May 21, 2023 | Anna Flanagan
Monika Stodolska was named the Brightbill/Sapora Professor in Applied Health Sciences
By ANNA FLANAGAN
How does a scholar with a master’s degree in geography and a Ph.D. in earth and atmospheric sciences end up teaching and doing research in leisure studies?
By pursuing the passion for understanding the relationship between culture and leisure that began in their graduate work.
At Warsaw University in Poland, Monika Stodolska focused her master’s degree on tourism development in Peru and received a post-graduate diploma in Latin American studies. Her doctoral research at the University of Alberta investigated leisure among ethnic and racial minorities in Canada. Since completing her Ph.D., she has continued to pursue her passion as a professor of recreation, sport and tourism, building an outstanding record of scholarly and professional contributions over the last 23 years. In 2022, she was named the Brightbill/Sapora Professor in Applied Health Sciences.
“I have always been interested in Latinx cultures and issues of cultural change that are related to migrations,” she said. “This merged with my interest in how leisure among diverse groups contributes to individual and community health and well-being.”
Stodolska’s research is guided by developing theory in the areas of leisure, culture, ethnicity and race and by pressing social issues such as lack of access to natural environments in urban areas and discrimination. She has investigated how leisure helps minorities to retain their culture, achieve socioeconomic advancement, adapt to host environments, develop a sense of belonging and improve their mental and physical health. She also has examined how crime, low socioeconomic standing and undocumented status impose constraints on leisure.
“Investigating factors that help underprivileged members of our society to live healthy and fulfilling lives is incredibly rewarding in and of itself,” Stodolska said.
She cited two studies as among the most meaningful to her. In the most recent study, Stodolska returned to her homeland to examine the experiences of refugees, largely women and children, who fled to Poland after being displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In what she termed a “truly unprecedented refugee crisis,” more than six million people have crossed the Polish border since February, and almost two million remain. Many of them are living with Polish families. Through interviews with refugees, hosts and volunteers, Stodolska is investigating how the refugees are adapting to their new lives and the role of leisure in helping them deal with war-related trauma, as well as the Polish population’s response to the crisis. Based on the findings of her study, she hopes to write a book and to contribute toward the design of refugee-centered recreation programs.
The other study, funded by the Call to Action to End Systemic Racism and the Urbana Park District (UPD), followed up on a study she and former RST professor Kim Shinew had done in 2017 that identified strategies for improving access to UPD programs and services for diverse communities. The 2021-22 study evaluated the changes the district had implemented and resulted in a blueprint for serving these communities that will be distributed to other recreation agencies in the United States.
Until Shinew’s retirement, she and Stodolska had a dynamic research partnership for more than 20 years. Of the partnership, Stodolska said, “We had different personalities but we worked together seamlessly. Our research interests are very similar, we have similar values, we care about communities and we care about underrepresented populations.” They also collaborated on establishing the Diversity Research Lab in 2001, when scholarship on leisure and recreation among racial and ethnic minorities was in its infancy. Alumni of the lab now hold leadership positions in leisure education, research and practice. Stodolska’s approach to mentoring graduate students is simple.
“I treat them like family. I expect them to form a non-competitive community and to support each other, and the relationships they form are incredibly strong,” she said.
It is the same kind of environment Stodolska has found in RST, which she calls “truly my home.” While she has received many honors during her time at Illinois—a Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award for Teaching and Mentoring in Diversity, Fellow status in the Academy of Leisure Sciences, the King James McCristal Scholar Award for Excellence in Research—it is her work with students that gives her the most pride.
“At the end of our careers, we won’t be remembered by the number of papers or the books that we’ve written but by the impact we’ve had on people and whether we’ve used this privilege of professorship to leave the world a slightly better place,” she said.
With all the projects she has yet to complete, the end of Stodolska’s career is far in the future. Wars, poverty and political instability all lead to migrations, and inequality is entrenched in U.S. and Western societies. Given leisure’s critical role in helping underprivileged members of society live better lives, she anticipates being busy for many years to come.
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