In the almost sixty years since World War II, sports have become the most important institution in the United States for working through questions of race, gender, and class. American sports are rarely “just a game,” but are instead loaded with multiple meanings—sometimes read as serious morality plays, sometimes as patriotic pageants, other times as mere consumer spectacles. Looking at sports can tell us about the state of race relations in American society, about the rapid advancement of equality for women, about the condition of our cities, about how we value the human body, about domestic and international political developments, and about the levels of civility and community in American society. Sports both reflect and shape our cultural ideas.
Americans are fans. Sports matter because we care so much about them: they have played a vital part in the creation of community identity in postwar America. We root for the “home team,” wear team colors, argue about blown calls, and celebrate great plays. But a powerful emphasis on winning has created a fascinating duality in how Americans understand sports. The problems created by cheating, drug use, violent behavior, and an emphasis on financial gain have been bemoaned as representing the decline of the nation itself. Yet Americans continue to believe sports encourage good citizenship and morality and celebrate athletes as national heroes. This class will explore how both responses are possible, while looking at the constant interplay between sport and larger social and cultural forces in the United States. This is a course about sports in American society. Our daily discussions will explore how sports came to occupy such a primary role in American society. When people dismiss sports as “just a game,” they’re missing much of what makes them so vital to American daily life.

*Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger, (2000)
* More Than Just a Game: Sports and American Life since 1945 by Kathyrn Jay, (2004)
* Reading Packet