Sports & Society: American Football: History, Culture, and Ethics 

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 353A

Powerful in its explosive gameplay, masculine resonance, and broad appeal to fan identity, the game of football is an American cultural juggernaut that can't be ignored. And yet the sport is facing a crisis, one brought about by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (or CTE), a devastating brain disorder caused by the lifelong accumulation of concussive and subconcussive hits to the head. In this course we will examine the history, culture, and ethics of American football, with a particular eye to matters of race, gender, technology, and public health. Beyond the playing field, we will also assess the manner in which, as Tom Oates puts it, the game is "an important cultural force that shapes and is shaped by the contested ideological terrain on which politics, including the politics of everyday life, are staged."
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; BU BA; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC

Section 01

Sports & Society: Contemporary Issues in American Sports
INSTRUCTOR: Cohan
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