts (society, history, culture, religion, economy, Political and philosophical thoughts), having published material on the politics of the Pan-Arab Games, sport in colonial and post-colonial Algeria, sport and media in the Arab world, sport and modernisation debate in the Gulf region and comparative models of football development.
Recent research topics include projects for the European Commission 'Sport and Social Inclusion of Refugees and Asylum Seekers', 2004 (with Ian Henry, Dawn Aquilina and John Taylor and Fred Coalter of the University of Stirling): 'Sport and Multicultural Dialogue', 2004 (with Ian Henry, Dawn Aquilina, and PMP Consultants): 'The Education of Young Elite Sportspersons', 2004 (with Ian Henry, Dawn Aquilina, and PMP Consultants): Combating Racism through Sport and Youth Empowerment, A Proposal to UNESCO for a Policy related Literature Review and Position Paper, 2009 (with Ian Henry, Ling Ko)
Selected Publications
Amara, Mahfoud and Theodoraki, Eleni(2010) 'Transnational network formation through sports related regional development projects in the Arabian Peninsula', International Journal of Sport Policy, 2: 2, 135-158
Amara, Mahfoud (2008) The Muslim World in the Global Sporting Arena, The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Volume 14, Issue 2, Spring / Summer 2008, pp.67-76 (http://www.bjwa.org/index.php?subpage=currentissue)
Amara, Mahfoud (2007) 'When the Arab World was Mobilised around the FIFA 2006 World Cup', The Journal of North African Studies, 12:4, 417 -438.
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13629380701388860)
Amara, M. (2006) Soccer, Post-Colonial and Post-conflict Discourses in Algeria: Algérie-France, 6 Octobre 2001, « ce n'était pas un simple match de foot », International Review of Modern Sociology, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Autumn) , pp 217-239.
Amara, M (2006) Sport and Algerian Nationalism in the 'Global' era: within and beyond the nation-state, Francophone and Postcolonial Studies (FPS), Society for Francophone and Postcolonial Studies, Volume 4, Number 1, pp.88-115.
Amara. M (2005), A 'Modernization' Project from Above? Asian Games - Qatar 2006, Sport in Society, Vol. 8, No. 3, September, pp. 495-516.
Ian Henry, Jin Liang, Kazuo Uchiumi, Mahfoud Amara (2005), The Roles of the State in the Changing Governance of Professional Soccer: Four Case Studies, European Journal of Sport Science, December; 5(4): pp. 189-206.
Ian Henry; Mahfoud Amara; Mansour Al-Tauqi; Ping Chao Lee (2005), A Typology of Approaches to Comparative Analysis of Sports Policy, Journal of Sport Management, 19 (4), September, pp. 480 -496.
Book Chapters
Amara, M (2010) The Middle East and North Africa, in Routledge Companion to Sport History, Pope SW and Nauright, J (Ed.), London: Routledge, 498-509.
Amara, M (2008) ''An introduction to the study of sport in the Muslim world'', in Sport and Society: A student introduction (2nd edition), B. Houlihan (Ed.), Sage, London, 532-553.
Amara, M and Henry, I (2007) Discourses on Modern Sport and Values in a Non-western Context: a Case Study of Algeria in Henry, I (Ed.), Transnational and Comparative Research in Sport: Globalisation, Governance and Sport Policy, (London:Routledge),pp. 169-194.
Amara. M (2007) Soccer, Post-Colonial and Post-conflict Discourses in Algeria: Algérie-France, 6 Octobre 2001, « ce n'était pas un simple match de foot », in Leon Grunberg and Sunil Kukreja (Eds.), Discourses on the Beautiful Game. Ashwin-Anoka Press (New Delhi/Kuala Lumpur), 2007.
Amara. M (2007), 2006 Qatar Asian Games: A 'Modernization' Project from Above?, in Hong, F. (ed.) Sport, Nationalism and Orientalism: the Asian Games, (Series: Sport in the Global Society), Routledge, pp.89-110.
