America Now! This American Sporting Life

Come join us in the dugout with an esteemed panel of scholars, authors, and athletes to explore the USA’s relationship with sport.

From UFC fights on the White House lawn and a golf-obsessed President to the Scottish takeover of Boston during the World Cup and the upcoming LA Summer Olympics in 2028, America’s relationship to international sport has taken centre stage in the public consciousness. How does America relate to the world through sport? How does America define itself through sport?

Stepping up to the plate for this discussion are an esteemed panel of scholars, authors, and athletes to explore America’s relationship with sport and sports culture past and present.

Dr Burns is Head of Politics, Brighton College. He is the author of American Imperialism: The Territorial Expansion of the United States, 1783–2013 (Edinburgh University Press, 2017), The United States: Reuniting a Nation, 1865–1920 (Routledge, 2020) and William Howard Taft and the Philippines: A Blueprint for Empire (University of Tennessee Press, 2020). He has also authored several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century US, including for the journal Sport History Review.