A renowned economist, who has been described as one of America’s most influential sports educators, will be the guest speaker at the next Political Awareness Club event at the Williston Northampton School.
Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College professor and author, will speak to students and faculty on February 26 at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Zimbalist will address the question of whether Massachusetts should host the Olympics. He will also talk about his latest book, Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup.
Mr. Zimbalist is the Robert A. Woods professor of economics at Smith College and a member of the Five College Graduate Faculty. He has published 22 books and several dozen articles primarily in the areas of comparative economic systems, economic development, and sports economics.
Mr. Zimbalist received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Among many other places, his articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, and The Huffington Post. From 2002 to 2004, he did a bi-weekly commentary on the business of sports for NPR’s Marketplace.
His long list of notable engagements have included serving as a consultant to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Department of Justice, and National Basketball Players’ Association. Mr. Zimbalist also worked with Ken Burns on two documentaries on baseball in America. He was selected as one of America’s Top 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sport.
The Williston Political Awareness Club (PAC) is made up of students who work to increase the civic engagement of Williston community. PAC strives to create a more politically aware campus through student-lead discussions, debates, and guest speakers. Previous debate topics have included wealth inequality in America, paying college athletes, and public education inequality.
The PAC event on February 26 is open to the Williston community, but not the public at large.