Gems contributes book chapters, book reviews, gives talks

Gerald Gems, North Central College professor of health and physical education, contributed a chapter to the book, “Muscling in on New Worlds: Jews, Sport, and the Making of the Americas,” a collection of studies that approach sport as a window into Jewish identity formation in the Americas. Gems’ chapter, titled “Jews, Sports and the Construction of an American Identity,” dealt with the role of sport in assimilation efforts of Jews in the United States.

Gems had two book reviews published in the December 2014 issue of the Journal of Sport History. They are of “The NFL; Critical and Cultural Perspectives” and “A History of Women’s Boxing.”

Also in December, he had a book chapter, titled “Ethnicity in Black and White: Immigration, Sport, and the Italian Quest for Identity in the United States,” published in “Beyond C.L.R. James: Shifting Boundaries of Race and Ethnicity in Sport,” co-edited by John Nauright, Alan G. Cobley and David K. Wiggins and published by the University of Arkansas Press.

In addition, Gems was a participant in the Aging and Physical Activity seminar at the University of Exeter in England on Dec. 4, and he gave a presentation about American Sports for the graduate program at the University of Copenhagen Institute for Nutrition, Exercise, and Sport Sciences on Dec. 10.

Click here to view Gems’ faculty profile.