Choosing a topic is sometimes the most difficult task for prospective Honours students. Many students don't really have a good idea of the potential scope for studies in the fields of Leisure, Sport and Tourism.

Listed below are some topic areas put forward by staff who have expressed an interest in supervising Honours students - some staff have indicated specific questions while others have noted general topic areas from which specific questions could be developed.

Remember, the choice of topic is not limited to this list - it is indicative only.

Sport and Exercise Science
Tourism/Tourism Planning
Event Management
Outdoor Recreation/Outdoor Learning
Sport Psychology
Sport and Diversity
Olympic Games
Lifestyle
Women and Sport
Ecotourism and Park Management
Arts and Entertainment

Sport and Exercise Science

• Physiology of prolonged, high intensity, intermittent sports.
• Limiting factors of prolonged, high intensity, intermittent sports.
• Practical benefit of high intensity exercise training on markers of health status in women.
• The usefulness of practical tools for detecting overreaching (fatigue) in endurance athletes.
• Quantifying physical activity - how much is enough to change markers of health status?
• Effect of exercise type on fat metabolism.
• Muscle tendon stiffness and exercise performance.
• Health and aging across the human lifespan.
• Human respiratory system as a limiting factor in exercise performance.
• Adaptations to strength and power training.
• Adaptations to endurance training.

Tourism/Tourism Planning

• Evaluative review of local tourism planning practices in NSW - 1985 to present.
• Examination of the degree to which planning for tourism has been integrated with environmental planning in NSW.
• Examination of community consultation/participation processes in relation to tourism planning in NSW/Australia - search for exemplary practices.
• Evaluation of planning of/for ethnic leisure/tourism precincts, such as Chinatown, Norton Street.
• Evaluation of planning of/for historic leisure/tourism precincts - or other types of urban tourism precincts.
• How does Sydney rate as an experience for the peripatetic pedestrian tourist?
• Resolving conflicts over major tourism developments - search for exemplary practices.
• Effects of TV, movies and other forms of popular culture on stimulating visits to destinations in Australia - why do some things work and others don't?
• Does the possession of environmental accreditation by a tourism operator produce revenue benefits? - contrasts between a number of sectors/situations.
• Examination of the hotel development cycle in Sydney - 1985 to present.
• Impact of gaming machines on the social value of the pub as a public place.
• Consumer behaviour - tourist decision-making in tourism; the impact ot take-up rate of new technologies; factors influencing the level of industrialisation of a tourist trip - consumer's perspective.
• Transportation/carrier sector - such as airports, an emerging field of study within tourism.
• Tourism in Asia - consumer issues; industry structures and practices; market studies; destination management and marketing.

Event Management

• Key success factors in the bidding process for a specific type of event, such as a conference, sporting event.
• Approaches to the use of events for the purposes of building social capital.
• An evaluation of environmental legacies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
• Approaches to the strategic use of events in regional tourism development.
• Identification of facilitating and limiting factors in the adoption of sustainable tourism development practices by one or more sectors/sub-sectors of the Australian tourism industry.

Outdoor Recreation/Outdoor Learning

• The history of organised camping programs in New South Wales.
• Learning through the outdoor adventure experience.
• Leisure phenomenologies.
• The camping and caravan holiday.
• Evaluation of the school camping program.
• Understanding the outdoor experience.
• Experiencing adventure tourism.
• Experience-based learning.

Sport Psychology

• Psychology of injury and rehabilitation.
• Mental skills applications.
• Coaching psychology.
• Team dynamics.
• Health behaviour and behaviour change.

Sport and Diversity

• Racism in sport.
• Sport participation and cultural identity.
• Sport participation and gender identity.
• How could human resource management systems in sport/leisure organisations be more culturally and gender inclusive?
• How do organisational values impact diversity management?
• How could culturally diversity be used in developing competitive advantage?

Olympic Games

• Olympic Games politics.
• The legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
• The 2008 Olympic Games and China.
• Olympic History.
• Olympic Games and knowledge management.
• Organisational culture and the Olympic Games.
• Terrorism and sport.

Lifestyle

• Leisure and lifestyle.
• Youth subculture; youth lifestyles.

Women and Sport

• Women in sport and the media - What is the current status of media coverage (printed and electronic) of women in sport? What are the constraints for women obtaining coverage? What is the effect of the Internet (sports reports on websites) on this issue? How can gender equity be achieved?
• Role models in sport and physical activity for teenagers. To what extend do teenage boys have role models in sport and physical activity? What are the gender differences in this area? How do the differences impact on sports participation for teenage boys and girls?
• Leadership for women in sport and physical activity. What is the current status of women in leadership roles in sport and physical activity? What are the constraints at different levels (individual, sports environmental, societal level) for women to obtain a leadership position? Identify good practices that encourage women in leadership positions.

Ecotourism and Park Management

• Ecotourism and park management - Aboriginal ecotourism, hegemony, joint management, protected areas, national parks, hybridised management.
• Ecotourism and environmental behaviour - ecotourism, natural environment, 'green' tourism products, environmental behaviour, purchasing.
• Ecotourism and the privatisation of national parks - national parks, privatisation, ecotourism, concessions, public sector.
• Using outdoor adventure programs as a form of interpretation - interpretation, outdoor adventure, national parks, environmental ethics.
• Ecotourism, volunteerism and serious leisure - ecotourism, volunteerism, serious leisure.
• Outdoor activities and visitor risk management In national parks - outdoor activities, risk management, national parks, recreation, legal liability.
• Best practice in volunteer tourism - environmental best practice, volunteer tourism, ecotourism, travel.
• Western tourism, hegemony and third space: re-presenting postcolonial otherness - western tourism, hegemony, third space, postcolonial, otherness.
• How ecotourism can look beyond tourism images - destination image assessment techniques, social value, ecotourism, tourism images.
• Interpretation: different cultures, different views? - interpretation, knowledge practices, self-reflexive analysis, cultural views, marginalised.
• Developing an approach to community based ecotourism and protected area management - ecotourism, local community, protected area management.
• Ecotourism, self and identity - ecotourism, self, identity, interactionist, post colonialist, sociological analysis.
• Using management indicators to develop sustainable interpretative tourism in parks - interpretative and educational strategies, visitor experiences, protected areas, management indicators.

Arts and Entertainment

• The fortunes of the film industry in Australia have been dependent on a number of factors, not least government direct support and indirect tax breaks for investors. What do you think is the impact of the studio system in Australia (Warner's in Brisbane and Fox in Sydney) for the future of Australian filmmaking?
• The nature of broadcasting has changed dramatically over the past five years yet Australia lags behind the rest of the western world in converged technologies. Why has the government made the policy choices it has and what will be the future for digital broadcasting in Australia?
• The role of the museum over the past 150 years has changed but is still challenged by postmodernist pursuits of 'fast' leisure, superficial engagement and infotainment. What should be the role of museums in the future, how should they relate to popular entertainment pursuits such as theme parks?
• What effect does globalisation have on cultural and arts development in Australia?
• Public art is like 'putting lipstick on the gorilla' - can cultural planning create 'liveable', vibrant communities at ease with the public realm?
• Exhibitions like 'Body Art' attracted young people to the Australian Museum, but this was a one-off. How should arts organisations keep attracting young audiences?
• What impact has converged and digital technologies had on the music industry?