Ben Powis

Dr Ben Powis

  • bpowis at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
  • Senior Lecturer in Sport
  • Dorset House D219, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
UN SDGs:
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Biography

Dr Ben Powis is a Senior Lecturer (Sport) in the Department of Sport and Event Management at Bournemouth University. He holds a First Class honours degree in sport studies and a master's degree with distinction in sport and society from the University of Brighton. In 2017, Ben was awarded a PhD, also from the University of Brighton, which examined the lived experiences of elite visually impaired cricket players. Prior to joining Bournemouth, he was course leader in Social Sciences at Solent University and has previously worked at Richmond American University London and the University of Brighton.

His research interests build upon this field of inquiry and include the sociology of disability sport, visually impaired peoples’ experiences of sport and physical activity and investigating the significance of sensuous sporting experiences. Ben is an expert in qualitative research methods, employing ethnography, observation, and semi-structured interviews in his previous projects. He is adept at disseminating his research findings for a range of audiences, including writing for academic and non-academic readers, and presenting at international conferences (such as the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Vista conference)...

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Research

Ben is currently working on two long-term projects. Firstly, with Dr Jess Macbeth (UCLAN), we are exploring blind and partially sighted peoples' experiences of running. Initially, our research explored how VI runners experienced outdoor running (or not) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the varied impact of changing restrictions, personal circumstances, and seasons. During this project, we also wanted to understand how blind and partially sighted people use their senses to develop unique ways of navigating and negotiating running routes - whether they run with a guide runner or not. The results are fascinating and establish the rich, creative and diverse sensory practices of VI runners. Central to both articles is the agency and skills of blind and partially sighted people: rather than being passively guided around a route, VI runners demonstrate ways of running which do not rely upon sight. The outputs from this project are open access and can be found in the below ‘Favourites’ section.

Secondly, alongside colleagues in the UK and New Zealand, we are researching the Disability Premier League (DPL) cricket tournament. In this qualitative project, we are analysing players and coaches’ experiences of participating in the DPL, both on the pitch and during training. The DPL has several unique elements – pan-disability teams, a franchise system, a player draft, mainstream media coverage – and therefore provides novel insights into high performance disability sporting cultures. The data collection phase of the study is complete, and the first outputs are in development...

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Favourites

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDGs:

Good health and well-being

"Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages"

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Reduced inequalities

"Reduce inequality within and among countries"

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Peace, justice and strong institutions

"Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels"

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Journal Articles

  • Powis, B., Brighton, J. and Townsend, R., 2025. The Dis/appearing Sporting Body: the Complex Embodiment of Disabled Athletes. Sociology.
  • Powis, B. and Macbeth, J.L., 2024. Running blind: the sensory practices of visually impaired runners. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 16 (3), 244-258.
  • Powis, B. and Macbeth, J., 2023. Navigating a sighted world: visually impaired runners’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disability and Society.
  • Powis, B. and Macbeth, J., 2020. “We know who is a cheat and who is not. But what can you do?”: Athletes’ perspectives on classification in visually impaired sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 55 (5).
  • Powis, B. and Velija, P., 2020. Cricket has no boundaries with NatWest? The hyperreality of inclusion and diversity in English cricket. Sport in Society, 24 (8).
  • Powis, B., 2019. Soundscape elicitation and visually impaired cricket: using auditory methodology in sport and physical activity research. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11 (1).
  • Powis, B., 2018. Visual Impairment, Sport and Somatic Work: The Auditory Experiences of Blind and Partially Sighted Cricket Players. The Senses and Society, 13 (2).
  • Powis, B., 2018. “We are playing for England, we wear the same shirt; just because I have a disability it doesn't make me any different”: Empowerment, Eliteness, and Visually Impaired Cricket. European Journal for Sport and Society, 15 (2).
  • Powis, B., 2017. Book Review- Seeking the Senses in Physical Culture: Sensuous Scholarship in Action. The Senses and Society, 12 (3).

Books

  • Researching Disability Sport: Theory, Method, Practice. Routledge.
  • Powis, B., 2020. Embodiment, Identity and Disability Sport: An Ethnography of Elite Visually Impaired Athletes. Routledge.

