This course introduces students to some of the key themes and debates relating to the historical development of modern sport and its role in modern societies. The class will encourage critical thinking about the ways in which sport affects and is affected by politics and societies.


NB Honours students will follow the same syllabus as students enrolled in the standard section of the class. Additional assignments - usually a 1 or 2 person tutorial - will be incorporate on subjects selected by the students, in agreement with the professor. For all further details please consult the HS378 Syllabus.

Some of sport’s greatest historical moments - Jesse Owens’ Olympic triumph in 1936, or the ‘Miracle on Ice’ – were in fact about politics. The relationship between sport and politics, economics, society and culture is fascinating and complex. Studying sport can offer us a way to examine totalitarian regimes in Germany and Italy, an angle for considering international relations or insight into the construction and maintenance of national identity in newly independent nations. Issues about race, empire, gender and class can all be explored within the context of professional and amateur sport. This course will focus on a selection of different historical and political realities – and a variety of sports – to assess some of the intersections between sport, politics and society. Taking a global perspective, we will examine a wide variety of case studies from Italy, other European societies and the USA, but non-Western cultures will also be important. The end of European empires has often witnessed acts of ‘post-colonial revenge’ on the sports field, and offers a way to look at post-imperial power dynamics away from high politics. Sports discussed include athletics, cricket, soccer, baseball, gaelic sports, water polo, cycling and more besides.

Students will be encouraged to think critically about sport and the values, traditions and expectations which are linked to sport; to illustrate some of the political and social roles sport has played in the twentieth century; to gain a fuller understanding of the history of amateur and professional sports and their significance. We will both explore the history of sport and use sport as a starting point to investigate other, related topics.

Through the primary focus is always historical, the course will explore contemporary issues relating to international relations, globalization, sociology and mass culture.

By the end of the course students should:

• understand the historical development of organised sport in the Western World;

• be able to reflect on some of the key interactions between sport and politics in the twentieth century;

• be able to critically examine the social role which sport has historically played in various circumstances;

• have a new insight into the sports cultures of their own society;

• have a new insight into their own situation as fans and consumers of sport.

More than 3 unauthorised absences will cause your final overall grade to be reduced (ie. A- to B+, B+ to B etc) while more than 6 unauthorised absences will reduce the grade one full letter (A to B, B to C etc). An excused absence requires a doctor's note or official evidence that you have had an illness, family emergency or legal obligation which prevents you from attending class. Please bring or email this notification directly to me unless there is a good reason not to, otherwise please go to the Faculty Support Office in the Guarini Campus.

Travel plans, or mistakes in travel plans, are not an acceptable reason for missing class.

Students must sign in on the class attendance sheet at the start of each class. Students arriving more than 10 minutes after the start of class will be recorded as absent. Please be punctual. Attendance records are based on the sign-in sheet so it is your responsibility to make sure you sign it every class.

It is not possible to arrange make-ups for mid-term or final exams. See catalogue for further details.