Students to present at OCSS Annual Meeting

Matt Fox, Brian Hoefel, and Aaron Stiger will be presenting, along with Dr. Crawford, at the Ohio Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting at Worthington, OH on March 27th. The title of the presentation is Using Sport to Teach the Social Studies. Other social studies students will also have the chance to attend. This meeting brings together social studies teachers from across Ohio to present their lesson plans, discuss common concerns, and carry away bags full of free teaching materials.

Studia Socialia Americae holds its Winter Meeting

SSA members braved the snow Tuesday night and met at Dr. Crawford's home for their Winter Meeting. Ashley Reiff, who is currently student teaching shared her experiences with the group, who will soon be going out into the field themselves. We also discussed the Ohio Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting that will be held in Worthington, OH on March 27th. Matt Fox, Brian Hoefel, and Aaron Stiger will be presenting, along with Crawford at this meeting. The group also discussed finding jobs and other teaching concerns. Sophie Crawford provided the dinner of tortilla soup with bite-size quiches as starters, and dessert was a gallette de roi, or king cake, a traditional French treat that is eaten after the start of the new year.

Pictured are (left side, front to back) Aaron Stiger, Brian Hoefel, and Ben Kretz. (right side front to back) Vice President Joy Kessler, Ashley Reiff, and President Matt Fox.

Football on Film Weekend Seminar

During the weekend of January 17-18, four ONU students and professor Crawford journeyed to the Metzgar Nature Center to explore how football had been imagined in the popular culture. During the weekend, we watched Knute Rockne-All American (1940), The Male Animal (1942), North Dallas Forty (1979), Brian's Song (1971), and Gridiron Gang (2006) (or would have if snow hadn't forced an early departure).

Students also read articles about the positive and negative views of football, including "My Crusade Against Football," an article by Wade Thompson published in the Nation magazine in 1959, and a recent article by Terrence P. Jeffery entitled "What Politicians Could Learn from Football," which took a more positive view of the game.

From the scholar athlete to the dumb jock, the class explored the various ways in which football players and the game have been depicted in film and discussed the cultural contexts that gave rise to the varied depictions.

As always, Wayne and Carol King, who run the center for ONU, provided high quality food and more than we could possibly eat.

Pictured above are (L-R) Joe Kent, Matt Cuffari, Chad Turner, and Eli Lange.