Martha Saavedra

Since 1993, Martha Saavedra has been the Associate Director of the Center for African Studies, an interdisciplinary research center supporting basic research and training of scholars as well as providing resources on Africa to the greater community. With a doctorate in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley (1991), her research has included agrarian politics and ethnic conflict in Sudan, and gender and sports in Senegal and elsewhere in Africa. She has taught at St. Mary's College of California and at UC Berkeley, and her courses have covered a range of topics, including political economy in the third world, women in Africa, women and international development, and gender and sports. Her publications include articles and chapters on various aspects of gender and sport and on ethnic politics in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. She is currently working on the question of Islam, sport and gender in Africa. She is on the editorial boards of Soccer and Society; Sport in Society; and The Interdisciplinary Journal of Sports in Africa. She serves on the executive board of the West African Research Association. A veteran of Title IX battles, she has played soccer for 30 years and now coaches her son's team.