Summer 2016 - SA 353 J100
Sociology of Sport (S) (4)
Class Number: 3695
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
May 9 – Aug 8, 2016: Tue, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
Surrey
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Instructor:
Dominique Falls
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Prerequisites:
Minimum of 30 units including SA 150.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
A sociological examination of sport focuses on the role of this important set of institutions and activities in shaping social relations and understandings about difference and identity. Sport has a long history of naturalizing racial and gender differences in such a way as to reinforce and reflect social inequality more broadly. Racial segregation in sport (at least in formal legal terms) is no longer considered acceptable in western societies or in the Olympic movement at the global level. But the power of sport in reinforcing and naturalizing racial inequality continues while the naturalness and inevitability of sex segregation in sport remains largely unchallenged. This course will explore the relationships between sport and social inequality, sport and nationalism, and sport and the economy. Students with credit for SA 216 or SA 315 (when offered as Society of Leisure) may not take this course for further credit.
COURSE DETAILS:
Whether or not we like, participate in, or watch sport, it is firmly entrenched in the social, cultural, political, and economic structure of contemporary Canadian society. Everywhere we turn we are bombarded with messages of sport being ‘empowering’, ‘inspiring’ or ‘a way out of trouble’. Our central task in this course will be to ask the questions, ‘for whom’ and for what purposes’? Using our ‘sociological imagination’, we will work through the historical, biographical, and social structural reasons behind why sport looks the way it does. In addition, we will use an intersectionality framework to critically investigate how the social institution of sport is shaped by and helps shape our experiences of race, class, gender and sexuality. In an effort to critically examine these social structures ‘in place’, we will balance our discussions of broader patterns and concepts from the sociology of sport literature with ideas from the Aboriginal Canadian novel Indian Horse (2012) and non-fiction accounts of the experiences of Aboriginal Canadians in sport. This will allow us to develop the tools and concepts to identify and address taken-for-granted beliefs about the values and meanings of sport within ‘Canadian’ society, as well as to question what it means to be ‘Canadian’ in sport.
Grading
- Journal Article Annotation + Mini-presentation: 5%
- Contribution: 10%
- Reading Pop – Quizzes: 10%
- Sociological Reflection - A Sociological Autobiography: 10%
- Current Event Journal Submission: 20%
- Debate write-ups: 20%
- Final Paper – A Sociological Reflection on ‘Indian Horse’ (2012): 25%
REQUIREMENTS:
Where a final exam is scheduled and you do not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, you will be assigned an N grade. Unless otherwise specified on the course outline, all other graded assignments in this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned.
Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Policy
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic dishonesty and misconduct procedures (S10.01‐ S10.04). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style. It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website: http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html.
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Custom Courseware Package, SA 353 Summer 2016
Wagamese, Richard. (2012). Indian Horse. Douglas & McIntyre. (Soft cover)
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site contains information on what is meant by academic dishonesty and where you can find resources to help with your studies. There is also a section on tutoring.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS