CSP 80 Politics, Culture, and Sports

Sports offer paths to glory for athletes; they create shared emotional experiences for competitors, spectators, and fans; they give cities, states, and nations a common purpose. What, then, can sports teach us about politics, culture, and society? This class uses critical theory to study amateur and professional sports in the contemporary United States and across the globe. Students will analyze sports institutions, organizations, and teams to explore ethics, racial and social justice, gender and sexuality, patriotism and nationalism, international relations, and economics. By thinking analytically about sports, students will reflect on how the industry shapes narratives about equality, opportunity, identity, and nationhood.