HI2H4-15 A Global History of Sport
Introductory description
Sport is a global phenomenon and therefore lends itself to study from a global perspective. There are numerous ways in which sport both impacts and is shaped by society, including existing structures of class, race and gender. Sport has often been disseminated around the world via imperialism and has subsequently been an important factor in nation-building and decolonisation. Sport is also big business in many parts of the world and has become interwoven with political issues.
Module aims
To allow students to study the history of sport in an interdisciplinary manner, where they are able to focus the curriculum in ways that particularly interest them. Since many sports are 'niche' they would not justify an entire module, but this module will allow students to study and be assessed on sports that particularly interest them.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Negotiated curriculum decided by students in the first week of the module. Topics will vary based on student interest but previous modules have concentrated on the history of football and cricket with a focus on issues relating to class, race, gender, corruption, and imperialism. There are opportunities with this new module to include numerous other sports, either with a global impact (e.g. Rugby, Motor Racing, Tennis, Golf, Boxing, the Olympics) or a more localised one (e.g. Baseball, Basketball, American Football, Skiing)
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the key themes and issues in the Global History of Sport, and to evaluate them in historical context.
- Communicate ideas and findings about sport in historical context, adapting to a range of situations, audiences and degrees of complexity.
- Generate ideas through the analysis of a body of primary source material, including online sources.
- Analyse and evaluate the contributions made by existing interdisciplinary scholarship on sport history.
- Act with limited supervision and accept responsibility to interact effectively within a team, giving and receiving information and ideas.
Indicative reading list
David McDonald, ‘Sports History and the Historical profession’, in R. Edelman and W. Wilson, The Oxford Handbook of Sports History (2017) [ebook]
E. Anderson, A. White, Sport, Theory and Social Problems (2018)
John Bale and Mike Cronin (eds), Sport and Postcolonialism (2003)
D. Booth, ‘Invitation to historians: the historiographical turn of a practicing (sport) historian’, Rethinking History [serial online]. December 2014;18(4):583-598.
Douglas Hartmann, ‘Sport and Social Theory’, in The Oxford Handbook of Sports History
J. Hughson, ‘The Postmodernist Always Rings Twice: Reflections on the “New” Cultural Turn in Sports History’. International Journal Of The History Of Sport 30(1) (2013), 35-45
Murray Philips and Gary Osmond (eds.), Sports History in the Digital Era (2015)
Martin Polley, Sports History: A Practical Guide (2007)
Roger Rees and Andrew Miracle, Sport and Social Theory (1986)
Peter Alegi, African Soccerscapes (2010)
C.Bolsmann and D.Porter, English Gentlemen and World Soccer: Corinthians, Amatuerism and the Global game (2018)
Carrie Dunn, Female football fans : community, identity and sexism (2014)
Joshua Nadel, Futbol: Why Soccer matters in Latin America (2014)
Hilary Beckles and Brian Stoddary, Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture (1995)
Derek Birley A Social History of English Cricket (1999)
Richard Cashman, Patrons, players and the crowd: the phenomenon of Indian Cricket (1980)
Jon Gemmel, The politics of South African Cricket (2004)
C L R James, Beyond a Boundary (1963)
Research element
Students are expected to undertake original research using newspapers and online multimedia resources when writing their assignments
Interdisciplinary
The global history of sport encompasses politics (eg. sporting boycotts), media (TV/radio/print), finance (of sport, broadcast rights etc), and science (drug use, medical care for athletes, biomechanics).
International
As a global history module students will be exploring sport in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.
Subject specific skills
Evaluation of key themes and issues placing them in their historical context.
Analysis of a body of primary source material, including online sources.
Analysis and evaluation of interdisciplinary scholarship on sport history.
Transferable skills
Communication skills (both oral and in writing)
Acting on own initiative and within a team
Study time
| Type | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|
| Seminars | 9 sessions of 2 hours (12%) | |
| Tutorials | 2 sessions of 1 hour (1%) | |
| External visits | (0%) | 1 session of 5 hours |
| Private study | 52 hours (35%) | |
| Assessment | 78 hours (52%) | |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
The study of history requires an extensive amount of private study and preparation. For each seminar around 2-3 articles, monographs and primary sources will be analysed in advance by students. Each assessment requires research in primary and secondary sources as well as writing up time.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Applied Task (Blog post) | 40% | 15 hours | Yes (extension) |
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Students will create a blog post using images and/or video examining the role of a type of media (TV, print, radio etc) and how that mediates sport to the public |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Seminar contribution | 10% | 18 hours | No |
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Student's seminar contribution |
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Reassessment component |
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| 1000 word reflective essay in lieu of Seminar Contribution | Yes (extension) | ||
Assessment component |
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| 3000 word essay | 50% | 45 hours | Yes (extension) |
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final essay on a topic to be agreed with tutor |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Written comments via tabula and optional tutorial in office hours
Courses
This module is Optional for:
- Year 2 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
- Year 2 of UENA-VQ34 Undergraduate English and History (with a term in Venice)
- Year 2 of UHIA-V102 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream)
- Year 2 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
- Year 2 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
- Year 2 of UHIA-VM13 Undergraduate History and Politics (with a term in Venice)
- Year 2 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology
- Year 2 of UHIA-VL15 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with a term in Venice)
This module is Option list A for:
- Year 2 of UHIA-V1V7 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with a term in Venice)
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 2 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
This module is Option list C for:
- Year 2 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
- Year 2 of UHIA-V102 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream)