Dr Damion Sturm staff profile picture

Contact details +6492136263

Dr Damion Sturm PhD,

Senior Lecturer

Doctoral Co-Supervisor
School of Management and Marketing

Sturm's current projects are probing an array of sport, media, management and event topics, inclusive of the aura and performance of celebrity, the global sports spectacle, affective audience assemblages, sport and sustainability, commercially-laden media proliferation,  sponsorship, promotional and branding cultures, and complementary digital/social media platforms and their impact and influences across sport, leisure, and events.

Future projects will include analyses of:

  • Sustainabilty and Greenwashing
  • Technological Innovations
  • Mega Events
  • Sport and Entertainment Industries
  • Sport Media Cultures
  • National and Global Sport Stars
  • Fan Cultures
  • Nationalism and Globalisation

Sturm's research has explored how the media and commerce construct, shape and represent sport, events and individuals, while continuing to trace the impact of technological innovations in television, digital media and other tools/technologies such as video games, social media, esports and big data on specific sports, industries, individuals and events.

Professional Links:

Executive Board - Australian and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies (ANZALS) - Membership Engagement Manager 

Regional Editor (Australia and New Zealand) - Leisure Studies Journal

Associate Editor - Sport in Society Journal

Editorial Board - Celebrity Studies Journal

Member - Australian and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies (ANZALS)

Damion Sturm joined Massey University as a Senior Lecturer in Sport Management in July 2018. Sturm specialises in sport sociology, sport events, sustainability, sport management and global sport media cultures. He recently co-edited books on Formula One and Motorsport (2023) and Sport in New Zealand (2022), as well as having other publications that focus on sustainabilty, greenwashing, sportswashing, stardom, fandom and media technologies across an array of sporting examples and events (such as motorsport, cricket, rugby league, rugby and the America's Cup).

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Professional

Contact details

  • Location: 3.06, Quad B
    Campus: Albany, Auckland

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy - University of Waikato (2010)

Fellowships and Memberships

  • Member, Higher Education Academy (Fellow) (2018)

Certifications and Registrations

  • Licence, Co-Supervisor, Massey University

Research Expertise

Research Interests

Sport media, technologies and innovations; sport sociology; sport management; event management; sport and sustainability; stardom, celebrity and persona; audiences and fan cultures; greenwashing and sportswashing; leisure studies; promotional cultures; affect; gender and representation; nationalism and globalisation; sport ethnographies; crisis communication

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Commerce, Management, Tourism And Services (150000): Commercial Services (150400):
Communication and Media Studies (200100):
Communications Technologies (100500):
Consumption and Everyday Life (200203): Cultural Studies (200200): Languages, Communication And Culture (200000): Screen and Media Culture (200212):
Sociology (160800):
Sport and Leisure Management (150404):
Studies In Human Society (160000):
Technology (100000):
Tourism (150600)

Keywords

Sport media, technologies and innovations; sport sociology; sport management; sport events; sport and sustainability; stardom, celebrity and persona; audiences and fan cultures; greenwashing and sportswashing; leisure studies; promotional cultures; affect; gender and representation; nationalism and globalisation; sport ethnographies; crisis communication

