On Monday, Nov. 21, the Department of History and COLFA hosted a panel discussion on the intersection of sports, society and culture in the Student Union at UTSA’s Main Campus. Dr. Abraham Gibson spoke about the event being the first of four different events held on campus in partnership with the Office of Academic Innovation. The goal of the events is to encourage new students at UTSA to come out and socialize.

Just in time for the start of the World Cup, the panel explored the global phenomenon of soccer, including the social and historical context of the world’s sport.

The speakers for the event included:

Dr. Abraham Gibson’s Faculty Profile

http://history.utsa.edu/faculty/gibson-abe

Dr. Nathan Richardson’s Faculty Profile

https://colfa.utsa.edu/modern-languages/faculty/richardson

Dr. Matthias Hofferberth’s Faculty Profile

https://colfa.utsa.edu/polisci-geography/faculty/hofferberth

Maia Adamina’s Faculty Profile

http://colfa.utsa.edu/english/adamina.html

Rene Guzman, Staff Writer at the San Antonio Express-News

https://www.expressnews.com/author/rene-guzman/

Following the panel discussion was a live stream of the United States’ first World Cup match against Wales. The event was funded in part by a grant from the Office of Academic Innovation. Additionally, dialogue on the implementation of a future course called the History of Sports was discussed in the beginning.