Cultural Studies of Sports

In this course, we will investigate cultures of sports in the United States by analyzing and crafting representations of sports in everyday life. We will cover texts that critically analyze the power of sports in creating cultural meanings and in shaping ideas of cultural difference. We will focus on the methodology of ethnography as a way to investigate and represent the cultures of sports. We will engage in ethnographic investigations of sporting cultures such as audience reception studies, mapping projects, participant observation, and interviews. The data collected will be incorporated into polished written assignments.