Sports and Recreation

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Sports and recreation are a huge part of American life. What we do for fun reflects who we are and what we aspire to be as individuals, as members of a group or subculture, and as a nation. Amusement parks, city parks, national parks, stadiums, and sports fields shape the built and natural world around us; sports media, outdoor recreation, and tourism represent billion-dollar industries and influence American politics and culture. Because sports and recreation foster community and identity, they also become sites of conflict. As a result, they provide a useful lens for examining major themes and questions integral to the field of American Studies. Just as Introduction to American Studies served as your gateway to the major, this seminar will be the culminating experience. Readings and assignments will explore research and scholarship examining sports and recreation in the context of American Studies as a field, and students will develop research projects on a topic of their own choice. Requirements will include seminar-style discussions of assigned readings, a final research project of 20-25 pages, and an oral presentation of that project in class, as well as some smaller writing assignments.