Research Outputs

Journal

Bancroft, K., & Sturm, D. (2025). Exploring Gender Inequality
 in Formula One: Women as ‘Anomalies’
and ‘Outsiders’ in Engineering, Mechanical and Manufacturing Roles. International Journal of Sport Management. 26(4), 433-467 Retrieved from https://internationaljournalofsportmanagement.com/exploring-gender-inequality-in-formula-one-women-as-anomalies-and-outsiders-in-engineering-mechanical-and-manufacturing-roles/
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., Andrews, DL., Miller, T., & Bustad, J. (2025). Green light or black flag? Greenwashing environmental sustainability in Formula One and Formula E. Annals of Leisure Research. 28(1), 116-135
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2024). Book Review: Vidya Subramanian, Speeding up Sport: Technology and the Indian Premier League. South Asia Research. 44(2), 267-270Retreived from https://doi.org/10.1177/02627280241233684
[Book Review]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Fletcher, T., Sturm, D., & Malcolm, D. (2024). A ‘cannibalised’ cricket event? Mediatisation, innovation and The Hundred. Leisure Studies. 43(1), 31-46
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., Kavanagh, T., & Rinehart, RE. (2021). They are not ‘Team New Zealand’ or the ‘New Zealand’ Warriors! An exploration of pseudo-nationalism in New Zealand sporting franchises. Sport in Society. 24(11), 2019-2035
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2021). From idyllic past-time to spectacle of accelerated intensity: televisual technologies in contemporary cricket. Sport in Society. 24(8), 1305-1321
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2020). Fans as e-participants? Utopia/dystopia visions for the future of digital sport fandom. Convergence. 26(4), 841-856
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2019). ‘I dream of Genie’: Eugenie Bouchard’s ‘body’ of work on Facebook. Celebrity Studies. 10(4), 583-587
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., & Rinehart, RE. (2018). Home of (or for?) Champions? The Politics of High-Performance/Elite and Community sport at New Zealand’s Home of Cycling. Leisure Sciences. 40(7), 711-722
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Kerr, R., & Sturm, D. (2019). Moving Beyond “Insider or Outsider”: The Ethnographic Challenges of Researching Elite Sport Facilities in New Zealand. Qualitative Inquiry. 25(9-10), 1137-1147
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2015). Playing with the autoethnographical: Performing and re-presenting the fan's voice. Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies. 15(3), 213-223
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2015). Smash and Bash cricket? Affective technological innovations in the Big Bash. Media International Australia. (155), 80-88
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2015). 'Fluid Spectator-Tourists': Innovative Televisual Technologies, Global Audiences and the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Comunicazioni Sociali. (2), 230-240
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2014). Digital Media Sport: Technology, Power and Culture in the Network Society. MEDIA INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA. (152), 196-196
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
Sturm, DC. (2014). Book Review: Gender and Genre in Sports Documentaries: Critical Essays. Studies in Documentary Film. 8(2), 172-174Retreived from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17503280.2014.913335
[Book Review]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC. (2014). Book Review: 'Digital media sport: Technology, power and culture in the network society'. Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy. (152), 196-196Retreived from http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=568576301578580;res=IELLCC
[Book Review]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., & McKinney, A. (2013). Affective hyper-consumption and immaterial labors of love: Theorizing sport fandom in the age of new media. Participations: journal of audience and reception studies. 10(1), 357-362 Retrieved from http://www.participations.org/Volume%2010/Issue%201/19%20Sturm%20&%20McKinney%2010.1.pdf
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., & Lealand, G. (2012). Evoking ‘New Zealandness’: Representations of nationalism during the 2011 (New Zealand) Rugby World Cup. New Zealand Journal of Media Studies. 13(2), 46-65 Retrieved from https://medianz.otago.ac.nz/medianz/issue/view/6
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2011). Masculinities, affect and the (re)place(ment) of stardom in Formula One fan leisure practices. Annals of Leisure Research. 14(2-3), 224-241
[Journal article]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Book

