News and Other Events
New Book Release: “Rezballers and Skate Elders: Joyful Futures in Indian Country”
Congratulations to David Kamper, cofounder of Surf/Skate Studies Collaborative, on the publication of his new book, “Rezballers and Skate Elders: Joyful Futures in Indian Country,” published by the University of Nebraska Press.
The book explores how Indigenous communities use basketball and skateboarding as powerful tools for cultural expression, resilience, and mentorship. Through ethnographic research, Kamper highlights how these sports foster intergenerational connection, community building, and the reimagining of tradition, offering a hopeful, sovereign vision for Native futures.
Learn more about the book on the publisher's website.
Steve Hawk, former editor of SURFER Magazine, gives guest lecture at SDSU
Engaging talk gives students insight into how surfing promotes cross-cultural relationships across the globe
By SDSU CAL News Team
Monday, April 28, 2025
Steve Hawk, former editor of SURFER Magazine and vice chair of The Skateboard Project (formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation), visited San Diego State University in March to give a guest lecture in Professor Michael Roberts’ sociology course, Modern Surfing and Globalized Society.
The energy worked both ways. The students treated Hawk like a rock star, and Hawk said his audience was “a life-giving force.”
Hawk was joined by Kimball Taylor, lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies, who has written several articles for SURFER Magazine. The two discussed their experiences in journalism, including their experiences traveling to other countries and learning about the cultures of other people while on assignment for the magazine.
Read the full article on SDSU NewsCenter.
New SDSU, The Skatepark Project Partnership to drive skateboarding and action sports research
SDSU’s Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change and The Skatepark Project are now partners under a new agreement designed to promote the mental, physical and social benefits of skateboarding culture.
By La Monica Everett-Haynes
Monday, February 17, 2025
A new partnership to advance research and increase participation in action sports was launched by a San Diego State University center dedicated to skateboarding and The Skatepark Project (TSP) the world’s leader in skateboarding advocacy, education and philanthropy.
Through this new initiative, SDSU’s Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change and TSP aim to improve awareness of mental, physical and social benefits of skateboarding culture while introducing other student-centered and community-facing events and activities.
Read the story on SDSU NewsCenter.
This skateboarding economist suggests we need more skateparks and less capitalism
By Greg Rosalsky
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
"The Skateboarding Ethic and the Spirit of Anti-Capitalism." That was the title of an unusual paper presented at the annual meeting of American economists this year. The title was clearly a reference to a famous 1905 book by German sociologist and economist Max Weber, The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. And I really wanted to know what this economist was going to argue, and, even more, who he was.
This year's economics conference was spread out across hotels around San Francisco's Union Square. On the first day of the conference, it was raining hard, and I ran from my hotel to another one down the street to see this paper be presented.
Sopping wet, I entered a small, basement conference room before the presentations began. "Is this where the skateboarding paper is being presented?" I asked the room.
Sure enough, a Gen Xer with baggy blue jeans, Vans skate shoes, and a tweed blazer with elbow pads — the only fashion item that screamed "I'm an academic" — stood up and turned around. "Yes, I'm presenting the skateboarding paper here," he said.
This tweed-jacketed, Vans-wearing man was Thomas Kemp. He's an economist at The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. Kemp says he's been
skateboarding for 40 years, and he continues to skate every day he can (it gets harder
to skate during Wisconsin's winters, so Kemp says he snow skates as well).
Read the full article on NPR.
The Art of Surfing and Skateboarding Photography: A Panel Discussion with J. Grant Brittain, Grant Ellis, Todd Glaser, and Miki Vuckovich
Tuesday April 16, 2024
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Location: Leon Williams Room (Love Library 430)
Come learn about the art of taking surf and skate photos from industry experts.
Grant Brittain began his career taking photos at the Del Mar Skate Ranch. He went on to found Transworld Skateboarding Magazine and The Skateboard Mag. He continues as a freelance photographer and teacher.
Grant Ellis studied commercial photography in his home country of South Africa in the 1990s. But it was the inspiration to apply this skill to another life-long passion, surfing, that drew Ellis around the world in the service of celebrated clients and publications. In addition to his own photography, Ellis filled the photo editor’s seat at Surfer magazine for 17 years, and now performs that role at Surfer’s Journal.
Todd Glaser is a San Diego-born photographer, surfer, and waterman. A SURFER Staff Photographer for over a decade, Glaser is prolific for his young age, earning more than a dozen covers during his tenure at the magazine.
Miki Vuckovich took a photo class with high-school friend Tony Hawk in 1982. Every day after school, the two would go to the skatepark and shoot all of their assignments there, before doing more skating. Ultimately, Miki’s been shooting for four decades, still likes to try new things, and isn’t afraid to spend several minutes or an hour to capture the perfect image on his iPhone (if that’s all he has on him).
Sponsored by the Surf/Skate Studies Collaborative and the University Library.