Photos courtesy of UTPB.
UTPB professor’s book examines athlete equity, inclusion on and off the field
University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) History Professor Dr. Derek Catsam recently published his latest book, Don’t Stick to Sports: The American Athlete’s Fight against Injustice. The university offered its congratulations to the professor and author on Facebook.
Dr. Catsam’s new book examines how athletes have fought for inclusion and equity on and off the playing field, per UTPB. The book is Dr. Catsam’s fifth and its concept was sown at the most opportune of times: During his previous book negotiations for Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement.
He said at that time, the publisher asked whether he’d be interested in writing a book on American sports and politics and sweetened the offer for the first book to get him to write the second one. “I had lots of ideas I wanted to pursue, and I knew I’d eventually do a book on U.S. sports and politics, so the timing worked.”
UTPB said that Dr. Catsam has been with the university for nearly 20 years and wears many hats; besides being a professor of History, he is also a Kathlyn Cosper Dunagan professor in the Humanities. Additionally, he works as a senior research associate at Rhodes University in South Africa.
When it comes to prospective students selecting a college, Dr. Catsam is a big believer in UTPB’s great campus community. He said that there are many reasons to choose UTPB, but the faculty and staff are at the top of the list, sharing that the school has “deeply committed scholar-teachers who translate their expertise and experience into the classroom, and they are deeply committed to their students.”
Dr. Catsam’s latest work, Don’t Stick to Sports: The American Athlete’s Fight against Injustice, is available for purchase here.
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