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Thousands of academics have gathered in Regina for the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. They will present papers on everything from the new cultural dynamic of apologism to why Jezebel in the Hebrew Bible talks like a man. In its Oh, The Humanities! series, the National Post showcases some of the most interesting research.

Why don’t black people ski? Or hike? Or camp?

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They do, of course, but more as the exception than the rule, according to research to be presented at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Regina.

This observation has troubled Jacqueline Scott, an avid outdoorswoman whose experience of the wilderness in and around Toronto has led her to identify what she calls an “adventure gap,” which is the subject of her doctoral research in social justice education at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

“There is a sense that the outdoors is a white space, that people of colour don’t belong in that space,” Scott said in an interview. “People of colour want to do it, but they need a bridge to get them there.”