March 6, 2009

Sox vs. Yankees: a Scholarly Field of Dreams

By STEVE KOLOWICH

The storied baseball rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees is known to ignite heated debates in bleachers and bars, but what about the ivied walls of academe?

Margaret S. Creighton, a history professor at Bates College, in Maine, has taught a seminar since 2005 called "Red Sox Nation: Baseball and American Culture." Sensing an imbalance, Theodore Curtis, an assistant professor of sports management at Lynn University, in Florida, this year created a January-term