Dr James Cherrington BA, MA, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Physical Activity
Summary
I am an interdisciplinary researcher with an interest in the social, technological, and environmental landscape of physical activity and health. I have a sustained record of producing original, high-quality publications across the disciplines of political ecology, (e)mobility and green exercise, with a particular focus on cultures of mountain biking. My teaching involves introductory modules on the sociology of physical activity, alternative physical activities, and sport branding. Currently, I am supervising doctoral projects relating to e-mountain bikes and ageing, the naturalisation of foreign athletes, neurological disability, and racism in nursing.
About
Jim Cherrington is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Physical Activity. After completing his undergraduate and postgraduate education at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, Jim joined Sheffield Hallam in 2010. An interdisciplinary researcher, working within political ecology, science and technology studies, and environmental philosophy, his research focuses predominantly on issues of spatial conflict with specific attention given to cultures of mountain biking. In 2023, these interests lead Jim to establish the Cultures of Mountain Biking (CoMTB) Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Group, an interdisciplinary, culturally diverse, and global group of researchers whose aim is to understand the social, cultural, and political significance of mountain biking in contemporary societies. Other topics that Jim has examined include: disabled people’s experiences of green exercise, community (sport) development, mHealth technology, sport in everyday life, and the development of visual methodologies. Jim is the editor of ‘Mountain Biking, Culture and Society’ (Routledge, 2024), and co-editor of 'Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments' (Routledge, 2022). His current research includes funded work with Metropolitan Police around thermoregulation strategies among armoured police officers, and an examination of women’s experiences of bicycle repair in the UK.
Identity, Embodiment, Place, Adventure
Teaching
School of Sport and Physical Activity
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Sport and the Social Sciences
Courses taught:
- BSc (Hons) Physical Education and School Sport
- BSc (Hons) Sport Business Management
- BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science
- BSc (Hons) Physical Activity, Sport and Health
- BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching
Modules taught:
- The Impact of Sport and Physical Activity
- Alternative Physical Activities
- Sport, Brands and Culture
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
- Evaluating the Use of E-Mountain Bikes
- Women's Experiences as Bike Mechanics in UK
- Thermoregulation Strategies Among Armed Police Officers in the Metropolitan Police Force
- Shimano
- Protect Our Winters
- Peak District MTB
- Mountain Bike Instructors Award Scheme (MIAS)
- The National Trust
Publications
Journal articles
Cherrington, J., & Brighton, J. (2024). . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.
Cherrington, J. (2024). . Tourism Cases.
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2023). . Mobilities.
Black, J., & Cherrington, J. (2022). . Theory & Event, 25 (4), 726-750.
Cherrington, J. (2021). . Somatechnics, 11 (3).
Black, J., & Cherrington, J. (2021). . Environmental Philosophy.
Cherrington, J. (2021). . Leisure Sciences: an interdisciplinary journal.
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2020). . International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 3 (1), 71-93.
Black, J., & Cherrington, J. (2020). . International Journal of Žižek Studies, 14 (1), 1-26.
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2019). . World Futures: The Journal of New Paradigm Ï㽶ÊÓƵ.
Cherrington, J. (2019). . International review for the sociology of sport.
Cherrington, J., Black, J., & Tiller, N. (2018). . Annals of Leisure Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, 1-21.
Cherrington, J. (2014). . International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 49 (5), 509-525.
Cherrington, J., & Watson, B. (2010). . Qualitative Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in Sport and Exercise, 2 (2), 267-281.
