Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An in-depth overview of the sociocultural, epidemiological, and policy aspects of population and public health. May be repeated for credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

Responsibility, Agency, and the Health and Well-Being of Athletes

'Toughness’ is often considered a virtue in athletes by fans, media, and the athletes themselves.  The virtue of toughness entails a variety of actions on the part of athletes including, but not limited to, playing while hurt or injured.  Increasingly, there is a push from the medical community, media, athletes, sports leagues, and athletic unions to reconsider what it means to play while hurt or injured, and the limits therein.  An important part of the debate centres on questions of whether the athlete is in the best position to make decisions about their health with regards to playing their sport, and what – if any – responsibilities leagues and teams have toward their athletes regarding the athletes’ health and well-being.  However, questions about the ethics of responsibility and agency in sports extends beyond questions of injuries.  How best to understand the health and well-being of athletes’ vis-à-vis considerations of responsibility and agency should also take into account questions of gender, sex, race, and other important social and political contextual features of sports.  This course will centre on asking who is responsible for the health and well-being of athletes, and how best to understand the notion of agency for one’s health in the context of sports.  

TOPICS TO BE COVERED:

• Normative ethics perspectives on issues of responsibility and agency for the health of persons and populations
• Ethical, historical, sociological, and anthropological accounts of the health of athletes  
• Specific topics include: concussions and football; gender, violence, and hockey; and the ethics of free agency in professional sports

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

OBJECTIVES:

1. To understand and be able to apply various normative ethics considerations to questions regarding responsibility and agency for the health and well-being of athletes.
2. For students to become more comfortable reading philosophical texts; engaging in classroom discussion and debate; and expressing themselves clearly in writing.  Originality, critical thinking, and the careful construction of arguments, orally and in writing, will be emphasized.  

***Please note: this course will be reading and writing intensive***

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

• Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions, and the Battle for Truth.  New York, USA: Penguin Random House Company; 2014.
• All other readings will be available on Canvas.