Gender/sport sociologist Michael Messner joins SSI to discuss “The ascent of the ‘sports spirit complex’ in an American high school”

April 17, 2025

4:00PM - 5:15PM

Zoom Webinar

Add to Calendar 2025-04-17 16:00:00 2025-04-17 17:15:00 Gender/sport sociologist Michael Messner joins SSI to discuss “The ascent of the ‘sports spirit complex’ in an American high school” Register TODAY to hear sociologist Michael A. Messner explore the unevenness of social change from 1903 to 2024 at his high school and in broader society through research he conducted through 120 years of El Gabilan, the yearbook from his alma mater, Salinas High School. Enriched with 270 photos from yearbooks old and recent, Messner's book, The High School, spotlights how the meanings and iconography of high school activities have changed dramatically over the decades, even as the “sports spirit complex”—involving athletes, cheerleaders, band members, and community boosters—has remained a central part of the high school experience. Treating the yearbooks as a historical archive, Messner explores the evolving organization of high school sports, socioeconomic conditions, racial demographics, and shifting gender relations. He offers a fresh perspective on both change and continuity in high school, a defining milieu of American teenage life. Born and raised in Salinas, California, Michael Messner graduated in 1970 from Salinas High School, where his father, Russ Messner, was the highly respected basketball coach for a quarter of a century. Michael Messner is currently professor emeritus of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California. His research spans the topics of gender and sports, gender-based violence, and war and peace. Messner’s many honors and awards include the Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center, for his work in support of girls’ and women’s sports. He has been one of the most influential and highly cited gender and sport sociologists over recent decades, with well over 1,000 annual citations to his name over the past dozen years. The High School is his 20th book. Zoom Webinar OSU ASC Drupal 8 ascwebservices@osu.edu America/New_York public

2025-04-17 16:00:00 2025-04-17 17:15:00 Gender/sport sociologist Michael Messner joins SSI to discuss “The ascent of the ‘sports spirit complex’ in an American high school”  Register TODAY to hear  sociologist Michael A. Messner explore the unevenness of social change from 1903 to 2024 at his high school and in broader society through research he conducted through 120 years of El Gabilan, the yearbook from his alma mater, Salinas High School. Enriched with 270 photos from yearbooks old and recent, Messner's book, The High School, spotlights how the meanings and iconography of high school activities have changed dramatically over the decades, even as the “sports spirit complex”—involving athletes, cheerleaders, band members, and community boosters—has remained a central part of the high school experience.  Treating the yearbooks as a historical archive, Messner explores the evolving organization of high school sports, socioeconomic conditions, racial demographics, and shifting gender relations. He offers a fresh perspective on both change and continuity in high school, a defining milieu of American teenage life. Born and raised in Salinas, California, Michael Messner graduated in 1970 from Salinas High School, where his father, Russ Messner, was the highly respected basketball coach for a quarter of a century.  Michael Messner is currently professor emeritus of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California. His research spans the topics of gender and sports, gender-based violence, and war and peace.  Messner’s many honors and awards include the Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center, for his work in support of girls’ and women’s sports. He has been one of the most influential and highly cited gender and sport sociologists over recent decades, with well over 1,000 annual citations to his name over the past dozen years. The High School is his 20th book.   Zoom Webinar America/New_York public

Register TODAY to hear sociologist Michael A. Messner explore the unevenness of social change from 1903 to 2024 at his high school and in broader society through research he conducted through 120 years of El Gabilan, the yearbook from his alma mater, Salinas High School.

Enriched with 270 photos from yearbooks old and recent, Messner's book, The High School, spotlights how the meanings and iconography of high school activities have changed dramatically over the decades, even as the “sports spirit complex”—involving athletes, cheerleaders, band members, and community boosters—has remained a central part of the high school experience.

Treating the yearbooks as a historical archive, Messner explores the evolving organization of high school sports, socioeconomic conditions, racial demographics, and shifting gender relations. He offers a fresh perspective on both change and continuity in high school, a defining milieu of American teenage life.

Born and raised in Salinas, California, Michael Messner graduated in 1970 from Salinas High School, where his father, Russ Messner, was the highly respected basketball coach for a quarter of a century.

Michael Messner is currently professor emeritus of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California. His research spans the topics of gender and sports, gender-based violence, and war and peace.

Messner’s many honors and awards include the Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center, for his work in support of girls’ and women’s sports. He has been one of the most influential and highly cited gender and sport sociologists over recent decades, with well over 1,000 annual citations to his name over the past dozen years. The High School is his 20th book.