Thomas C. