KINE 299 Women's Sports and Empowerment

This course will explore the impact of sports participation on female experiences, specifically considering multilevel psychological and socio-cultural women’s empowerment measures, such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and solidarity. Focusing primarily on soccer, we will consider the possibility that the very act of training the body through sports contributes to a greater sense of ownership of one’s body – a critical psychological state for women’s health, personal security, and, ultimately, empowerment. Through the framework of social cognitive theory of gender development, we will also examine the relationship between physicality, psychology, and gender identity development. Finally, over the course of the semester, we will vet sports participation as an intervention to address gender inequality, including the impact of relevant policy, such as Title IX. Through a community-based learning component, students will have the chance to engage in qualitative inquiry on the effect of sports on health and self-concept.