Rafaelle Nicholson

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson

  • Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism
  • 4th floor, Weymouth House
UN SDGs:
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Biography

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Media & Communication at Bournemouth University. Her research sits at the boundary between contemporary history and sociology, and focuses on gender and sport. Her PhD examined the history of women's cricket in Britain since 1945, providing the first comprehensive overview of the development of the sport in the modern period. Her subsequent book Ladies and Lords: A History of Women's Cricket in Britain (Peter Lang 2019) was shortlisted for the MCC / Cricket Society Book of the Year and established her as a thought leader in the field of women's sport history.

Her current research is concerned with the changing role of women in sports governance since the 1990s, the period in which British women's sport transitioned from being run entirely by women to being administered by "merged" organisations made up largely of men. She is also a freelance journalist who writes for ESPNCricinfo, Wisden and Wisden Cricket Monthly. She edits the women's cricket website, www.CRICKETher.com...

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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:

Gender equality

"Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls"

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Reduced inequalities

"Reduce inequality within and among countries"

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Sustainable cities and communities

"Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable"

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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

Books

Chapters

  • Nicholson, R., 2023. The Women's Ashes Trophy. A History of Sport in Europe in 100 Objects. Arete Verlag.
  • Nicholson, R., 2022. 'Holding a gun at our heads': The sports council's role in merger-takeovers of women's sport, 1985-2000. Gender Equity in UK Sport Leadership and Governance. 48-68.
  • Nicholson, R., 2019. 'Who are we...to tell the South Africans how to run their country?' The Women's Cricket Association and the aftermath of the D'Oliveira Affair, 1968-9. In: Murray, B., Parry, R. and Winch, J., eds. Cricket and Society in South Africa, 1910-1971: From Union to Isolation. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Nicholson, R., 2017. 'It just seemed like old white guys on a field': Imperialism, class, and the 'whiteness' of women's cricket. Race, Gender and Sport The Politics of Ethnic 'Other' Girls and Women. Routledge.
  • Nicholson, R., 2016. Hylton, Leslie. Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography: Ferg-Kali. Oxford University Press.

Reports

Internet Publications

Invited Lectures

  • Roundtable, Loughborough University, 20 Jan 2022 more
  • The future of the sports movement in India, Bangalore, India, 03 Jul 2021 more

Grants

  • Levelling the playing field? The impact of The Hundred (Bournemouth University Charity Impact Fund, 01 Mar 2022). Completed
  • Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in the 1990s and beyond (Bournemouth University, 10 Jun 2019). Completed
  • Re-presenting para-sport bodies: Disability and the cultural legacy of the Paralympic Games (Arts and Humanities Research Council, 03 Sep 2018). Completed
  • The Legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games (Big Lottery Fund, 04 Sep 2017). Completed

Internal Responsibilities

  • Faculty Representative (BUBS), Research Staff Association
  • Impact Champion, UoA 17 and UoA 24

Public Engagement & Outreach Activities

  • House of Commons Select Committee - oral evidence (12 Sep 2023)
  • The Women of Surrey (01 Jan 2019)
  • Consultant (01 Oct 2018-31 May 2021)
  • ICC World Cup programme (01 Jan 2017)
  • Educational Resource

Conference Presentations

  • North American Society for the Sociology of Sport annual conference, Stronger Together? The Legacies of the 1993 Merger of the Football Association and the Women’s Football Association, 01 Nov 2023, New Orleans, USA
  • British Society of Sports History annual conference, The Girls v The Blazers: What makes a successful merger? A comparison between football and hockey, 24 Aug 2023, Manchester Metropolitan University
  • FootyCon, Stronger Together? The Legacies of the 1993 Merger of the Football Association and the Women’s Football Association, 30 Jun 2023, Hampden Park, Glasgow
  • BSA Auto/Biographies Christmas Conference, Celebrating Volunteers: An Autoethnography of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, 02 Dec 2022, London
  • British Society of Sports History annual conference, “Why should we merge with the women?”: Male Perspectives on Sporting Amalgamations, 1985-2000, 25 Aug 2022, De Montfort University
  • North American Society for Sports History annual conference, The Case For Devolution: Oral Histories of UK Sporting Amalgamations, 1985-2000, 27 May 2022, Chicago, USA
  • Rethinking Britain in the 1990s, “Nasty meetings with the men”: The takeover of women’s leisure spaces in the 1990s, 17 Sep 2021, St John's College, University of Cambridge
  • British Society of Sports History, “No merger, no money”: Oral Histories of Sporting Amalgamations, 1985-2000, 26 Aug 2021, St Mary's University, Twickenham
  • Oral History Society conference, “A white-haired old lady”: Repurposing oral histories of women’s cricket for popular consumption, 09 Jul 2021, Online
  • Social History Society Conference, Writing the 90s: Women, Leisure and Sport, 28 Jun 2021, Online
  • Auto/Biography and Community, “Cricket was my escape”: Oral histories of women's cricketing lives, 04 Dec 2020, Online
  • Sporting Heritage conference, Creating viable sporting heritage research partnerships, 22 Oct 2020, Online
  • Sport and Leisure History Seminar, Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in 
the 1990s and beyond, 07 Oct 2019, Institute of Historical Research
  • British Society of Sports History annual conference, Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in the 1990s and beyond, 06 Sep 2019, Liverpool Hope University
  • Economic History of Sport, A Social History of Women's Cricket, 13 Jun 2018, University of Reading
  • Contemporary British History Now, Sport and British Decolonisation, 13 Sep 2017, Kings College London
  • Social History Society annual conference, The Non-Absent-Minded Imperialists: Women's Sport and British Decolonisation, 04 Apr 2017, Institute of Education, London
  • Women's History Network annual conference, My first love has always been cricket’: Women's Sport and the Women's Movement in Postwar Britain, 04 Sep 2015, University of Kent
  • British Society of Sports History, ‘We’ve got to look like women’: Image and sexuality in English women's cricket, 1990-2015, 02 Sep 2015, Swansea University
  • Oral History and Sport, 'It doesn't mean I'm Women's Lib': An Oral History of Women's Cricket, 19 Sep 2014, British Library
  • Women's Histories: The Local and the Global, Creating the Commonwealth: Anglo-Australian women's cricket, 1945-1973, 29 Aug 2013, Sheffield Hallam University

Qualifications

  • PhD in History (Queen Mary University of London, 2015)
  • MSt in Women's Studies (University of Oxford, 2010)
  • BA (Hons) in Modern History and Politics (University of Oxford (Merton College), 2009)

Honours

  • Sporting Inequalities Prize (British Society of Sports History, 2023)
  • Richard Cox Prize for best postgraduate paper (British Society of Sports History, 2013)

Networks

  • Cricket Society - Executive Committee member
  • Cricket Writers Club - Member
  • British Society of Sports History - Chair

Social Media Links

External Media and Press

Broadcast Interview