Dr. Fabiana Turelli

Biography

Dr. Fabiana Turelli is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. Turelli's undergraduate (2005) and master's degrees (2008) focused on martial arts in Brazil. Her PhD, carried out in Europe (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, with research visits in Scotland and Italy), studied women's Spanish Olympic karate squad (Cum Laude thesis award and International PhD).

Turelli's postdoctoral study in Australia searched for ways to bring theory into practice. She explored struggles against social issues targeting change in sport, looking into intersectionality as theory, methodology and a way of thinking. Her research program is critical, inviting to continuous reflexivity by combining concepts of critical theory, feminism, sociology of sport, critical pedagogies, and intersectionality. 

She is enthusiastic about bold, creative and disruptive methodologies and their possibilities for knowledge generation, mobilization and dissemination.

Education

  • Postdoctoral study, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University Melbourne, Australia
  • PhD, Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Autonomous University of Madrid and Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain
  • MEd, Education Centre, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
  • B.Ed. and BSc (Hons), Physical Education and Sport, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil

Research summary

Dr. Turelli contributes to three overlapping streams of research: Gender in Martial Arts and Combat Sports (MACS), embodied subalternity and EDI and Social Justice. Her research is developed following qualitative approaches, supported by a long journey of ethnographies, self-questioning autoethnographies and participatory action research where participants become co-creators in research.

Recent publications

Turelli, F., & Kirk, D. (in press). Fight!? Empowering women through martial arts and combat sports. Martial Arts Studies Journal.

Turelli, F., Kirk, D., & Vaz, A. F. (in press). “A boy is always going to be superior to a girl” – The ideal of fighting like a man or accepting inferiority for women karateka. Special Issue on Martial Arts. Eracle.

Turelli, F., Barquero-Ruiz, C., & Castro-García, M. (2025). Collaging the (Dis)illusio of Being International Early Career Women in Physical Education and Sport Sciences/Kinesiology. Quest, 1–22.

Turelli, F., Spaaij, R., Carboon, E., McLachlan, F., Lambert, K., Jeanes, R., & Young, L. (2025). Intersectionality in research on equity, diversity, and inclusion in sport: A systematic review of the literature. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 0(0).

Turelli, F., & Joseph, J. (2025). A tale of embodied domination, queer feelings, and decolonial disruption in sport. Women's Studies International Forum, 110.

Turelli, F., Vaz, A. F., & Kirk, D. (2025). Power dynamics in gendered sports karate: Inclusivity and Hierarchies. In: Jennings, G., Piedra de la Cuadra, J., & Rodríguez Sánchez, A. R. (Orgs.) Martial Arts in Latin Societies. Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society.

Turelli, F., Kirk, D., & Vaz, A. F. (2024). "Oss! Embracement of Catastrophic Masculinity Through Hazing Practices in Three Martial Arts Performed in Brazil", johnson, j. and Chin, J. W. (Ed.) Cultures of Sport Hazing and Anti-Hazing Initiatives for the 21st Century (Research in the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 23), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 27-46.

Turelli, F., Kirk, D., & Vaz, A. F. (2024). Una paradoja del poder: Mujeres karatecas, nuevos espacios y violencia. Staps, Fuera de serie(HS), 43-55.

Luguetti, C., Turelli, F., Speranza, D., Wachter, J., & Konjarski, L. (2024). Pre-service teachers' experiences of an activist approach in a health and physical education teacher education context. European Physical Education Review, 1-17.

Rodrigues, A. I. C., Turelli, F.,  & Kirk, D. (2024). Fighting like a girl: Towards a critical pedagogy of martial arts. In: Ewald, A. et al. (Ed.): Martial Arts & Movement Arts (KuB): Cultural History, Violence Prevention & Therapy. An international online anthology of scientists and practitioners. 1-25. ISSN 2940-9586.

Turelli, F. (2024). Educazione del corpo karateka: una traiettoria investigativa. In Donato, A., Bortolotti, A., & Galak, E. (Orgs.) Pedagogie del corpo. Roma, Quapeg Edizioni.

Highlights

  • Guest speaker at UNESCO-ICM-KISS, Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 2025.
    • Presentation: Turelli, F. (2025). Gender Equality in Martial Arts: Challenges and Opportunities for Women and Girls.
  • Magnificent Women’s Awards Gala Honoured Speaker, University of Manitoba 2025.
  • Fighting for Sustainable Empowerment (FSE) Project: A Documentary
  • Women’s acknowledgement/awards recipient and network event. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) – 1er Encuentro Internacional de la Red de Mujeres Científicas. Puebla, México, November 2024.
  • Gold medal in the ES-21 Female Senior Kumite -61 KG division at the 2024 Canada Open Karate Championships in Vancouver, BC.

Grants

  • SSHRC IDG, 2025 – 2027. SHE RUNS: Studying Harassment Experience, Risk, and Understanding Narratives of Safety: International comparative analysis. ($51,965)
  • Mitacs Globalink Research Award, 2026. FSE_Project international. (Collaboration with Cardiff Metropolitan University, in the UK.) ($12,000)
  • URGP grants competition, 2025 – 2026. When we are not aware of the oppressions we face: the embodiment of subalternity to obey and punish oneself in sport. ($8,000)
  • CHRR, 2025 – 2026. Documentary production for the project Fighting for Sustainable Empowerment. ($2,500)
  • UM SSHRC grants competition, 2024 – 2025. Fighting for sustainable empowerment: improving body-self-awareness with newcomer students at the University of Manitoba through sports karate and critical feminist theory. ($6,995.68)
  • Turelli, F., & Kirk, D. Fighting for sustainable empowerment: improving body-self-awareness with newcomer students at the University of Manitoba through sports karate and critical feminist theory. UM SSHRC grant (CAD$6,995.68). University of Manitoba, Canada.
  • Turelli, F. When we are not aware of the oppressions we face: the embodiment of subalternity to obey and punish oneself in sport. Mitacs. (Two funded international students per year – 2024/2025.)
  • Teetzel, S., Wilkinson, L., Strachan, L., Brown, C., & Turelli, F. Impacts of racism on community sport dropout and retention: An intersectional analysis of girls’ experiences of racism and knowledge of mechanisms to support abuse-free sport. Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada’s Abuse-Free Sport Research Grant Program (CAD$85,383.00).
  • Vaz, A. F., ... & Turelli, F. Teoria Crítica, Racionalidades e Educação VI: Estudos para a compreensão do tempo presente. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (BRR$225,600.00). Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Global-scale collaborations

  • Barquero-Ruiz, C., Castro-Gracia, M., Turelli, F., Scanlon, D., & Valerio, C. Internationalization project: Experiences of ECRs teaching Social Justice internationally.
  • Hill, J., Gubby, L., & Turelli, F. International research project SHE RUNS: Studying Harassment Experience in women’s Running, and Understanding Narratives of Safety: International comparative analysis

Founding member in research/academic groups:

Courses

  • Health Education (PHED 2442)
  • Health Promotion (KPER 3140)
  • Culturally Relevant Pedagogies (PHED 3362)