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Headshot of Aimee Vlachos

Aimee Vlachos, Ed.D., CPRP

Assistant Teaching Professor

Location

Decary Hall 309a
Biddeford Campus
Eligible for Student Opportunities

While attending Western State College of Colorado for my undergraduate degree, my passion for outdoor recreation blossomed. I was fortunate that the recreation classes I completed included a number of field work experiences. This included: ice climbing up frozen waterfalls, building winter snow caves at the top of a 16,000 foot mountain, river rafting through the Grand Canyon, and planning skateboard contests.

 

I have been teaching sport management courses for the past 14 years and have experience instructing at Southern Maine Community College, Southern New Hampshire University, and Daniel Webster College. The courses that I have taught include: Introduction to Sport Management, Foundations of Sport, Facility Management, Sports Law, Economics & Finance in Sport, Sports Information, Sport Governance, Athletic & Sport Administration, Sports Marketing, Seminar in Sport, Research Methods, Eco-Recreation, Eco-Planning & Policy, and Sustainability & Eco-Tourism.

 

In addition to my education and teaching experience, I also the owned a recreation business for 12 years and am a non-profit executive director. I am the founder and executive director of Wahine Kai International (www.wahinekai.org) and the goal of the 501(c)7 is to promote amateur women's surfing across the country and soon around the world. We have chapters set up across the country and we currently have 250 paid members. I am very proud of what we have accomplished over the past 15 years. 

 

My research focuses on gender inequality in alternative sports. It is the idea that women feel "less than" men while participating in sports such as surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding and why this happens that interests me. 

Credentials

Education

B.A. in Business Administration
Western University of Colorado
2001
M.S. Recreation Administration
California State University
2009
Ed.D. Sports Management (Concentration in Sports Marketing)
United States Sports Academy
2019

Expertise

  • Gender and sports
  • Gender issues
  • Sport tourism

Clinical Affiliations

(, Maine)

Post-Doctoral Training

,
(, )

Research

Research interests

My research focuses on gender inequality in alternative sports. I am particularly interested in understanding women’s surfing experiences and how these have changed with the increased popularity in the sport of surfing. My research aims to assess whether an alternative sport, such as surfing, is gender-inclusive and whether dominant groups in sports often receive privilege and are actively trying to protect their members. With surfing being an individual sport, postmodern feminism puts the responsibility for change in the hands of the woman surfer.