Announcing FSF’s 2018-19 “Apertura” season!
To participate in these online events, please contact Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu).
On Friday, March 23, FSF held its second session of 2018. Andrew Downie, author of Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher, Legend joined the group to discuss his 2017 biography of the Brazilian. Chris Gaffney, a longtime FSF member whose book Temples of the Earthbound Gods was the subject of a 2010 FSF session, stepped seamlessly into a moderator role for Andrew’s book.
Andrew opened his comments on his book by citing his longtime Hibs fandom and experiences working with Sócrates’ unpublished memoirs. That manuscript, alongside Andrew’s research and interviews, was a central pillar of the group discussion. Our conversation also touched on Sócrates’ personal life, his legacy, contemporary soccer politics in Brazil, and the book’s reception amongst an English-speaking audience.
During the conversation, Andrew mentioned a book recently published by Sócrates’ widow and the footballer’s collection of columns for Carta Capital magazine.
Participants included Shawn Stein, Alex Galarza, Peter Alegi, Andrew Guest, Roger Kittleson, Chad Black, and Anakwa Dwamena.
Listen here. (For personal and educational use only.)
WHAT: Intellectual pelada with Andrew Downie, author of Doctor Socrates. Moderated by Dr. Christopher Gaffney.
WHEN: Friday, March 23, 2pm US Eastern Time
WHERE: FSF sessions take place online via Zoom.
To participate in the session, send an RSVP to Alex Galarza (galarza.alex AT gmail).
See you on the pitch!
The second half of the Football Scholars Forum’s 2017-18 season features two documentary films, a biography, and a “guide to appreciating the drama of soccer.”
On February 23 (2pm US Eastern), FSF explores documentary film as a medium for stories about football. “New Generation Queens,” by Megan Shutzer, tells the story of Zanzibar’s women’s soccer and follows the Queens team to mainland Tanzania for a tournament where several players hope to be recruited to the Tanzanian national side. [WATCH it on [amazon] or [google play]. “Ciudad Deportiva – El Documental” by Alex Galarza and co-produced with four Argentine journalists, tells the story of Boca Juniors’ attempt to build a massive stadium and sports/recreational complex in the 1960s. The documentary focuses on the history of this project and the fascinating links between soccer and the city. [watch below, turn on English subtitles].
In late March (date/time to be confirmed), author Andrew Downie will join us for a discussion of Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher, Legend. A symbol of democracy and Brazil’s futebol romantico, Downie reveals Socrates to have been a man of many contradictions.
Then, on April 26 (3pm U.S. Eastern), we welcome longtime FSF member Laurent Dubois for a session devoted to his new book, The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer—”a passionate and engaging introduction to soccer’s history, tactics, and human drama.”
To participate in the sessions send an RSVP to Alex Galarza (galarza.alex AT gmail).
FSF conducts its online sessions with Zoom. As always, the events will be recorded and archived on this website for those who cannot participate.
The Football Scholars Forum’s final session of 2017 took us to Yorkshire, figuratively speaking. Author and journalist Anthony Clavane discussed his award-winning book, Promised Land: A Northern Love Story, about Leeds (the city) and Leeds United (the club).
The conversation revolved around the themes of belonging, community, and identity. Football (and rugby!) cannot be adequately understood, Clavane’s work shows, without thinking deeply about the social, economic, political, and cultural underpinnings of sport. Leeds and United lent themselves to this kind of analysis, as they embodied broader transformations in English football and society since 1960.
Participants: Martha Saavedra, Chris Bolsmann, Tarminder Kaur, Danyel Reyche, Andrew Guest, Adam Winkel, David Kilpatrick, Alex Galarza, Peter Alegi.
Click here to listen to an audio recording of the session (for personal and educational use only):
On December 7, at 2pm Eastern US time, FSF welcomes journalist and author Anthony Clavane for a discussion of his book, Promised Land: A Northern Love Story, winner of the 2011 UK Sports Book of the Year.
