My name is David G. Schwartz. I originally trained as a historian and have studied gambling, games, and tourism, and recently have shifted my focus to conflict resolution. For now, though, most of my books are about gambling and history, in one form or another.
I first got interested in gambling as a kid growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1970s. Some of my earliest memories are of the classic hotels of the city being imploded to make way for modern casinos with hotel towers that had none of the charm of the original. Despite this early evidence that, perhaps, history might not have the strongest hold over people, I decided to major in it as an undergrad, along with anthropology.
In grad school (UCLA, US History) I had to choose something to write a book-length historical study on, and it had to be something that would contribute in some way to the literature
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That's when I remembered the questions I'd had about casinos as a kid: Why did they need to blow up those beautiful old buildings to build new ones that didn't look nearly as nice? If people wanted to gamble, why did they have to do it in casinos? With a few questions like that, I was on my way to writing a dissertation about the historical development of casinos.
After I got my Ph.D., I worked in casino surveillance for about a year, then took at job at UNLV directing the Center for Gaming Research. I wrote a great deal about gambling and history in those years, running the gamut from academic articles, material for popular magazines, and books. Other fun jobs I’ve had over the years include casino security, beach cleaner (no, really, and it’s probably the best one), museum security, dishwasher, short order cook, SAT teacher, and Mr. Peanut.
I also teach. In the past I have taught both halves of the United States history survey course and teach a course in casino history. I have developed several honors seminars on topics like jazz history, conspiracy theories, the history of video games, and alternate history. In addition, I do workshops on various conflict resolution and communication topics.
In 2021, I started working as UNLV’s Ombuds, where I apply many of the same principles that first drew me to the study of history—namely, a genuine curiosity and desire to understand. Since then, I have gotten an ombuds certification and mediation credential, and have dipped my toes into scholarly writing about ombudsing and conflict resolution.