Sturm, D. (2026). A Fatal Formula? Formula One, Sportswashing and the Staging of Events in the Middle East. In P. English, & X. Ramon (Eds.) Sportswashing: Global perspectives on the politics of promotion. (pp. 121 - 136). Champaign: Palgrave McMillian
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2024). From idyllic past-time to spectacle of accelerated intensity: televisual technologies in contemporary cricket. In S. Naha, & D. Malcolm (Eds.) Cricket in the 21st Century. : Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., Kavanagh, T., & Rinehart, RE. (2024). They are not ‘Team New Zealand’ or the ‘New Zealand’ Warriors! An exploration of pseudo-nationalism in New Zealand sporting franchises. In S. Whigham (Ed.) Sport and Nationalism: Theoretical Perspectives. (pp. 181 - 197). London, United Kingdom: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2023). The ‘Star in the Car’: Formula One Stardom, Driver Agency and Celebrity Culture. In D. Sturm, S. Wagg, & DL. Andrews (Eds.) The History and Politics of Motor Racing: Lives in the Fast Lane. (pp. 519 - 556). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2023). Formula One as Television. In D. Sturm, S. Wagg, & DL. Andrews (Eds.) The History and Politics of Motor Racing: Lives in the Fast Lane. (pp. 387 - 411). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., Wagg, S., & Andrews, DL. (2023). Introduction. In D. Sturm, S. Wagg, & DL. Andrews (Eds.) The History and Politics of Motor Racing: Lives in the Fast Lane. (pp. 1 - 20). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., Wagg, S., & Andrews, DL. (Eds.) (2023). The History and Politics of Motor Racing: Lives in the Fast Lane. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
[Edited Book]Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2023). Processes of Greenwashing, Virtue Signalling, and Sportwashing in Contemporary Formula One: Formula Façade?. In HE. Næss, & S. Chadwick (Eds.) The Future of Motorsports: Business, Politics and Society. (pp. 167 - 182). Adingdon, United Kingdom and New York, United States of America: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Bradbury, P., Batty, R., & Sturm, D. (2022). Event Management. In R. López de D'Amico (Ed.) El Libro de la Gerencia Deportiva. : Kinesis
[Chapter]Authored by: Batty, R., Sturm, D.
Sturm, D., & Kobayashi, K. (2022). Global/local celebrity and national sport stardom: Examining Sonny Bill Williams, Brendon McCullum and Lydia Ko. In D. Sturm, & R. Kerr (Eds.) Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand: Contested Terrain. (pp. 119 - 132). Abingdon, United Kingdom, and New York, United States of America: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Jackson, S., & Sturm, D. (2022). Advertising, branding and corporate nationalism: The contested terrain of the Aotearoa New Zealand All Blacks. In D. Sturm, & R. Kerr (Eds.) Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand: Contested Terrain. (pp. 19 - 30). https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003034445-3/advertising-branding-corporate-nationalism-steve-jackson-damion-sturm: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Kerr, R., & Sturm, D. (2022). Introduction. In D. Sturm, & R. Kerr (Eds.) Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand: Contested Terrain. (pp. 1 - 6). Abingdon, United Kingdom, and New York, United States of America: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., & Kerr, R. (Eds.) (2021). Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand: Contested Terrain. London, United Kingdom: Routledge
[Edited Book]Edited by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., & Rinehart, R. (2021). Home of (or for?) Champions? The Politics of High-Performance/Elite and Community sport at New Zealand’s Home of Cycling. In R. Dunlap, J. Harmon, & J. Rose (Eds.) The Politics of Leisure. : Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D., Kerr, R., Rinehart, RE., & Espiner, S. (2020). Pipe-dreams and utopian visions: blending community and high performance sport in New Zealand cycling and gymnastics. In T. Glover, & EK. Sharpe (Eds.) Leisure Communities: Rethinking Mutuality, Collective Identity and Belonging in the New Century. (pp. 147 - 157). London, United Kingdom: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2019). Not your average sunday driver: The formula 1 esports series world championship. In Understanding Esports an Introduction to the Global Phenomenon. (pp. 153 - 166).
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2018). Formula E's 'green' challenge to motorsport events, spaces and technologies: The London e-prix as a case study. In Green Events and Green Tourism an International Guide to Good Practice. (pp. 145 - 153).
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2018). Macho Madness and the Mania (“Oh Yeaaaah, Dig It!”): Mediatization, Masculinities and Affective Memories of WWF’s Halcyon Days (c. 1984–1993). In AD. Horton (Ed.) Identity in Professional Wrestling Essays on Nationality, Race and Gender. (pp. 270 - 288). Jefferson, North Carolina, United States of America: McFarland and Company, Inc, Publishers
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2017). The Monaco Grand Prix AND Indianapolis 500: Projecting European glamour and global Americana. In Sport Media and Mega Events. (pp. 170 - 184).
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2015). ‘Elitist aesthetics: Extreme metal fans as taste-makers and gate-keepers’. In SA. Wilson (Ed.) Music at the Extremes Essays on Sounds Outside the Mainstream. (pp. 13 - 29). North Carolina: McFarland
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2014). A glamorous and high-tech global spectacle of speed: Formula One motor racing as mediated, global and corporate spectacle. In Sports Events Society and Culture. (pp. 68 - 82).
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC. (2013). Motorvehicle sports: Formula One racing. In D. Levinson, & G. Pfister (Eds.) Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport. (pp. 830 - 837). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
Fleming, D., & Sturm, D.(2011). Media, Masculinities, and the Machine: F1, Transformers, and Fantasizing Technology at its Limits.
[Authored Book]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Fleming, D., & Sturm, D.(2011). Media, Masculinities, and the Machine F1, Transformers, and Fantasizing Technology at Its Limits. New York: Continuum
[Authored Book]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC. (2008). ‘Omigod it’s Russell Crowe’: South Park’s assault on celebrity. In J. Weinstock (Ed.) Taking South Park Seriously. (pp. 209 - 225). New York: SUNY
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC. (2007). Motorvehicle sports: Formula One racing. In D. Booth, & H. Thorpe (Eds.) Berkshire Encyclopedia of Extreme Sport. (pp. 204 - 209). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire
[Chapter]Authored by: Sturm, D.

