ANTHR 1135

FWS: Anthropology of Sport

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2014-2015 Catalog.

Long overlooked by anthropologists, sport and recreation are increasingly recognized as important windows into culture.  Sport can be approached from a number of directions -- interpreted as a ritual; viewed as a spectacle of ethnic, regional, or national identity; seen as a metaphor for life; understood as a major industry.  This course will consider these and other approaches to sport, encouraging students to bring their own involvements in sport to reflect not only upon sport itself, but also upon how such reflection can illuminate cultural, psychological, and political issues in broader social context.  Why, for example, do we take sport (and other forms of recreation) so seriously?  Why do many of us apparently invest more of our passion in such pursuits than to life's more serious activities?  Readings will draw from popular literature and media as well as academic writing from a variety of disciplines (psychology, sociology, history) in addition to anthropology.

When Offered Fall.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

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