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ePortfolios

ePortfolio of Sol Wolfers

Profile

I am a 4th year PhD Candidate at the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick researching sports discourse, identity construction and the multiple uses and functions of humour.

I am currently working on a research project supervised by Dr Kieran File and Dr Stephanie Schnurr. My research focuses on the relationship between team cohesion and communication in elite and professional football teams from Germany. I aim to gain a better understanding of how team cohesion is discursively negotiated and (co-)constructed among the members of the football team. Here, I focus on the multiple uses and functions of humour.

My research is funded by German foundation Cusanuswerk.

Research Interests
  • Interactional Sociolinguistics
  • Professional Communication
  • Team Communication

  • Sports Discourse
  • Identity Construction
  • Humour use and function
  • Racialised Discourse
  • Sexualised Discourse
  • Gender Relations
Research Groups and Memberships
  • Sports Culture and Communication Research Collective (SCCRC) – University of Warwick, UK.
  • International Pragmatics Association (iPrA) – University of Antwerp, Belgium.
  • The Football Collective.
  • International Gender and Language Association (IGALA) – University of California, Berkeley.
Previous Degrees
  • MSc, Intercultural Communication for Business and the Professions, University of Warwick, UK.
  • BA, Cultural Anthropology and Italian, Universität Hamburg, Germany.
Publications
  • Wolfers, S. (2019). "Dude just draw the racist card!" Self-directed racialized humor as in-group marker among migrant players in a professional football team. Manuscript submitted for publication.
  • Wolfers, S., File, K. & Schnurr, S. (2017). ‘‘Just because he's black’’: Identity construction and racial humour in a German U-19 football team. Journal of Pragmatics, 112, 83-96.
  • Clayton, D. & Wolfers, S. (2017, November 2). Banter, racism and acculturation: Intercultural dynamics in team sports [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://sietar.co.uk/wordpress/?p=1076&preview=1&_ppp=f695c67cf7
Conference Presentations
2019
  • International Conference on Verbal Humour (CIHV2019), Alicante, Spain, 23-25 October 2019: "Learning the limits of appropriateness: Failed humour among members of a professional football team and its impact on group membership."
2018
  • Opening Keynote: 3rd Annual Conference of The Football Collective, Glasgow, Scotland, 29-30 November 2018: "Challenging the status quo – the positioning of female researchers in the footballing world".
  • Cusanuswerk Graduiertentagung: “XX/XY ungelöst. Geschlechteridentitäten und Rollenerwartungen“, Cusanuswerk, Germany, 1-7 October 2018: “Female researchers in masculine dominated contexts. A case study of German professional football”.
  • British Sociological Association Sport Study Group Postgraduate Forum: Sporting Identities, Careers and Opportunities, Durham University, England, 7 September 2018: ""Are you the Black who can't dance?" – Identity construction and racial humour in German professional and elite football."
  • 10th International Gender and Language Association Conference (IGALA 10), Gaborone, Botswana, 20-22 June 2018: ""At last - something pleasing to the eye!" - Experiences of a female researcher looking into male professional and elite football."
  • ZfA International Conference, Berlin, Germany, 11-13 April 2018: ""Did You Have Yummy Cats for Breakfast?" - Racial Humour in German Professional and Elite Football"
2017
  • 2nd Annual Conference of The Football Collective, Limerick, Ireland, 23-24 November 2017: "Dealing with racial stereotypes in German professional and elite football. What discourse analysis can contribute."
  • 15th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA2017), Belfast, Northern Ireland, 16-21 July 2017: ""Just because he's black". Racial Humour and Identity Construction in a German U-19 football team."
  • 20th Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics (WICAL), Coventry, England, 27-29 June 2017: "Racial Humour and Identity Construction in a German U-19 football team"
Invited talks & guest lectures
  • Wolfers, S. (20 November 2018). Understanding race and gender in sociolinguistic research – An ethnographic study of a German professional football club. BA seminar, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
  • Wolfers, S. (19 November 2018). About 'Blacks who can't dance' and 'being something pleasing to the eye' – Racialised and gendered discourse in a German professional football team. Linguistics Colloquium, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
  • Wolfers, S. & Clayton, D. (16 November 2017). Banter, Racism & Acculturation: Intercultural dynamics in team sports. SIETAR UK, London, England.
Consultancy
  • Wolfers, S. (18 September 2019). Team cohesion & sports teams: How team members negotiate cohesion through humour. Workshop as part of a one-day symposium on applying linguistics to sports coaching for coach developers of UK Coaching hosted by the SCCRC, University of Warwick, Coventry, England.
Other activities
  • Awarded "SSLC of the Year" in the Students Union (SU) Representation Awards, University of Warwick (2018)
  • Nomination "SSLC Chair of the Year Award" and "SSLC of the Year Award" in the Students Union (SU) Representation Awards, University of Warwick (2018)
  • Chair of Student Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC), University of Warwick (2017-2018)
  • #WeGetConsent Ambassador, SU, University of Warwick (2017-2018)
  • Postgraduate Ambassador, University of Warwick (2017-2018)
  • Organising committee member, Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics (WICAL), University of Warwick (2017)
Media
Profile Photo

Solvejg Wolfers

S.Wolfers@warwick.ac.uk