Sports are a pastime for billions of people worldwide. On March 28, fans can learn about the bright and dark sides of sports—on and off the playing fields—when Andrei Markovits, co-author of Gaming the World: How Sports are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture, speaks at Case Western Reserve University. The lecture is part of the Baker-Nord Center for Humanities’ yearlong conversation on “Celebrity, Fame and the Concept of Genius.”
Markovits will speak at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, in 309 Clark Hall on the Case Western Reserve campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Markovits, the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and the Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies at the University of Michigan, co-wrote Gaming the World with Lars Rensmann. The book explores how the predominantly male and ball-based sports like baseball, football and soccer created an identity for male fans in the United States, Canada and Britain.
He also discusses sports’ grasp on local and national fans alike that cheer for their home and national teams. This pastime develops local and national rivalries, but it also creates an avenue to open formerly closed international boundaries for communications in politics and to learn more about other cultures. Sports, Markovits notes, also have a darker side of racism, sexism and prejudices found in societies.
Reservations are recommended. To RSVP, visit case.edu/humanities or call Maggie Kaminski at 216.368.2242.