About

samantha white, phd.

I am an Assistant Professor of Sport Studies at Manhattanville University. From 2024-2025, I was held a fellowship through the Nielsen Center for the Liberal Arts. In 2024, I was named a Trailblazer in Higher Education by City and State New York. I also recently received the Diversity Recognition Award for Emerging and Non-Traditional Scholars from the North American Society for Sport History.

My work can be found in Sports Through the Lens: Essays on 25 Iconic Photographs, Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, the Journal for Sport History, Aethlon: Journal of Sport Literature, and Women’s Running. I am currently working on a book titledThe Athletic Lives of Black Girls: Sport, Community, and Religion in the Jim Crow North (under contract with the University of Illinois Press).

My insights on sport, outdoor recreation, and physical activity can be found in interviews in media outlets such as The New York Times and NPR about sports, running, and outdoor recreation. I have also worked with major sports brands on various social impact and DEI projects.

An avid runner and hiker, I currently serve as chair of the Board of Black Girls Hike. I am currently an advisory board member for the Running Industry Diversity Coalition’s study on BIPOC participation in trail running. I also previously served as an advisor for The North Face’s Athlete Development Program.

I received my PhD in Childhood Studies from Rutgers University-Camden, my MEd in Youth Development Leadership from the University of Minnesota, and my BA in French from Clark Atlanta University. During the 2020-2021 year, I was a SUNY PRODiG Fellow/Visiting Scholar in Gender and Women’s Studies and Africana Studies at SUNY Plattsburgh. I am also a graduate of the International Summer School for Young Researchers through the International Council for Sport Science and Physical Education.