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Conference

Sturm, D. (2025, December). Sustainable entertainment? SailGP and the greenwashing of ecological blue spaces and vulnerable species in New Zealand. Presented at Australian and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies Conference. Sydney.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D.‘Glitz, Glamour and Razzmatazz’: Sport Entertainment and the ‘Americanisation’ of Formula One. . Christchurch
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2024). ‘Glitz, Glamour and Razzmatazz’: Sport Entertainment and the ‘Americanisation’ of Formula One. In Abstracts of papers presented at the 2024 conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research IAMCR 2024: Media, Communication and Sport Section(pp. 12 - 13). , International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference 2024: Whiria te tāngata - Weaving People Together Christchurch, New Zealand: International Association for Media and Communication Research
[Conference Abstract]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2023). A precarious future for the Commonwealth Games?. In Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies (ANZALS) 30th Anniversary Conference Leisure for Life(pp. 78 - 78). , Australian and New Zealand Associa�on for Leisure Studies (ANZALS) 30th Anniversary Conference: Leisure for Life Auckland, New Zealand: School of Hospitality and Tourism, Auckland University of Technology
[Conference Abstract]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2019, December). Am I watching the NRL, BBL or KFC? The colonel, commodification and Australian sport. Presented at Australia and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies. Queenstown.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D. (2019, April). The ‘Anna Kournikova effect’: The antecedents and hyper-sexualisation of female sport stars. Presented at World Congress of Sociology of Sport (International Sociology of Sport Assocation - ISSA). Dunedin.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, D.‘Dream Big New Zealand’? Re-framing New Zealand through popular and promotional representations of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC., & Kerr, R. (2016, July). Moving beyond ‘insider or outsider’: The ethnographic challenges of researching elite sport facilities in New Zealand. Presented at Leisure Studies Association Conference. Liverpool, United Kingdom.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.New Zealand cricket’s ‘Captain-Hero’?: Brendon McCullum, the ‘BMac’ persona and national representations of sport stardom.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.Pierced from Within: Reflexivity, performativity and affective intensities within extreme metal fandom.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.‘New Zealand’s “Captain Courageous”: The persona, performances and performativity of Brendon McCullum’.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.Home of or for champions? – Reflections on high performance/elite sport and community relations at New Zealand’s Home of Cycling.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
Sturm, DC.An Open Home? – Reflecting on place, space and user experiences at the Avantidrome Home of Cycling.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.Smashing and bashing as affective commodity-spectacle? Televisual technologies in the Australian T20 Cricket Big Bash League.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.‘A Vulgar Picture? Ethnographic explorations of Extreme metal music fandom’.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.Playing with the Autoethnographical: Performing and Re-Presenting the Fan’s Voice.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Sturm, DC.Sport Stardom and the Professional Manufacturing of Commodified Celebrity Images.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Sturm, D.
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Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Statement

Specialised teaching on Sport Management degree

I strive to be an enthusiastic, interactive and approachable lecturer who seeks to make connections between abstract theories, appropriate case studies and integrate relatable practices from the everyday lives of students.

Classes are designed to be a mixture of innovation, information and entertainment.

As such, student interest and engagment is vital. Student feedback, examples and their application of the ideas and concepts enliven class content and discussions.

Furthermore, as much as possible, classes are driven by my own research-informed teaching as much of what I teach I also conduct research on.

Contact Supervisor

Graduate Supervision Statement

As a supervisor, I seek to support and inspire, nurturing an inquisitive mind while providing some of the academic tools to furnish potential success. Ideally through my supervisory approach, students are inspired to learn, inquire, critically engage and succeed during their studies and beyond.

My prime areas of knowledge and expertise are in the realm of sport (see my research profile and publications).

I also have interests in other areas such as sustainability, technology, audiences, promotions, celebrity, events, tourism and crisis.

I am happy to supervise other topics, as I have often done, with the understanding by the student that the topic area is not my specialist area.


Dr Damion Sturm is available for Masters and Doctorial supervision.

Media and Links