UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Jaime Schultz, assistant professor of kinesiology at Penn State, has published a book, titled "Qualifying Times: Points of Change in U.S. Women's Sport." The book explores U.S. women's sports through historical "points of change" -- particular products or trends that dramatically influenced both women's participation in sports and cultural responses to women athletes. The book became available for purchase March 15.Beginning with the seemingly innocent ponytail, the subject of the book's introduction, Schultz challenges the reader to look at the historical and sociological significance of now-common items -- such as sports bras and tampons -- and ideas -- such as sex testing and competitive cheerleading. She posits that while some of these points of change increased women's physical freedom and sporting participation, they also posed challenges. Ultimately, she finds that U.S. women's sports have progressed significantly but ambivalently.
Schultz's research generally focuses on issues of sex, gender and sexuality in women’s sports and physical culture. She also investigates racial politics and cultural memory.
Schultz joined the faculty of the Department of Kinesiology at Penn State in 2010. She also is an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Women's Studies. From 2006 to 2010, she was an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish at Luther College in 1996, a master's degree in psychology of sport at the University of Iowa in 1999 and a doctorate in cultural studies of sport at the University of Iowa in 2005.
In 2012-13, Schultz received a Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State. She is an assistant editor for the Journal of Sport History and a section editor for the Journal of Sport History. She also serves on the editorial board for the International Journal of the History of Sport and Sport History Review.