Karl Spracklen

Karl Spracklen is currently Professor of Communication Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia. He worked for many years in various roles at Leeds Beckett University, culminating in Professor of Sociology of Leisure and Culture in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Leeds Beckett University. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, published by Springer for Research Committee 13 (Sociology of Leisure) of the International Sociological Association. He was one of the co-founders of the International Society for Metal Music Studies, and the first Principal Editor of its journal Metal Music Studies, published by Intellect. He is an inter-disciplinary scholar with roots in leisure studies, popular music studies and sociology. His main research and teaching interests remain the intersections of communities, identities, inequalities and the meaning and purpose of leisure spaces. He has written hundreds of research outputs, including eight research monographs, edited collections, book chapters, special issues of journals, and journal articles. Most of his research interests – extreme metal, rugby league, subcultures, Scottishness, SF and fantasy fandom, goth culture – drive from his own passion as a fan and a consumer and a tourist; though he is also interested in social justice, the far-right and their presence online, and the new work and the new leisure. His PhD explored the complexities of the imaginary and imagined communities associated with rugby league in the north of England.