You can view a fuller publications list on the University Publications Database.
External Activities
Consultancy work: external assessment panel of BBC's regional sports coverage, March 2007.
Selected Invited Conference Keynote and Speaker Presentations:
Invited Speaker for an International Symposium- Internationalism in the Olympic Movement: Idea and Reality between States, Cultures and People, Institute of Sport Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 22nd of May 2009. Presented a paper on "Olympic Sport and Internationalism Debates in the Arab-Muslim World: Between 'Modernity' and 'Authenticity'" http://www.sport.uni-mainz.de/Preuss/Download%20public/pressestimmen/press_symposium.pdf
Invited speaker for A two-day international conference on the role of regions in building a legacy of sports participation and excellence, Organised by Kurdistan Regional Government in partnership with Sport Council Wales, Cardiff, 9-10 December 2008. Presented a paper on The role of sport in post-conflict nations http://mosy.ikrg.org/speakers/mahfoud-amara.php
Invited Lecturer, 16th International Seminar on Olympic Studies for Postgraduate Students, International Olympic Academy, Olympia, 13-20 July, 2008
Invited Keynote Speaker: Amara, M "Understanding Modern Sport in Contemporary Islamic and Muslims Contexts" 1st TAFISA (Trim And Fitness International Sport for All Association) World Forum: The Integrative Force of Sport for All: Building new Understandings, Frankfurt on the Main, Germany, 14-17 December 2006.
Invited speaker, “Multiculturalism, Islam and Integration through Sport in Europe”, Sport in the New Europe, one day conference organised by Prof. Getrud Pfister April 3rd 2006, Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Invited lectures for Memphis University and University of Maryland London Study Abroad programme, 'Sport & Culture in the Global Marketplace' London, 2005-07.
Recent Conference Presentations/ Invited
Lectures
Amara, Mahfoud. ‘‘Sport, Internationalism and Regionalism Debates in the Arab-Muslim World: between 'Modernity' and 'Authenticity'’’. Le sport dans les pays du Moyen Orient et d’Afrique du Nord. Enjeux sociaux et symboliques (Panel 073), organised by Prof. Michel Raspaud, The World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies, Barcelona 19 -24 July 2010, IEMed European Institute of the Mediterranean.
Amara, Mahfoud and Henry, Ian. “Sport, Muslim Identities and Cultures in the UK: Case studies of Leicester and Birmingham”, RC 27 Sociology of Sport, XVII ISA World Congress of Sociology, Sociology on the move, 11-17 July, Gothenburg, Sweden
Amara, Mahfoud and Henry Ian, Sport, Muslim identities and cultures in the UK: Case studies of Leicester and Birmingham. A British Academy funded project. Sport Management and Culture Workshop, EASM Conference, 17th September 2009, Amsterdam.
Amara, Mahfoud, Theodoraki, Eleni “Transnational Network Formation Through Sports Related Regional Development Projects in the Arabian Peninsula”, World Congress of the Sociology of Sport, July 15-18, 2009 Utrecht, The Netherlands
When The Arab World Was Mobilised Around the FIFA World Cup 2006. Sport in the Global World: Past-Present-Future, ISSA & ISHPES Congress, Copenhagen, 31 July- 05 August 2007.
Discourses on Modern Sport and Values in a Non-western Context: a Case Study of Algeria. ESMQ Methodology Workshop Discourse in Sport Management Research Application and Procedures, 15th EASM Congress, 13th September 2007, Turin.
Amara, M., "Towards a New Approach to the Study of Sport in the Muslim World". Paper presented at 2nd World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies, Amman, Jordan/ 11-16 June 2006
Selected Recent Research Projects and
Sources of Funding:
Amara, M and Henry I - Sport, Muslim Identities and Cultures in the UK,
British Academy, £7034, June 2007- May 2009
“A valuable player in breaking down boundaries”, The View Magazine, Autumn/ Winter 2009, Loughborough University
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/theview/archive/aw09/articles/breaking-boundaries.html