Date:
6/29/2004
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Helena Rodriguez
Portales—PORTALES - Summer is a time whenmillions of Americans take to the great outdoors to enjoy theall-American sport--baseball. Dr. Jerald Spotswood at Eastern NewMexico University feels summer is also a great time to study, analyzeand review the history of America's pastime.
Spotswood, associate professorof English, is offering a new class, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame,"beginning on July 6 in the Jack Williamson Liberal Arts Building. Thefour-week, upper division class, English 447 and English 547, willexpose students to baseball literature through five novels, a play andseveral films, including "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars &Motor Kings" and "A League of Their Own."
"The class will focus on theway in which baseball has affected our culture," said Spotswood, thechair of Eastern's Languages and Literature Department and a lifelongbaseball fan and avid reader of baseball literature.
"Since it is the first year,the class will be a little experimental. We will explore what were thewhite professional ranks and how this reflected and brought us to theCivil Rights Movement. We'll also look at women in baseball," Spotswoodsaid.
Already, more than a dozenstudents have signed up for the first-year class. Although it has a funtitle, Spotswood said the class is for "English majors and anyone witha desire to read, analyze and talk about the social issues ofbaseball." Last summer Spotswood taught another class with a fun title,"Bruce Springsteen and the Working Life." While it was creative, hesaidstudents soon found it also involved a lot of reading.
Spotswood said a backgroundknowledge of baseball and baseball literature will help students, butthat it is not a requirement.
Spotswood began playingbaseball when he was five and read quite a bit of baseball literaturewhile growing up. In addition, his father often had season tickets tothe Dodgers games when his family lived in Southern California.
"Baseball is the sport withthe longest history in America," Spotswood said. "It is over 100 yearsold. The first league was formed in the 1880s or 1890s."
For more information, call Spotswood at 505-562-2138.