Politics and Sports Colloquim Features 'In Your Face Lecture'

The Politics & Government Department and the Undergraduate Student Senate are proud to host a two-part lecture series Politics and Sports, which also includes the annual "In Your Face Lecture."

The first lecture is Learning New Limits: Labor, Media, and Politics within Athletes Unlimited Basketball. The presenter is Dr. Courtney M. Cox, an assistant professor of  Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon. Join us at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, in Marsh 216.

Her research examines issues related to identity, technology, and labor through sport and wine. Her current book project, Double Crossover: Gender, Politics, and Performance in Basketball, considers how Black women and non-binary athletes maneuver through the global sports-media complex.

She is also co-director (with Dr. Perry B. Johnson) of The Sound of Victory, a multi-platform digital humanities project located at the intersection of music, sound, and sport. She previously worked for ESPN, Longhorn Network, NPR-affiliate KPCC, and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

The second presentation is Pacific's annual In Your Face Lecture. Join presenters  Dr. Satoko Itani and Dr. Travers for a discussion on "Transgender Issues, Sports and Justice" at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, in Marsh 216.  

Dr. Satoko Itani is a cutting-edge Japanese scholar whose work explores LGBTQ issues in the world of sports and beyond. Based at Kansai University in Japan, Itani is a visiting professor at Pacific University during the spring 2024 semester.

Dr. Travers is a leading global scholar on the topic of trans inclusion in sports. They are a professor of sociology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Their recent  book, The Trans Generation: How Trans Kids (and Their Parents) Are Creating a Gender Revolution (New York University Press), situates trans kids in Canada and the U.S., white settler nations marked by social inequality. Travers has published extensively on the relationship between sport and social justice, with an emphasis on the inclusion and exclusion of women, queer and trans people of all ages.  

For more information, contact Jules Boykoff, department chair Politics & Government, at 503-352-2887 or boykoff@pacificu.edu.