History professor wins National Book Prize

Brian McGowan, assistant professor in the history department, and his collaborator Michael Gennaro of Seminole State College have won the 2024 North American Society for Sports History Best Anthology Award for their collection. Sport and protest in the black Atlantic.

This award is given to recognize “outstanding research and writing” and to acknowledge the collaborative efforts of contributors and editors. The collection includes contributors from four continents and six countries.

The collection provides a comprehensive overview of the use of sport to advance social causes across the Atlantic world, bringing together scholarship that focuses on the actions of individuals who used sport to advance social justice. The book covers sports as diverse as baseball, track and field, and weightlifting, and covers more than half a dozen countries.

“This award,” says Caree Banton, head of the History Department, “demonstrates that the broader academic community values ​​the editors’ transnational approach.”

McGowan teaches American and African American history. He previously served as the McIntosh Endowed Professor in the Humanities in the Department of History at Grambling State University. He writes about Historically Black Colleges and Universities and student engagement in higher education.