麻豆传媒映画

Steve Hawk, former editor of SURFER Magazine, gives guest lecture at 麻豆传媒映画

Engaging talk gives students insight into how surfing promotes cross-cultural relationships across the globe

Monday, April 28, 2025
After the SOC 331 class, students gather for a group photo with guest speaker Steve Hawk and Professor Mike Roberts. (Leslie L.J. Reilly/麻豆传媒映画)
After the SOC 331 class, students gather for a group photo with guest speaker Steve Hawk and Professor Mike Roberts. (Leslie L.J. Reilly/麻豆传媒映画)

Steve Hawk, former editor of SURFER Magazine and vice chair of The Skateboard Project (formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation), visited 麻豆传媒映画 in March to give a guest lecture in Professor Michael Roberts鈥 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 鈥渁 life-giving force.鈥

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. 

鈥淚 talked about what it鈥檚 like to be a traveling surfer and a journalist,鈥 Hawk said. 鈥淚 talked about how to tell a good story when you鈥檙e in a foreign country. The best stories are not in the surf. The best stories are often on land. They鈥檙e about the interactions between people.鈥

Hawk also led a group discussion with students about the future of surf culture.

鈥淚鈥檓 stoked that Steve agreed to come to my class and talk to my students about his experiences in the surf world,鈥 said Roberts. 鈥淗e鈥檚 really good at engaging our students and revealing to us how surf journalists make meaningful contributions to our efforts to promote cross-cultural relationships based on mutual respect and understanding.鈥

The students were particularly interested in the question of cultural diversity in surfing. 

One student asked Hawk to provide advice about how individual surfers without a media platform can help promote diversity and inclusion in surfing. Hawk mentioned we still need to improve inclusion and diversity in surfing, especially when comparing surfing to skateboarding (which is significantly more diverse). But he insisted there are ways that individuals can do things on the micro level.

鈥淢y advice was to be chatty in the lineup. Don鈥檛 sit there and be mum in the water,鈥 Hawk said. 鈥淭he best thing you can do to release tension in the lineup is to compliment other surfers for their last ride. You can win a friend if you say, 鈥楬ey that was a great wave.鈥欌

鈥淭his is my third time at 麻豆传媒映画,鈥 Hawk said. 鈥淚鈥檓 always impressed about how attentive and engaged the students are and how willing they are to ask tough questions. I love that. I want to be challenged in a setting like that because it forces me to think through something that I hadn鈥檛.鈥

Hawk mentioned he is still surfing and enjoys staying involved in both surfing and skateboarding. 鈥淚 love being in both sports because of the youthful energy,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 get that same feeling when I come to 麻豆传媒映画. Being around smart young people who are curious and ask good questions? That鈥檚 a life-giving force.鈥

Professor Roberts鈥 course is one of two courses focused on the history and culture of surfing offered here at 麻豆传媒映画.

鈥淢y two sociology courses are part of a larger curriculum on surfing and skateboarding now offered at 麻豆传媒映画,鈥 Roberts said. 鈥淪tudents can also take courses on the science of surfing, the culture and history of skateboarding, a surfing-focused course in rhetoric and writing studies, among others.鈥

As a founding member of the here at 麻豆传媒映画, Roberts said he plans to continue organizing events like this in the future, so 麻豆传媒映画 can continue building fruitful relationships with key figures in the surf and skate industries 鈥 many of whom are located right here in San Diego.

Hawk鈥檚 first visit to 麻豆传媒映画 was as a co-keynote speaker with his well-known brother Tony Hawk at the .

鈥淲e are in planning stages of the next four-day conference at 麻豆传媒映画 鈥 , which takes place Oct. 9-12 this fall,鈥 Roberts added. 鈥淪o, get ready for more fantastic academic discussions on board culture here at 麻豆传媒映画.鈥

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