Sports play a giant role in contemporary society worldwide. But few of us pause to think about the larger questions of money, politics, race, sex, culture, and commercialization that surround sports everywhere. This course draws on the tools of anthropology, sociology, history, and other disciplines to give you new perspectives on the games we watch and play.

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It's the new and improved version of Professor Orin Starn's original "Sports and Society" for Coursera, which drew more than 40,000 students. We will focus on both popular sports like soccer (or “football,” as anyone outside America calls it), basketball, and baseball, and also lesser-known ones like mountain-climbing and fishing. You will never watch or think about sports in the same way again.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Getting Started! Games, Play, and Sports

WEEK 2: Globalization, Nationalism, and the Politics of Sports

WEEK 3: Race, Cultural Identity, and the Sports World

WEEK 4: Gender, Sexuality, and the Rise of Women's Sports

WEEK 5: Why Do We Care So Much about Sports?

WEEK 6: The Megabusiness of Sports

WEEK 7: Outdoor Sports, Extreme Sports, and the Search for Adventure