Book chapters
Cherrington, J. (2024). . In Cherrington, J. (Ed.) Mountain Biking, Culture and Society. Routledge:
Cherrington, J. (2024). . In Cherrington, J. (Ed.) Mountain Biking, Culture and Society. Routledge:
Cherrington, J. (2023). Running away from the taskscape: ultramarathon as ‘dark ecology’. In Nature Sports: Concepts and Practice. Routledge
Cherrington, J., Black, J., & Tiller, N. (2023). . In Melo, R., Van Rheenen, D., & Gammon, S. (Eds.) Nature Sports: Concepts and Practice. Routledge:
Cherrington, J. (2022). . In Leisure Myths and Mythmaking. Routledge:
Cherrington, J. (2022). . In Black, J., & Cherrington, J. (Eds.) Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments. (pp. 129-147). Abingdon: Routledge:
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2022). Introduction. In Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments. (pp. 1-17). Routledge:
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2022). . In Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (Eds.) Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments. (pp. 1-18). Routledge:
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2022). . In Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (Eds.) Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments. (pp. 1-18). Routledge:
Black, J., & Cherrington, J. (2020). . In Glover, T., & Sharpe, E. (Eds.) Leisure and its Communities: Rethinking Mutuality, Collective Expression, and Belonging in the New Century. Routledge
Woodhouse, D., & Cherrington, J. (2018). . In Wilson, R., & Platts, C. (Eds.) Managing and developing community sport. (pp. 30-44). London: Routledge:
Cherrington, J., & Gregory, M. (2017). . In Turner, D., & Carnicelli, S. (Eds.) Lifestyle sports and public policy. (pp. 100-116). London: Routledge:
Cherrington, J. (2015). . In Wellard, I. (Ed.) Ï㽶ÊÓƵing Embodied Sport : Exploring Movement Cultures. (pp. 101-116). London: Routledge:
Books
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (Eds.). (2022). Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments. Routledge.
Cherrington, J. (n.d.). Mountain Biking, Culture and Society. Routledge.
Cherrington, J. (n.d.). Mountain Biking, Culture and Society. Routledge.
Reports
Cherrington, J., Winter, D., Dawes, S., Ross, W., & Twigge, A. (2023). Downhill from here: How climate change threatens cycling as we know it. Protect Our Winters.
Internet Publications
Cherrington, J. (2021). Are e-bikes ruining mountain biking?
Cherrington, J. (2020). Mountain bikers can strengthen the connection between humans, nature and recreational space.
Presentations
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2025). . Presented at: The Sociology, Politics and Human Geography Seminar Series, Sheffield, UK, 2025
Cherrington, J. (2024). E-Mountain Bikes, Disability and Green Exercise: A Stieglerian Analysis. Presented at: Leisure Studies 2024, Paisley, Scotland
Cherrington, J. (2024). The Weird and the Eerie in Mountain Bike Landscape Photography. Presented at: Cultures of Mountain Biking (CoMTB) Seminar Series, Online
Cherrington, J. (2024). Understanding the Relationship Between E-MTB, Disability and Green Exercise. Presented at: Reframing MTB, Sheffield
Cherrington, J. (2024). EMTB, Disability and Green Exercise. Presented at: Cultures of Mountain Biking Seminar Series, Online
Cherrington, J. (2023). Mountain Biking, Culture and Society (Book Launch). Presented at: Space and Place Seminar Series, Online
Cherrington, J. (2023). Book Launch: Mountain Biking, Culture and Society Book Launch. Presented at: Space and Place Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Seminar Series, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
Cherrington, J. (2023). The Social, Cultural, and Political Importance of Mountain Biking (Keynote Presentation). Presented at: IMBA Annual Summit, Valposhiavo, Switzerland
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2022). Sport and Physical Activity in Catastrophic Environments (Book Launch). Presented at: Changing Places Seminar Series, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, UK, 2022
Cherrington, J. (2022). The Electric Mountain Bike as Pharmakon: Examining the Problems and Possibilities of an Emerging Technology. Presented at: Whose Body Is it? Sport and the Problem of Autonomy, Aarhus, Denmark
Other publications
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2023). Sport and PA in Catastrophic Environments. The Sport and PA Policy Podcast:
Cherrington, J., & Black, J. (2023). Sport and Nature in Catastrophic Times.
Other activities
- External Examiner: BSc Social Sciences, University of Bedfordshire.
- External Examiner: BA Business and Enterprise in Sport, Edinburgh Napier University
- Editorial Board Member: Sociology of Sport Journal
- Reviews Editor for The History, Culture and Sociology of Sports speciality section in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.
Postgraduate supervision
I am interested in offering PhD supervision for topics related to outdoor recreation; cultural studies; and social studies of technology.
- Adesola Abiodun - 'Effects of Recreational Sports on Neuromotor Fitness of Adults with Neurological Conditions' .
- Shanglin Li - 'Construction of Chinese Naturalised Athletes Cultural and National Identity Across Chinese Social Media.
- Hannah Reynolds, 'A Critical Analysis of E-Mountain Biking in The Third Age'.
- Victory Oforji, 'Investigating the Racial Discrimination and Bullying of Marginalized Student Nurses'