Seven faculty members will leverage Syracuse University’s study away locations for research and program development this summer, supported by funding from the Office of Academic Affairs.
The Study Away Summer Awards initiative, launched this year, provides full-time faculty members with $10,000 for high-impact summer projects based in Los Angeles, New York City or Washington, D.C.
“These faculty members will chart new territory, using study away sites to push disciplinary and interdisciplinary research forward, forge partnerships across sectors and reimagine how students learn,” says Elisa Dekaney, associate provost for strategic initiatives. “We are excited to see the new initiatives that grow out of these summer projects.”
The faculty members from the Falk College of Sport that are recipients of the grant are as follows:
Los Angeles
Gina Pauline, associate professor of sport management, and Scott Tainsky, senior associate dean and professor of sport management in the David B. Falk College of Sport, plan to develop two new interdisciplinary courses and advance a growing research agenda. The first course, Sport Business, Hip Hop and Fashion, will examine the commercial and cultural intersections of sport, hip hop and the global fashion economy, using LA’s streetwear ecosystem and athlete-driven enterprises as living case studies. The second, Venue Hospitality: Sport Facilities as Engines of Experience, will use LA’s facility landscape—including the Intuit Dome, SoFi Stadium and Crypto.com Arena—to explore the idea of modern sport venues as hospitality enterprises. The pair will meet with venue directors and industry professionals to generate curriculum content, confirm guest lecturers and support Falk College’s newly funded research partnership with a leading stadium technology company.
The courses, which Pauline and Tainsky plan to launch next spring, will be designed for sustained industry engagement through recurring guest speaker infrastructure and applied student projects, while the relationships developed in LA will be expanded into internship and capstone opportunities for sport management undergraduates.
New York City
Kerianne Rubenstein, assistant professor of sport analytics in Falk College, will begin building the groundwork for a repeatable women’s sports analytics study away program that will be centered on the city’s concentrated women’s professional sports ecosystem and emphasize city-specific partnerships, hands-on student experiences and exclusive data access. She will conduct exploratory meetings with leadership at organizations including WNBA headquarters, NWSL headquarters, Gotham FC, the New York Liberty and the New York Sirens, as well as with sports analytics firms and women’s sports media companies.
Rubenstein plans to establish relationships with multiple organizational partners, secure letters of intent or MOUs, complete a feasibility report and develop a draft curriculum and syllabus informed directly by industry input. She envisions the program generating a network of industry partners committed to ongoing data sharing for research, internships and classroom collaboration, with findings integrated into coursework. The program also has potential as a student recruitment tool, and as a pathway for faculty research through sustained engagement with the New York study away site.
To view the original Syracuse University Today story by Wendy S. Loughlin published on April 20, 2026, click this link.