More than just a game: MSU event examines how sports build community, connection
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.––Join a Mississippi State sociologist and local sports experts next week for “More Than Just a Game: A Conversation about Sports and Community,” hosted by MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Institute for the Humanities.
Free and open to the public, the Tuesday [Jan. 20] event at 6:30 p.m. takes place at Taylormade Fitness, 306 University Drive in Starkville. Conversation will explore how sports—from recreational leagues and fitness spaces to fandom and community pride—foster connection, belonging and shared experiences.
The event will feature Rachel Allison, MSU associate professor of sociology and celebrated author of “Kicking Center: Gender and the Selling of Women's Professional Soccer,” a 2018 Rutgers University Press publication; Starkville resident Chase Taylor, Taylormade Fitness CEO and owner; and Victoria Woodberry, Starkville Parks and Recreation athletic coordinator.
“Sports offer a powerful lens for thinking about how people come together and what it means to belong,” said Morgan Robinson, director of the Institute for the Humanities. “Whether through competition, collaboration or shared routines, movement and play create social bonds that extend far beyond the game itself.”
Part of MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Institute for the Humanities promotes research, scholarship and creative performances in the humanistic disciplines while raising their visibility within MSU and the wider community.
For more details about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences and Institute for the Humanities visit www.cas.msstate.edu and www.ih.msstate.edu.
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