SPME300 International Sports Culture

In less than a hundred years sports have become an essential part of world culture. Sports events are our passions and sports athletes are our heroes. Sports have become a source of national identities and have often been a focal point for international geopolitics. In this course, we first develop an understanding of sports that are popular abroad, but not well understood at home (e.g., cricket, football, hurling). Then we will explore the ways that sports are understood and appreciated in other nations. We will also explore situations in recent history when sports events became important in geopolitical tensions (e.g., 1936 Berlin Olympics, 1974 heavyweight boxing title fight in Zaire, 2008 Beijing Olympics). The course includes an optional study abroad component at the end of the semester, when we will travel internationally to both view live sporting events and study the media coverage of sports in the places we visit. Prerequisite: SPME101: Foundations of Sports Media. Offered every spring semester.