Global Sport: Anthropological Perspectives

Sport operates within vast networks of political, economic, and social investment. But who controls sport, and how? In this course, we approach sport as a set of labor practices. Modern sport is inseparable from the history of British and European industrialization. With an emphasis on the power of institutions, we analyze why sport has taken certain technical forms and social significances. We investigate the historical and cultural constraints through which the body is disciplined. Students will undertake writing projects about sport and that enable them to experience the challenges and opportunities of transforming athletics into text.