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November 22, 2014

We modern Americans are the most sports-crazed society in the history of the world. We sign up our kids in youth sports leagues before they can walk; turn players into mythic national heroes; and spend billions on cable subscriptions, tickets, and more. How did sports come to matter so much in America? What does this say about our society? And how can we better understand the pleasures and problems of America today through the lens of sports? This seminar will attempt to answer all these questions while also reviewing the historical impact of race, class, and gender in the makeup of American sports and its followers. With sports making local and national headlines for a variety of non-sporting reasons, this seminar offers us a chance to review the importance and place of sports in our lives.

Topics & Speakers

Sports in American Society
Orin Starn, Professor of Cultural Anthropology and History and Chair of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University

All Deliberate Speed: Race and Sport in American History
Matthew Andrews, Lecturer and Departmental Advisor, History

The (R)evolution of Women’s Sport
Barbara Osborne, Associate Professor of Exercise and Sport Science

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in US Sporting Cultures
A panel discussion with our speakers

Time & Cost
9:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, November 22, 2014. The tuition is $125 ($110 by August 29). Tuition for teachers is $62.50 ($55 by August 29). 10 contact hours for 1 unit of renewal credit. The optional lunch is $15.00.

For information about lodging click here.

Co-Sponsored by the General Alumni Association.

For information about GAA discounts and other scholarships available to Humanities Program participants, click here.

Register for this seminar.