Contact Information
M/C 586
Champaign, IL 61820
Research Description
My mission is to use my academic work to improve the lives of people around me through sport and leisure, championing for their role and importance in society, and to ultimately do good through all my efforts. My vision is for my research to explain how organizations can use sport to attain wider objectives of social change and well-being, ultimately leading to the regeneration and empowerment of neglected communities.
I seek to understand various interconnected facets of social change, specifically the transformative role of emotions, cross-cultural interactions, migration, technology, and consumer culture. I address these topics through a multidisciplinary lens. Moreover, I seek to advance qualitative research, with a particular focus on participatory action research and socio-ecological models.
Education
PhD Loughborough University
MSc University of Edinburgh
BA University of Westminster \
Recent Publications
- Norrito, A. (Accepted). Sport and Love: an emotional, socioecological paradigm for the Sport for Development and Peace sector. Sport in Society. IF 1.7
- Norrito, A., & Cheng, B. (2025). Sport B Corps and the Paradox of ‘Change Consumption’: Navigating Profit, Purpose, and Privilege. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. (aop) https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-02-2025-5240 IF 2.9
- Norrito, A., & Michelini, E. (2025). Understanding cross-cultural interactions and diversity in professional sports organizations: the case of football and forced migration in Germany and Italy. European Sport Management Quarterly. (aop). https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2025.2543027 IF 3.7
- Norrito, A., & Todorova, Y. (2025). A practical framework to foster climate action through Sport for Development and Peace. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. (aop) https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1642492 IF 2.6
- Michelini, E., & Norrito, A. (2025). Organised sport in Niamey’s refugee sites: a multilevel analysis of changes between 2019 and 2022. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. (aop). https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2025.2529202 IF 2.8
- Brannagan, P. M., Grix, J., Norrito, A. (2025). Demistifying Sportswashing: an assemblage theory perspective on authoritarian states’ emerging role in global sport. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. (aop). https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481251352321 IF 3.4
- Norrito, A. (2024). Between hope and cruel optimism? The dangers and possibilities of football in fostering hope for male refugees. Leisure Studies. (aop) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02614367.2024.2387027IF 2.4
- Norrito, A., La Cara, R., Sella, A., Giulianotti, R., Mason, C. (2024). Building Bridges in the Mediterranean: Circular Cooperation and Sport for Development and Peace for refugees in Italy. Journal of Sport for Development. 24(5), 1-11. https://jsfd.org/2024/05/21/building-bridges-in-the-mediterranean-circular-cooperation-and-sport-for-development-and-peace-for-refugees-in-italy/ (No IF)
- Norrito, A., Michelini, E., Giulianotti, R., Mason, C. (2024). “Refugee Footballers”: A socioecological exploration of forced migrants in the Italian and German elite football system. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 59(1), 119-138. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902231179071IF 2.6
- Norrito, A., & Mason, C. (2023). Lampedusa, football and COVID-19: transitions at the border and the role of sport. Contemporary Social Science. 18(1), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2022.2155868 IF 3.9