Sport and history

Focus on a specific case study (a particular sport and/or theme) and explore what you learn about history from the study of sport and why it’s significance. (This course is about: Sport, as a passion, business, and political platform is one of the hallmarks of contemporary society. The “philosopher-athlete” Jorge Valdano once claimed it was the most important of all unimportant things. How did sport come to dominate so much of people’s “free time?” Why does it generate such enormous sums of money? And most importantly, what can we learn about social change by studying its history? This is an interdisciplinary course that examines the role of sport in the history of the Americas, both the US, but with a major focus on Latin America, as well. ) Choose a particular time period and use the course readings as well as two or three outside sources, through the library’s scholarly databases (ex. JSTOR or Project muse), do include a bibliography. The course readings: Elliott Gorn and Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of American Sports, University of Illinois Press (second edition). Sports Matters: Race, Recreation, and Culture, John Bloom and Michael Willard, eds. NYU Press. Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel, Futbolera: A History of Futbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America, University of Texas Press.