Moran will speak on Wednesday, March 11, 9:30 – 10:45 a.m., CPASS building room 101 and focus on the meeting the needs of athletes of all abilities. Both Moran and Carson Sackett will present a panel discussion from 3 – 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Thomas Moran, Ph.D., CAPE, James Madison University, is an associate professor
in the department of Kinesiology. His specialty area is adapted physical education.
Moran’s passion stems from his personal experiences as an individual with Cerebral
Palsy. His scholarly work revolves around two areas, addressing barriers to community
based participation for individuals with disabilities and providing educators,
coaches, and instructors a systematic approach to adequately meet the needs of
individuals of all abilities, including disabilities. Moran is the executive
director of Empowerment3, the Center for Physical Activity and Wellness for Underserved
Youth. One of the successful programs based in the center, Overcoming Barriers,
serves as a physical activity mentoring program that currently provides 16 courses
each semester serving more than 200 youth and adults with disabilities in school
and community based settings. He has given more than 100 professional presentations
related to adapted physical education, disability sport, and empowerment. He
is the recipient of the 2010 Duncan Wyeth Service Award given by AACPDMand
was featured in a documentary made about his life as an individual with Cerebral
Palsy, entitled “Why Me?”
Sarah Carson Sackett, Ph.D., is an assistant professor, Department of Kinesiology
at James Madison University and serves as the associate director for the Morrison
Bruce Center for the Promotion of Physical Activity for Girls and Women. Carson
Sackett has more than a decade of experience as a researcher, instructor, sport
psychology performance consultant, coaching educator, and track and field athlete.
She earned her graduate degrees in sport and exercise psychology from the University
of North Carolina-Greensboro and Michigan State University. Carson Sackett sees
psychosocial issues in sport from the perspectives of the athlete, coach, applied
practitioner, and researcher. Her ability to understand multiple points of view
and her passion for sport have resulted in quality work and an outstanding reputation
early in her career. Her research interests include positive youth development
and coaching strategies for life skills development in sport, and the dynamic
relationships between physical activity, fitness, motor skill proficiency, and
perceived competence.