photo by Katelyn Edwards
At a time when professional athletes showcase their talents in the Olympics, the Department of Women and Gender Studies shed light on an underlying issue in sports around the globe.
The Gender Scholar Lecture Series is an ongoing set of presentations and lectures put on to educate students and faculty alike about the status of women in a variety of fields.
This past Tuesday, sports communications professor Dunja Antunovic furthered the series with her presentation entitled, “Looking for a Seismic Shift: Media Coverage of Women’s Sport.”
Drawing heavily on her own personal experiences in her tennis career and from competing at the international and intercollegiate level, Antunovic saw the lack of coverage given to women’s sports and competitions. According to Antunovic, furthered her professional aspirations outside of sports.
“I wanted to go into journalism because I knew there was a lack of coverage in women’s sports, but there was plenty to cover,” Antunovic said. “Being in the field of sports communication, I found a platform to cover women’s sports and other gender issues in the field of athletics and the future generation of sports journalists.”
Certain courses within the Women and Gender Studies program sponsored the lecture, which motivated students in attendance to take notes and interact with Antunovic about the content of the presentation.
Of those in attendance was senior psychology major Delia Bodem, who said Antunovic brings up a valid concern for the attention of women in sports.
“The coverage of women’s sports is lacking even though there are factors suggesting otherwise,” major Delia Bodem said. “This poses a problem in the future, as we do not know what else women can do to gain recognition.”
Senior sports communications major Shareece Burrell shares a similar point of view, and has personal experience with the subject.
“Being on the women’s basketball team, there are noticeable differences between us and the men’s team,” Burrell said. “We have a different audience, arena and expectations. It was interesting to hear from a professor who underwent the same thing in her athletic career.”
Antunovic said she hopes to build a bridge between what she has seen in high-level competition and what she can provide from a professor’s standpoint for students and faculty in understanding women’s sports throughout the past few decades.
“Our goal [of the series] is to broadcast the Women and Gender Studies program beyond students who take the classes,” Antunovic said. “The series covers a range of topics in an effort to incorporate as many interests as possible.”
If you are looking to catch more presentations sponsored by the Women and Gender Studies program, there are further installments in the Lecture Series set to be given over the next few weeks.
