Matt Ventresca

Academic Projects

Traumatic Brain Injury

I spent over a decade researching the sociocutural dimensions of traumatic brain injury and the "concussion crisis." Following sociological and science and technology studies (STS) perspectives, my work demonstrated how brain injury is as much a social problem as it is a medical or scientific one. This project culminated in my 2025 book, Violent Impacts: How Power and Inequality Shape the Concussion Crisis, which was co-authored with Dr. Kate Henne.

EDI Turn

EDI in Canadian Sports Media

A SSHRC-funded collaboration between scholars at Western, York, and Toronto Metropolitan Universities, our research investigates equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives at Canadian sports media companies. We are interested in both in the quality of media content that falls under the EDI umbrella and behind-the-scenes industry practices. We are assessing strengths and limits of these EDI policies, while collaborating with racialized media workers to co-design recommendations for a more equitable industry.

Text reading The COVID Sports Project in bold black letters, with a baseball and basketball partially visible on the sides, and illustrated virus particles surrounding them on a light background.

The COVID Sports Project

The COVID Sports Project is a hub of online resources examining how sports are intertwined with the social trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic. I created the project with Dr. Mary McDonald as part of our work within the Sports, Society, and Technology Program at Georgia Tech. The website contains an interactive timeline, a podcast series highlighting our original analysis of major issues, and a library of scholarly and popular sources. Our objective for the project was to develop a digital multimedia platform that made critical sociological analysis of the COVID-sport nexus accessible beyond academic spaces.

Two large black speakers on a gray background with a baseball and soccer ball partly visible inside each speaker. Text overlaid in green and white reads: Sound, Sport, and the Digital, with sound wave icons in the Os.

Sound, Sport, and the Digital

This website is home to the work of the Sound, Sport, and the Digital Working Group, a collective of scholars and artists interested in the interconnections between sport, sound, and music---with a special focus on how such connections can be explored through digital modes of sound recording, editing, re-mixing, and sharing. The website hosts full recordings of webinars organized by the working group, as well as a resource library of relevant academic writing, news articles, documentaries, and how-to guides---plus a few playlists of sports songs!

Prescription pills spilled on a table

Painkillers and the Opioid Crisis

I have done extensive research on social and political intersections within the opioid crisis. Working with Dr. Samantha King (Queen's University), this work has focused on the use of prescription painkillers in professional sports. We have investigated how issues of systemic racism and racial capitalism across both pro sports and the pharmaceutical industries have shaped how painkilling drugs are accepted as a necessary technology for athletes - despite their sometimes devastating consequences.

Cannabis Edibles and Youth

This was a CIHR-funded project led by Dr. Charlene Elliott (University of Calgary) that explored Canadian youth perspectives on the national legalization of cannabis. We were specifically interested in what young people thought about cannabis edibles and how they were marketed and packaged, as well as cannabis education campaigns. We made recommendations for policy improvements based on our conversations with young people, but also demonstrated how cannabis products and educational materials communicate social values about drug use in Canada.