Steve Marston arrived at Trinity via a winding route that included stops at the University of Alabama (M.A., American Studies) and the University of Kansas (Ph.D, American Studies). While broadly addressing U.S. history and culture, his research focuses on the intersection of society and sports. Writing in both academic and popular-media spaces, he has addressed issues ranging from black cultural politics to the meanings of bodily touch in the sports world. His current work concerns the intersection of nationalism and global capitalism in professional cycling, particularly from the 1980s to the present.

Steve’s teaching approach is engagement-centered. He cultivates “active learning” by which students not only take in readings and lectures, but directly engage in course topics through extensive discussion and writing. Through this approach, his students develop a more critically informed approach to culture, questioning assumptions and drawing on evidence to stake out their positions.

curriculum vitae

 Publications:

• “The Episodic Kneel: Racial Neoliberalism, Civility, and the Media Circulation  of Colin Kaepernick, 2017-2020.”  Race and Social Problems 13 (2021): 205-214.
• “Managing Fear and Fantasy: Cultural Politics and Gameplay Governance in the National Basketball Association, 1990-2006.”  Sociology of Sport Journal 37:2 (2020): 125-132.
• “The Revival of Athlete Activism(s): Divergent Black Politics in the 2016 Presidential Election Engagements of LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick.”  Fair Play: Journal of Philosophy, Ethics and Sports Law 10 (Fall 2017): 45-68. (Republished as a chapter in Sports and Politics: Commodification, Capitalist Exploitation, and Political Agency (ed. Frank Jacob), De Gruyter Oldenbourg (2020): 119-140.)
• “Make Room for Hip-Hop: Mass-Print Mediation of ‘Baggy’ Basketball Shorts, 1990-1994.”  Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics 20:11 (2017): 1612-1624.
• “Spectacles of Speed: Masculinity, Modernity and Auto Racing in Kansas, 1909-1918.”  Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 38:3 (Fall 2015): 192-207.
  

Selected Presentations:

• “Cycling Identities: Greg LeMond’s Representation of (Trans)Nationalism and Global Capitalism, 1981-1990.” North American Society for Sport History Annual Convention, May 26-29, 2023, Washington, DC.
• “Globalizing ‘The Right Way’: Social-Media Construction of the National Basketball Association Academy program.” Summit on Communication and Sport, April 2-5, 2020, St. Petersburg, FL. *Postponed to 2021 (COVID-19).
• “The Spectacle of Bodily Error: Gruesome-Injury Videos as Contemporary Grotesquerie.” North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference, November 6-9, 2019, Virginia Beach, VA.
• “The Revival of Athlete Activism(s): Divergent Black Politics in the 2016 Presidential Election Engagements of LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick.” Sports and Politics conference, December 15, 2018, Verso Books, Brooklyn, NY.
• “The Manufacture of Sport Fantasy: Disneyfication/ization and Gameplay Governance in the National Basketball Association.” North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference, October 31-November 3, 2018, Vancouver, BC.
• “ Welding God to Country: Nationalist-Religious Ritual at the Dirt Race Track.” Mid-America American Studies Association Conference, March 4-5, 2016, Lawrence, KS.
• “Automotive Allegories: The Dirt Race Track as Theater of Ethics.” Midwest Popular Cultural Association Conference, October 1-4, 2015, Cincinnati, OH.
• “‘ I’m Something A Little Bit Special’: Muhammad Ali’s Performance as Interpreted by Sports Illustrated, 1964-1967.” North American Society for Sport History Annual Convention, May 30, 2014, Glenwood Springs, CO.
• “Drive to the White House: Barack Obama’s Navigation of Sports, Race and Gender During the 2008 Presidential Campaign.”  Alabama Grad Expo, November 6, 2010, Tuscaloosa, AL.