Gems presents, publishes, travels worldwide to share expertise on sport

Gerald Gems, North Central College professor of health and physical education, has served as guest speaker at various conferences, given interviews, published articles and more in recent months.

In May, Gems was an invited speaker at the Eighth World Congress on Science and Football in Copenhagen where he gave a presentation titled “American Football and National Identity.” Held every four years, the Congress was attended by some 500 people from 46 countries. Also in Copenhagen, he presented an undergraduate seminar, “Sport and the Media in American Culture,” at the University of Copenhagen.

In June, Gems attended the World Congress of the International Sport Sociology Association in Paris and the Sport, Economy, and Media Congress in Hamburg, Germany. He moderated two sessions at the European College of Sport Sciences conference in Malmo, Sweden, and served as one of the evaluators of submitted abstracts to select the conference presentations.

His article, titled “Sport and the Italian American Quest for Whiteness,” was reprinted in a new textbook, “Sociological Perspectives on Sport: The Games Outside the Games,” by editors David Karen and Robert E. Washington (New York: Routledge, 2015), 82-99.

In August, Gems delivered a presentation titled “The Power of Sport: Its Meanings and Uses” to the University of Copenhagen Summer School for Graduate Students.

This fall, he conducted an online interview with Umberto Mucci, a journalist for the Italian newspaper L'Opinione delle Liberta, relative to his book titled “Sport and the Shaping of Italian American Culture.” Click here for the published interview, which was distributed in both Italy and the United States.

Of special note, Gems’ article titled “The Politics of Boxing,” which was published in International Sports Journal of Medical Ethics, winter 2004, was selected by the Organizing Committee and given to attendees of the 16th Indian Women National Boxing Championship held in Bongaigaon, India, during October.

Click here to view Gems’ faculty profile.