Lane Demas
Lane Demas received his B.A. from Northwestern University (2002), and his M.A. (2005) and Ph.D. (2008) from the University of California, Irvine. Before joining the faculty at Central Michigan University in 2008, he taught at Scripps College and Claremont McKenna College.
Research and Teaching Interests
Professor Demas specializes in the history of race and popular culture in twentieth-century America, specifically sport and African American integration. His current project looks at the desegregation of American College Football from 1935-1970, comparing the stories of black athletes at institutions throughout the country and contextualizing intercollegiate sport within the larger historiography of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Professor Demas has also published on heavyweight boxer Joe Louis, emphasizing an interdisciplinary analysis of Louis’s immense popularity and exploring the relationship between boxing and the transnational politicization of race in the late 1930s.
He teaches courses in African American history, including upper-division seminars on race and sport.
Recent Publications
“Sport History, Race, and the College Gridiron: A Southern California Turning Point” Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 2 (Summer 2007), 169-193.
“Beyond Jackie Robinson: Racial Integration in American College Football and New Directions in Sport History” History Compass, Vol. 5, No. 2 (March 2007), 675–690.
“The Brown Bomber’s Dark Day: Louis-Schmeling I and America’s Black Hero” Journal of Sport History, Vol. 31, No. 3 (Fall 2004), 253-271.