Course Description
Humans have engaged in sports as part of their culture from prehistoric times. They have worked to safeguard cultural heritage in sites from Athens, Greece to Athens, Georgia. This course focuses on how people of all ages have engaged in sport as a reflection and facilitator of cultural change, even as they worked to preserve the integrity of sport as their cultural heritage.
Athena Title
Sports Heritage
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
- Describe and distinguish between tangible and intangible cultural heritage - Learn how to view sports not simply from the perspective of a fan or participant, but as sets of practices and places that yield themselves to cultural analysis - Describe, interpret, and appreciate sport and associated sites and practices as key aspects of human cultural heritage - Analyze the impact and role of sport and sport heritage on our understanding of the human condition - Learn how to analyze a primary source; explain its major features and concerns, figure out what perspectives are highlighted or marginalized, pinpoint implicit understandings that the evidence reveals unintentionally, and acknowledge what uncertainties remain
Topical Outline
Topics of the course include: Sports as Cultural Heritage Classical and Traditional Sport Olympics as Heritage Rise of Modern Team Sports History and Design of 20th-Century Arenas Race and Sports Heritage Economics of Sporting Venues Gender, Sexuality, and Sports Heritage Sites Ecology and Sports Landscapes Sports Tourism and Nostalgia Technology and Sports Heritage