BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:3294-02972f923b5756cd4f59c824fe1ede72@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260412T055942Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230421T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230421T130000 SUMMARY:CALS \"Unprecedented\" Webinar: Can Sports Save the English Department? DESCRIPTION:\nLabor disputes\, body politics\, racial injustice: profess ional and collegiate athletics are no mere fun and games\, but microcosm s of American sociopolitical life—rich texts well-suited for the kinds o f literary and cultural analysis fostered by English departments. With t he humanities under constant threat of defunding (if not total eliminati on)\, might English departments turn to the sports industry\, which gene rates upwards of $70 billion annually in the United States alone\, as an area of academic and creative study? Nearly half a million students par ticipate in NCAA athletics\, and many millions more turn out for (or tun e in to) various sporting events\; English departments are well-position ed to appeal to these students’ interests while encouraging deeper and m ore critical engagement with the politics and ethics of sport. This webi nar will explore the emerging field of sports studies and\, following th e example set by adjacent disciplines like media studies and history\, c onsider how English departments might integrate sports studies to reimag ine and broaden the scope of their programming.\n\n \;\n\nPanelists: \n\n \;\n\nGrant Farred\n\nProfessor of Literatures in English\n\nCo rnell University\n\nGrant Farred is the author of\, most recently\, The Zelensky Method (2022)\, Only A Black Athlete Can Save Us Now (2022)\, a nd An Essay for Ezra: Racial Terror in America (2021).\n\nRowan Ricardo Phillips\n\nDistinguished Professor of English\, Stony Brook University\ n\nRowan Ricardo Phillips is poetry editor of The New Republic and a con sultant for The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He has been t he recipient of a Whiting Award\, a Guggenheim Fellowship\, the Anisfiel d-Wolf Book Award for Poetry\, the Nicolás Guillén Outstanding Book Awar d\, and the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting\, among others. He is currently writing a book on Black baseball (forthcoming from FSG).\n \n \;\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\nMichelle M. Sikes\n\nAssistant Profes sor of Kinesiology\, African Studies\, and History\n\nPenn State\n\nMich elle M. Sikes is an executive committee member of the Center for the Stu dy of Sport in Society at Penn State. She is the author of Kenya’s Runni ng Women: A History (forthcoming 2023) and has coedited several volumes on African and sports history\, including Sport and Apartheid South Afri ca: Histories of Politics\, Power\, and Protest (2022)\, The Politics of Historical Memory and Commemoration in Africa (2022)\, and Women’s Spor t in Africa (2015). A former professional runner\, Sikes represented the US at the 2007 World Track and Field Championships in the 5000 meters a nd won an NCAA Division I championship at the same distance.\n\n \;\ n\nModerator:\n\nJess Rafalko\n\nGraduate Student\, Department of Englis h\, Penn State\n\n \;\n\nAfter registering\, you will receive a conf irmation email\n\ncontaining information about joining the webinar.\n\nh ttps://psu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9ZA0bJrmR7GIDWTvA-pWvA\n\n \; \n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/cals_unprecedented _webinar_2923/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Labor disputes, body politics, racial injustice: professional and collegiate athletics are no mere fun and games, but microcosms of American sociopolitical lif e—rich texts well-suited for the kinds of literary and cultural analysis fostered by English departments. With the humanities under constant thr eat of defunding (if not total elimination), might English departments t urn to the sports industry, which generates upwards of $70 billion annua lly in the United States alone, as an area of academic and creative stud y? Nearly half a million students participate in NCAA athletics, and man y millions more turn out for (or tune in to) various sporting events; En glish departments are well-positioned to appeal to these students’ inter ests while encouraging deeper and more critical engagement with the poli tics and ethics of sport. This webinar will explore the emerging field o f sports studies and, following the example set by adjacent disciplines like media studies and history, consider how English departments might i ntegrate sports studies to reimagine and broaden the scope of their prog ramming.

 

Panelists:

 

Grant Farre d

Professor of Literatures in English

Cornell University

Grant Farred is the author of, most recently, Th e Zelensky Method (2022), Only A Black Athlete Can Save Us Now (2022), and An Essay for Ezra: Racial Terror in America (2021).

Rowan Ricardo Phillips

Distinguished Professor of English, Stony Brook University

Rowan Ricardo Phillips is poe try editor of The New Republic and a consultant for The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He has been the recipient of a Whiting Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Poetr y, the Nicolás Guillén Outstanding Book Award, and the PEN/ESPN Award fo r Literary Sportswriting, among others. He is currently writing a book o n Black baseball (forthcoming from FSG).

 

 

 

Michelle M. Sikes

Assistant Professor of K inesiology, African Studies, and History

Penn State

Michelle M. Sikes is an executive committee member of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Penn State. She is the author of Ken ya’s Running Women: A History (forthcoming 2023) and has coedited se veral volumes on African and sports history, including Sport and Apar theid South Africa: Histories of Politics, Power, and Protest (2022) , The Politics of Historical Memory and Commemoration in Africa ( 2022), and Women’s Sport in Africa (2015). A former professional runner, Sikes represented the US at the 2007 World Track and Field Champ ionships in the 5000 meters and won an NCAA Division I championship at t he same distance.

 

Moderator:

Jess Rafalko

Graduate Student, Department of English, Penn State

 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email

containing information about joining the webinar.

https://ps u.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9ZA0bJrmR7GIDWTvA-pWvA

 

For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/cals_unpreceden ted_webinar_2923/

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