Faculty Profile

Dr. Synthia Sydnor earned her doctorate in Interdisciplinary Humanities at The Pennsylvania State University. She commenced her career at the University of Illinois in Kinesiology (Department of Health and Kinesiology), where she also held appointments in The Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory; and Global Studies. A National Endowment for the Humanities scholar (Periklean Athens), Sydnor's scholarship focuses on cultural-historical analysis of sport and ritual; and ancient Greek receptions / aftermath in modernity.  Dr. Sydnor's work appears in journals such as Studies in Symbolic Interaction; Journal of Sport Sociology; Cultural Studies <> Critical Methodologies; and Journal of Curatorial Studies.  She is author of Social Theory for Sports Lovers (2021); and To the Extreme: Alternative Sports, Inside and Out (1993).