Chapters

  • Powis, B., 2025. Paralympic classification. Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Sport. Elgar.
  • Powis, B., Brighton, J. and Gubby, L., 2025. Using sensory methods for researching disability in Physical Education. Routledge Handbook of Qualitative Methods for Researching Disability in Physical Education. Routledge.
  • Powis, B., Howe, P.D. and Brighton, J., 2022. Conclusion: The future of disability sport research. In: Powis, B., Brighton, J. and Howe, P.D., eds. Researching disability sport: Theory, method, practice. Routledge.
  • Powis, B., Brighton, J. and Howe, P.D., 2022. Researching disability sport: An introduction. Researching disability sport: Theory, method, practice. Routledge.
  • Powis, B., Brighton, J. and Howe, P.D., 2022. Theorising disability sport. Researching disability sport: Theory, method, practice. Routledge.
  • Powis, B. and Macbeth, J., 2022. What Are We Doing Here? Confessional Tales of Non-Disabled Researchers in Disability Sport. In: Powis, B., Brighton, J. and Howe, P.D., eds. Researching Disability Sport: Theory, Method, Practice. Routledge.
  • Powis, B. and Velija, P., 2020. Cricket has no boundaries with NatWest? The hyperreality of inclusion and diversity in English cricket. 1-16.
  • Powis, B. and Carter, T., 2018. Sporting Sounds. The Routledge Companion to Sound Studies. Routledge.
  • Powis, B., 2018. Transformation, advocacy and voice in disability sport research. In: Carter, T., Doidge, M. and Burdsey, D., eds. Transforming Sport. Routledge.

Grants

  • See Sport Differently evaluation (Sport England/RNIB, 01 Mar 2022). In Progress
  • An embedded approach to academic literacy (Solent University, 05 Mar 2018). Completed

Conference Presentations

  • Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise conference, The Dis/appearing Sporting Body: the Complex Embodiment of Disabled Athletes, 30 Jul 2024, Bath, UK
  • International Conference on Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, “The world became so visual”: experiences of visually impaired runners during the COVID-19 pandemic, 26 Jul 2022, Durham, Uk
  • International Conference on Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, Researching Disability Sport: A Symposium (Organiser), 26 Jul 2022, Durham, UK
  • Leisure Studies Conference, Visually impaired peoples' experiences of outdoor running during the COVID-19 pandemic, 06 Jul 2021, Online
  • North American Sociology of Sport Conference, Disability, sport and social theory, 06 Nov 2019, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
  • North American Sociology of Sport Conference, New Directions in Disability Sport Scholarship (Session Organiser and Presider), 06 Nov 2019, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
  • VISTA Paralympic conference, We know who is a cheat and who is not. But what can you do?”: Athletes’ Perspectives on Classification in Visually Impaired Sport, 04 Sep 2019, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise Conference, We know who is a cheat and who is not. But what can you do?”: Athletes’ Perspectives on Classification in Visually Impaired Sport, 05 Jun 2018, Vancouver, Canada
  • The European Association for Sociology of Sport (EASS) Conference, '“We are playing for England, we wear the same shirt, just because I have a disability it doesn't make me any different”: Empowerment, Eliteness, and Visually Impaired Cricket.', 14 Jun 2017, Prague, CZ
  • Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise Conference, Disability sport as embodied resistance: experiences of visually impaired cricket players, 29 Aug 2016, Chichester, UK
  • North American Sociology of Sport Conference, Disability sport as embodied resistance: experiences of blind elite sportspeople, 03 Nov 2015, Santa Fe, NM, USA
  • Disability Sport: Changing lives, changing perceptions? conference, The methodological challenges of conducting research into the lived experience of blind and partially sighted cricket, 14 Sep 2014, Coventry, UK

Consultancy Activities

  • Academic consultant, Evaluation. Sport England/RNIB, ICF consultancy services, 04 Apr 2022

Qualifications

  • PGCE in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2018)
  • PhD in An Embodied Approach to Disability Sport (University of Brighton, 2016)
  • MA in Sport and Society (University of Brighton, 2012)
  • BA (Hons) in Sport Studies (University of Brighton, 2011)

Memberships

  • Higher Education Academy, Fellow,
  • International Society of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, Member,