Pauley Symposium Oct. 22-23 focus is 'Sports in History, History in Sports'

Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 19, 2009 -- In recognition of the retirement of University of Nebraska-Lincoln historian Benjamin G. Rader, and as part of an ongoing institutional commitment to sports and sports history scholarship, the 2009 Carroll R. Pauley Memorial Endowment Symposium at the UNL Department of History will focus on "'The Great Common Denominator': Sports in History, History in Sports."

The symposium Oct. 22-23 will feature scholars working on the cutting edge of sports studies; their topics include collegiate athletics; Olympic sports; race, gender and sexuality in sport; and sports journalism.

The Oct. 22 opening keynote address, "It's Not a Real Job: The Rewards and Challenges of Covering Sports," will be given by ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap at 7:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Champions Club, 707 Stadium Drive. Schaap has been a reporter for ESPN since 1996, appearing frequently on "SportsCenter" and "Outside the Lines." In addition, he is a substitute host for "The Sports Reporters" on Sundays and contributes to ABC's "Nightline" and "World News Tonight." Schaap is also a correspondent for "E:60," ESPN's first multi-themed prime-time newsmagazine program.

Schaap has won five Sports Emmy Awards and other honors for his work, which usually focuses on not on simply who won or lost, but on breaking news, investigative journalism and profiling intriguing stories and personalities. A native of New York City, Schaap is a 1991 graduate of Cornell University and has authored the New York Times bestseller "Cinderella Man: James Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History" (2005), which became an Emmy-winning ESPN documentary about Braddock, and "Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics" (2007). Books will be available for purchase and signing after the talk. Schaap's talk will be preceded by a 7 p.m. reception in the Champions Club.

The Oct. 23 closing keynote address, "A Recent Revolution in American Sports," will be delivered by Rader at 7:30 p.m. at the Cornhusker Marriott, 333 S. 13th St. A specialist in American cultural and intellectual history with a particular interest in the history of sport, Rader, the James L. Sellers professor emeritus of history, was a member of the Nebraska history faculty from 1967 until his retirement last spring. The recipient of a distinguished teaching award from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1995, Rader has also earned an international reputation as a researcher and author. He has written six books, including, "American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports," sixth edition (2009), "Baseball: A History of America's Game," third edition (2008), and "Batter Up: The Universe of Baseball" (1995). Books will be available for purchase and signing after the talk.

Other Oct. 23 sessions, all in the auditorium of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., are:

"Football as the American 'People's Game'?" 8:30-9:20 a.m. -- Michael Oriard, professor of English and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University. Oriard played football for Coach Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame, where he was the starting center and team co-captain, and played for Coach Hank Stram with the Kansas City Chiefs. He is the author of many books on football and sports fiction, the most recent being "The End of Autumn: Reflections on My Life in Football" (2009) and "Bowled Over: Big-Time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS Era" (2009).

"'They Loved My Grandfather': An Olympic Legacy of Race, Memory and Germany," 9:30-10:20 a.m. -- Amy Bass, associate professor of history, College of New Rochelle. This talk examines the legacy of American gold-medal Olympic athlete Jesse Owens based on an oral history with Owens' granddaughter. Bass' first book, "Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympic Games and the Making of the Black Athlete" (2002), was followed by "In the Game: Race, Identity, and Sports in the 20th Century" (2005). Bass served as research supervisor for the NBC Olympic unit at the Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake, Athens and Torino Olympic games.

"China's Olympic Debut -- Its Place in Olympic and East Asian History," 10:30-11:20 a.m. -- Susan Brownell, professor of anthropology, University of Missouri-St. Louis. Brownell is an internationally recognized expert on Chinese sports and was a nationally ranked track and field athlete in the U.S. before she joined the track team at Beijing University in 1985-86 while studying Chinese language. She represented Beijing in the 1986 Chinese National College Games and set a national record in the heptathlon. She is the author of "Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China" (2008), and "Training the Body for China: Sports in the Moral Order of the People's Republic" (1995).

"Problems in Feminist Sport: Our Sexed Bodies, Our Gendered Selves," 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m. -- Susan K. Cahn, professor of history, State University of New York at Buffalo. Cahn is known for her publications on the history of women and sports, and teaches in both the Department of History and the Women's Studies program at UB. Her books include "Coming On Strong: Gender and Sexuality in 20th-Century Women's Sport" (1995), and "Women and Sports in the United States: A Documentary Reader" (2007).

Books by the presenters will be available for purchase and signing outside the auditorium.

All of the Pauley Symposium events are free and open to the public. For questions, contact the Department of History office at (402) 472-2414. A full schedule of events and other details are available online at http://events.unl.edu/history/upcoming/.