Murray Sperber Papers

Fonds

Identifier: SPR

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Research files from his years as a graduate student at Berkeley, concerning Arthur Koestler and the Spanish Civil War, including his dissertation; files concerning his work as a professor at Indiana University, including course files, the dossier assembled in support of his review for promotion to full professor, and course evaluations; files from his time as a sports writer, including printed material, clippings, and manuscripts concerning soccer; files representing his academic publications, including research files on Orwell, Eisenstein, and others; research files for his books, with drafts, notes, photocopies, correspondence, manuscripts and galleys; also manuscripts of unpublished mystery and science fiction novels, photographs, printed material, and audio-visual material.

Dates

Creation: 1970-2006.

Creator

Sperber, Murray (Person)

Language of Materials

English.

Conditions Governing Access

Papers closed for processing. Audio-visual material open for use.

Background

Born 30 November 1940 in Montreal, Murray Sperber earned a B.A. from Purdue University in 1961, an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963, and a Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1974. He served as a professor of English and American Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, 1971-2004. He published academic articles and anthologies about Arthur Koestler, George Orwell, and the Spanish Civil War, including And I Remember Spain: a Spanish Civil War Anthology , Arthur Koestler: a Collection of Critical Essays , and Literature and Politics . But he is best known for his books about higher education and college sports, including College Sports Inc.: the Athletic Department vs the University , Shake Down the Thunder: the Creation of Notre Dame Football , Onward to victory: the Crises that Shaped College Sports , and Beer and Circus: How Big-time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education .