An NIU physical education instructor was honored recently for her research and work regarding women in sports.

Assistant Professor Jan Rintala received the Young Scholar Award and a cash prize at a conference of the Midwest Association of College and University Physical Educators.

The meeting was held in Brown County, Ind. Rintala shared the award with physical educator Diana Gray, a faculty member at Indiana University.

At the conference, Rintala presented a paper based on her research interests, which are the philosophical and sociological issues related to women in sports.

Rintala explains that her work focuses on “the way society views women as bodies and objects and how that influences the things we encourage women to do in sports and how we evaluate their worth.”

For example, she said, “there is an emphasis on gracefulness.”

Rintala, in her third year at NIU, came to the university from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., where she taught and coached. She earned a doctorate in the philosophy and sociology of sport from the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

intala joins Connie Fox, another NIU faculty member in physical education, who was awarded the Young Scholar honors not long ago.