Part memoir, part social history, part fútbology, Promised Land explores the “Dirty Leeds” image of both city and club, linking changes on the pitch to broader political, economic, and cultural transformations. As the publisher puts it: “This is a book about football. It’s about unconditional love for a club, even when it doesn’t always seem to love you back. But it is also a book about much more than that.”
To participate in the session send an RSVP to Alex Galarza (galarza.alex AT gmail). FSF conducts its online sessions with Zoom. As always, the event will be recorded and archived on this website for those who cannot participate.
Gwen Oxenham opened the 2017-18 FSF season with her highly original and engaging new book, Under The Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women’s Soccer. The author shared insights about the process of writing the book and grappled with labor rights in football.
The forum considered the book’s stories about the Portland Thorns, 2017 NWSL champions, and weighed the club’s potential as a model for the future development of women’s pro soccer. Other topics covered included: sexual harassment, gender discrimination, motherhood, generational relations, representations of the women’s game, the importance of crowds and beer, and the possibility that a film may emerge out of parts of the book (e.g. the underground futsal scene in Queens, NY).
Participants: David Kilpatrick, Danyel Reiche, Itamar Dubinsky, Shawn Stein, Cara Snyder, Martha Saavedra, Chris Bolsmann, Kevin Tallec Marston, Liz Timbs, Alex Galarza, Patrick Ridge, and Peter Alegi.
A recording of the session can be found here. (For personal and educational use only.)
The Football Scholars Forum announces its first session of the 2017-18 season. Author and filmmaker Gwen Oxenham will join us on Wednesday, October 25, at 2pm Eastern Time (-5 GMT), to discuss her new book: Under The Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women’s Soccer.
“Under the Lights and in the Dark takes us inside the world of women’s football, following players across the globe, from Portland Thorns star Allie Long, who trains in an underground men’s league in New York City; to English national Fara Williams, who kept her homelessness a secret from teammates on the English youth national team. Oxenham takes us to the depths of Siberia, where players battle more than just snowy pitches in pursuing their dream of playing pro, and to a refugee camp in Denmark, where Nadia Nadim, now a Danish international star, practised after her family fled from the Taliban.”
Please send an RSVP to Alex Galarza (galarza.alex AT gmail), if you wish to be included in the session. FSF conducts its online sessions with Zoom. As always, the event will be recorded and archived on this website for those who cannot participate.
Stay tuned for an announcement about the rest of 2017-18 schedule.
After the holiday break, the 2016-17 FSF season is set to resume with David Kilpatrick’s book of soccer poetry: Obrigado: A Futebol Epic. [Download here.]
The collection offers a poetic take on the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, with a poem from each of the sixty-four matches plus an introductory poem: “an epic narrative of heroic emergence from conflicts between nations, promoting cosmopolitan awareness through the spirit of play.”
Dr. Kilpatrick is Associate Professor of English at Mercy College in New York and Club Historian at the New York Cosmos. He is a stalwart of FSF and we are looking forward to discussing his work online on Tuesday, February 28th at 2:30pm U.S. Eastern time.
To participate in the first FSF gathering dedicated exclusively to poetry, contact Alex Galarza or Peter Alegi.
Biersmith told the story of how he first got interested in Somalia and explained why he chose to make the film the way he did. A lively discussion unfolded about the character journeys of Saadiq Muhammad and Sa’ad Hussein, the two protagonists, and around the complexities of the three-year filmmaking process in Mogadishu, Nairobi, and in several locations in the United States. The forum also learned new details about Saadiq and Sa’ad’s current situation in St. Louis, Missouri, and what the future may hold for the young Somali immigrant footballers.
Participants included: Itamar Dubinsky, Martha Saavedra, Rose Eveleth, Andrew Guest, Derek Catsam, Danyel Tobias Reiche, Alejandro Gonzalez, Tarminder Kaur, Emmanuel Yolo Thoba, Alex Galarza, and Peter Alegi.
Danyel Reiche, a political scientist at the American University of Beirut (@Danyel_Reiche), conveyed the feelings of many of us in a tweet: “The film @MenInTheArena deserves a large audience. Hopefully @netflix or other big media are interested.” The film’s official release is scheduled for April 2017.
Listen to the audio here
