Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Sport, Self and Society
Instructor(s): Jeff Segrave, Health and Human Physiological Sciences and Peter McCarthy, Social Work
How many hours do we devote to sport in a week, as participants or fans? How many
of us follow with fanatical devotion a favorite team or athlete? Whether on the school,
club, neighborhood, city, or national level, many of us identify passionately with
athletes, teams, and our chosen sports. In this seminar, we will examine our personal
relationship to sports as recreation and institution. We will broaden our focus to
study the structure and culture of athletics over the past three-hundred years, examining
the relationship of sport to such social, cultural, and political institutions as
clubs, schools, neighborhoods, church, state, and nation. We will also consider sport’s
past and present role in international affairs and its enormous economic presence
in our lives. The seminar will feature several field trips as well as guest speakers.
Course Offered: