2006 OSU Summer Residential Program
Black Images: Sports and Race in American Culture
During the month of June, the Community Extension Center welcomed six high school students to its Summer Residential Program. The focus for the 2006 program was the study of Black Images: Sports and Race in American Culture.
Dr. Jessica A. Johnson was the academic instructor for the program. Dr. Johnson is an educator, columnist and researcher in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Johnson's scholarly research centers on race and gender issues in sport history and popular culture. She also serves as a special correspondent for the Columbus Dispatch and contributing writer for New York Sportscene Magazine.
Students read articles and newspaper columns regarding current race issues in sports and popular culture, viewed several sports and race centered movies including Glory Road and Coach Carter and visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
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Through these experiences, students:
- Gained a better understanding of the implications of sport integration and how it challenged American egalitarian ideals.
- Assessed how racism and race relations in the institution of sport mirror American society.
- Analyzed how the sporting experience of the black athlete is identical to the social, economic and political struggles of African Americans.
For their final project the students paired into two groups and created PowerPoint presentation about a prominent issued related to race and sports.
Title: Overcoming Adversity in Sports
Josh Carroll, Harry Clark, Josh Richardson
2006 OSU Summer Residential Program
Participants and Staff Participants and Staff
(Shown (L-R) Back row: Rodriquez Johnson (Graduate Associate), Dr. Jessica Johnson (instructor), Harry Clark, Josh Richardson, Josh Carroll, Brian Wilks, (Teaching Assistant). Front row: India Walker, Sharese Ross, Dana Dorsey. Not pictured: Carla Wilks, Program Coordinator, Marvin Mitchell
Staff
Rodriquez Johnson is a graduate student in The Ohio State University College of Education. He is completing his requirements for his Master's Degree this summer and will graduate in August. Upon graduation Rod will return to his home of Atlanta, GA where he will begin his career teaching high school.
Dr. Jessica Johnson is a faculty member at Columbus State Community College and also teaches in The Ohio State University Departments of African American and African Studies and Comparative Studies.
Brian Wilks will be a sophomore next year at Youngstown State University. His current major is forensic science but is he considering a change to elementary education or digital media technology. Brian has attended the Summer Residential Program as a student for the past three years.
Josh Carroll - Josh is home-schooled and will be a junior next year. Josh is a member of Central Ohioans for Peace and volunteers at COSI and the Columbus Metropolitan Library. His interest is in multimedia and would like to attend The Ohio State University or that other school up north-Michigan State.
Harry Clark attends Cleveland Heights Schools and will be a junior next year. Harry plays football and runs track. Harry is interested in becoming a pediatrician or veterinarian and plans to attend The Ohio State University.
Josh Richardson attends Dublin Schools and will be a junior next year. Josh plays football, basketball and runs track. Josh plans on playing football for The Ohio State University and majoring in business.
Sharese Ross attends Columbus Public Schools and will be a sophomore next year. She plays the clarinet in the marching band. Sherese is interested in acting, law and psychology and is looking at colleges and would like to go out of state.
India Walker attends Cleveland Heights Schools and will be a junior next year. She is a wrestler. India holds many honors in wrestling in free and folk style. Among them are State Champion, Midwestern Champion and Kentucky State Champion. India plans to attend Cumberland College in Kentucky and become a high school physical education teacher.
