Symposium Addresses Critical Perspectives on Soccer and Social Justice
Photo by James Rasp
Where Sports and Social Justice Collide
by Kandace Kohr
On Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, Dickinson will host the Second Central Pennsylvania Consortium Symposium: Critical Perspectives on Soccer and Social Justice from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) Auditorium. The free symposium aims to examine the intersections between soccer and social justice from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, but as such, the sport can also perpetuate stereotypes of identity, such as gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, class, religion and national or regional origin. Like football and baseball, soccer has the power to either unite or divide people. Soccer's popularity offers a unique potential to open spaces for contestation of injustices within greater society. This one-day collaborative event, sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Consortium and its member institutions—Gettysburg College, Franklin & Marshall College and Dickinson College—will bring together a diverse group of scholars, journalists, students, athletes, coaches and community members to discuss issues of equality and representation in soccer with a focus on the past, present and future of the sport.
"This event will offer our students a unique opportunity to engage with soccer-studies experts and gain a better understanding of how the world's most popular sport yields so much power to both unite and divide communities," says Associate Professor of Spanish & Portuguese Shawn Stein.
Event Schedule
9:30-9:45 a.m.
Opening remarks
9:45-10:45 a.m.
Keynote: Shireen Ahmed, Burn it All Down, "Unveiling Muslim Women on the Pitch"
11 a.m.
Brenda Elsey, Hofstra University/Burn it All Down, "Futbolera: Women and Sport in Latin American History"; Brian Bunk, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, "Two Early Pioneers of Women's Soccer in the United States"
12-1 p.m.
Lunch
1:15-2:15 p.m.
Peter Alegi, Michigan State University; Jennifer Billman, HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College and Soccer Outreach Services, "Sport for Development and Peace: Reframing the Conversation"
2:15-2:30 p.m.
Break for tea/coffee
2:30-3:30 p.m.
Susan Brownell, University of Missouri, St. Louis, "Sport and Human Rights after the Beijing Olympics"; Richard Arnold, Muskingum University, "The 2018 World Cup and Racism: Football as an Impetus to Progress?"
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Ty Redden, Gettysburg College, "How We Play: Futebol, Pelé and Race"; Joel Sronce, University of North Carolina, "Going Forward with Galeano: Sports and the Fight for Liberation through the Duty of Remembering"
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Published September 26, 2018