Greg Yerashotis, Assistant Professor
Hons. B.A., (Distinction) Sociology, University of Toronto; M.A., Criminology and Socio-legal Studies, University of Toronto, Ph.D., Physical Cultural Studies University of Toronto
Otonabee College 221.9, ext. 7750
gregyerashotis@trentu.ca
Classes I Teach at Trent
- SOCI 4510 – Sociology of Sport and Leisure
- SOCI 4850 – Sociology of the Body
- SOCI 2630 – Sociology of Health and Illness
- SOCI 2430 – Sociology of Gender
- SOCI 2151 – Researching Social Life
- SOCI 1002 – Introduction to Sociology II
Research Interests:
- Sport and Social Inclusion
- Immigrant Integration
- Gender Equity in Sport
- Urban Ethnography
My research interests include:
My research program is focused on assessing – empirically, theoretically, and critically – the capacity of sport to facilitate social inclusion in the lives of marginalized groups. My research on the inclusion-exclusion dynamic in sport can be organized and described through the following four streams:
- Sport and immigrant youth integration
- Gender (in)equity in sport
- ‘Outdoor-focused’ sport-for-development
- Sport Mega Events
How does your research translate into your teaching, both through courses and supervision?
My pedagogical approach has been heavily influenced by my work in sport-based community development initiatives. As a community-engaged educator, I seek to leverage my experiences and contacts in the social service sector to bring the classroom into the community, and the community into the classroom. My academic research on the inclusion-exclusion dynamic in the lives of marginalized youth in Canada, also means I bring a strong social justice focus to all my courses. I am therefore not only interested in teaching about inequality, but also, in helping students explore potential best-practice strategies in attending to it. I encourage active participation of students in all my classes by engaging the group in discussions and debates about pertinent social issues in our society today.
My current or recent projects include:
Currently I am the lead researcher on a study funded by Trent University’s Research Development Grant with my community partner organization, Hijabi Ballers. The goal of the project is to investigate the experiences of Muslim women in community sport, and explore the efficacy of womens-only programming on promoting participation amongst Muslim women in Regent Park, Toronto.
Four publications that exemplify my work:
Yerashotis, G. Social Inclusion Through Soccer in Global Toronto. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026.
Yerashotis, G., B. Gwilliam and S. Darnell. 2025. ‘This experience has changed me and my view:’ the learning experiences of urban youth in outdoor-focused sport- for-development programming, Sport in Society, DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2025.2460490.
DiLisio, A., G. Yerashotis and C. Fusco. ‘Playing in the Shadows of Event-Led Urbanism: Newcomer Youth Neighbourhood Change and TO 2015’ in International Review for the Sociology of Leisure, 2019.
Lynch, M., and G. Yerashotis. ‘Sporting Chancers: Three Canadian Corporations’ Representations of Sport-Based Youth Development’ in International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2017.
What achievements and/or contributions in research are you most proud of?
Academically speaking, my greatest scholarly achievement to date has been the publication of my monograph with Palgrave Macmillan, Social Inclusion Through Soccer in Global Toronto. It represents the culmination of over a decade of working in and writing about community sport in multicultural Canada. My greatest contribution as a community developer has been my advocacy work for gender equity in community sport programming, namely via the creation of girls-only sport spaces with the City of Toronto. I have had two notable moments where I was especially proud as a professional. The first came while co-presenting with 3 young women who took part in these programs at the (2018) Race and Canadian Sport Conference as part of a participatory action approach to sport-for-development research. I was also especially proud to present with my close friend, forester Ben Gwilliam, at the 17th international Conference on Sport and Society in Lillehammer Norway. Here we discussed our recent article, which profiled the Boundless Sport Program, an outdoor-focused sport-for-development initiative we co-created as graduate students at UofT.
Accepting new UG and Graduate student supervisions:
I am able to supervise undergraduate thesis courses and independent reading courses.