What history and sports teach us about tackling multi-generational issues - Stephen Ortega of Harvard’s Global Sports Initiative

How does a history professor end up in sports sustainability? And what can history, and intersecting different fields like sports and academia, teach us about how to move the needle on issues like race and identity?

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THE IMPACT. Steve is:

Associate Professor of History at Simmons University, where he focuses on trans-national contact, helping students see beyond traditional notions of geography and identity, and think critically and creatively about both local and global challenges. https://www.simmons.edu/academics/faculty/stephen-ortega


Director of the Global Sports Initiative at Harvard, where he brings sports figures and academics together from around the world to discuss issues such as identity, gender relations, race, borders and the desire for greater social welfare. https://wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu/global-sports

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

Creating a link between academia and sports, where sports as an indicator of the issues that society is struggling with, and athlete’s stories are the stories of the world

Taking the strengths from both disciplines -- the visibility of sports and the rigor of academia -- to bring people together and advance the conversation

Seeing our place in history, which allows us to take personal responsibility, even if we may not see change in our lifetime, and then pass the baton to the next generation