Michael J Zogry

Dr. Michael J. Zogry is an associate professor of Religious Studies at KU. From 2011-2016, he was Director of the Indigenous Studies Program at KU; from 2010-2016, he served as co-chair of the Native Traditions in the Americas Program Unit, American Academy of Religion. Zogry researches Native American religions and religions in the United States. His research focuses on the interrogation of received concepts (ritual, sport, play and games) and issues of historiography and representation in the study of religions. Zogry's first book, Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game: At the Center of Ceremony and Identity (University of North Carolina Press), was one of the first volumes in the series First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies. In 2015 Zogry discovered the only known audio recording of James Naismith in the Library of Congress while researching his book in progress, Religion and Basketball: Naismith's Game. The book examines the influence of James Naismith's religious beliefs on his life, including the creation of basketball, as well as on the commemoration of his legacy.