Faculty Feature: Meet Corey Johnson
Corey Johnson was named the Karla A. Henderson Distinguished Professor, the first funded distinguished professorship in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at NC State’s College of Natural Resources.
Johnson came to NC State from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, where he was a professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. He teaches courses on inclusive social justice, recreation, gender and sexuality, qualitative research methods, and the philosophy of science.
The Road from Ohio to Ontario
Where were you born? Where have you lived?
I was born and grew up in a small town called Germantown, just South of Dayton, Ohio. I have lived in Bowling Green, Ohio; Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greenville; Asheville, Waynesville, North Carolina; Athens, Georgia; Long Beach, California; Waterloo, Ontario.
What were your favorite subjects in school?
My teachers always said I should major in extra-curricular activities. I hated school. History was likely my favorite subject, that and the cooking portion of Home Economics.
How did you decide to study Education at Bowling Green?
Interestingly, I had a theatre scholarship and started out as a theatre major. When I decided I did not want to “starve” for the craft or be a notable celebrity or work on the set, I changed to performing arts management. Unfortunately, that program closed, so I followed the “coolest” prof over to Recreation and Leisure Studies keeping an emphasis on the performing arts.
What led you to pursue a Masters in Recreation Administration at UNC Chapel Hill?
I had been working as the Coordinator for Performing Arts and Facilities for Duke University and decided that the work world could wait. I missed being a student, so I decided to go back to grad school. After comparing the costs of tuition between Duke and Carolina, well, let’s just say I chose the more affordable option. Little did I know I would end up studying with the legends of my field.
Looking for a Leader in Leisure
After studying with Karla Henderson and Deborah Bialeschki, two notable feminist and qualitative leisure scholars, Johnson wanted to maintain that line of thinking and training. Raised by an independent single mother, he knew he responded best to women in leadership.
“As I looked for those qualifications in a supervisor, I was hard pressed to find anyone better than Diane Samdahl who was working at the University of Georgia (UGA),” said Johnson. “I wanted a program that would give me the flexibility to earn additional credentials outside of recreation and leisure, so I started with Women’s Studies.”
How did Women’s Studies influence your research?
When I started in Women’s Studies at UGA, women were viewing men’s participation in feminism in general and in women’s studies classes specifically with a lot of scrutiny — and for good reason. It was my entre in moving from studying my own place on the margins as gay, to understanding all my privilege as a man, cisgender, white, able-bodied, educated, man etc.
“As I was completing that certificate program, the university department introduced a certificate in qualitative research. I had taken most of these classes already, so while completing my dissertation, I was able to earn that certification too,” he said.
Johnson was thrilled to return to UGA many years later as a faculty member in Recreation and Leisure Studies, while also teaching courses in both Women’s Studies and Qualitative Research. In 2014, he helped start the first doctoral program in Qualitative Research in North America.
Waterloo. How Could He Ever Refuse?
After the Recreation and Leisure Studies program at UGA was closed in 2012, Johnson focused on Qualitative Research and began to miss his disciplinary home and professional network. In 2014, the University of Waterloo, a global leader in the field, began recruiting for a full professor who did the kind of theoretical and methodological work that Johnson did.
During his time at the University of Waterloo, Johnson coordinated several regional and international qualitative inquiry-focused workshops and retreats. He most recently appeared on the 42nd episode of the official NVivo podcast Between the Data to discuss his book, “Fostering Social Justice through Qualitative Inquiry.”
Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, Johnson spent nine years at the University of Georgia and three years at California State University, Long Beach. After earning his Bachelor of Science in Education from Bowling Green State University, Johnson earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in Leisure Studies from the University of Georgia. While in Georgia, Johnson was instrumental in founding the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition, which focused on the prevention of bullying and other harms toward queer youth, youth of color, youth experiencing homelessness, and other youth whose identity and difference made them targets of assault and harassment.
Looking at Inclusion and Exclusion in Leisure
As a young gay man, Johnson became interested in the inclusionary and exclusionary aspects of his own leisure activities and eventually the leisure experiences of others.
What drew you to study power relations between populations?
“The systemic and invisible oppression experienced by others moved me to want to understand how culture perpetuates that,” said Johnson. “I believed the answers couldn’t be found among simple majority/minority relations, but instead by looking at tin those of us in power. The readings of theorists like Michelle Foucault, Judith Butler, Audre Lorde, Sarah Amhad, and many others continued to reinforce this direction for me.”
Johnson’s current research focuses on the power relations between dominant (white, male, heterosexual, etc.) and non-dominant populations in the cultural contexts of leisure. His work provides important insight into both the privileging and discriminatory practices that occur in contemporary leisure settings and is complementary to both classroom instruction and professional service.
What are some examples of how your work shows up in contemporary leisure settings?
“Increasingly, geo-social networking applications are being used not just for seeking out sexual and romantic partners, but as a leisure activity – a game to play,” said Johnson. “Tinder’s signature swiping function is an example of how apps are gamifying the act of meeting people. While this gamification is great for user engagement and company profits, it introduces a layer of dehumanization to each of the interactions happening in the app.”
Johnson and his colleagues are finding dating apps to be rife with discriminatory and uncivil behavior, much of which is enabled by the structure of the app interface itself, but also reflects the problematic sexual and gender norms that form the context in which dating apps are developed and used. See this CODER video: Dehumanization on
dating apps: digital infrastructures and social contexts.
Beyond the Classroom
What can you tell us about yourself and your family?
I am married to Yancey, my brilliant husband of 20+ years. He is a faculty member at Western Carolina University teaching in higher education and student affairs. We absolutely love dogs and our current one is a French Bulldog named Sedgwick (after Eve).
What are your hobbies?
I love to camp and hike. I have over 500 miles clocked on the Appalachian Trail and I plan on hiking the El Camino in the future. I was supposed to spend five weeks hiking across Spain and Portugal in 2020, but then COVID. I like to cook. I meditate twice a day, do yoga several times a week and am learning to read Tarot cards. Oh, I can also walk on footer stilts.
Favorite podcasts, shows, music?
I especially love live music. My favorite musicians include Jennifer Nettles, Pink, Brandi Carlisle, the Indigo Girls, Maren Morris, and Little Big Town. I am also a big fan of Lil Nas, Lizzo, John Mayer, Guns and Roses, Martin Garreix, Avicci, Ed Sheran, Years & Years, and so many more. I’m currently watching Evil, House of Dragon, Reboot, and Dahmer.
Favorite movies include Pitch Perfect 1 and 3, followed by Bring it On, Finding Neverland, and Halloween.
My favorite television program of all time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.