Callie Schultz

Callie Schultz is an Associate Professor at Western Carolina University (WCU), serving as Program Director for the Parks and Recreation Management Program and the Social Justice Minor. She also leads the M.S. Experiential and Outdoor Education Program. Her work bridges critical perspectives on leisure, social justice, and new media. Schultz teaches courses on diversity, leadership, research methods, and global citizenship. She recently secured a grant to implement the Missouri Community Action Network’s Poverty Simulation, engaging over 400 students in empathy-building exercises about poverty. Her research employs qualitative methods to challenge traditional epistemologies in leisure studies.

Education: PhD from the University of Utah (Parks, Recreation, and Tourism), MA from La Trobe University (Outdoor and Environmental Education), and BA from the University of Virginia (Studio Art and Religious Studies).

Research interests focus on leisure and digital media, social justice in leisure spaces, and transmedia subjectivities. Her articles explore topics like A/r/tography, altmetrics, and pandemic impacts on leisure. Collaborations include projects on feminist research methodologies and pandemic-era “momming” behaviors.

Grants and partnerships involve Health & PE faculty and the International Programs and Services Department. Advising and mentoring are central to her role, though specific advisee names are not listed here.

She actively contributes to academic discourse via Wikipedia entries and special journal issues on Digital Leisure Studies.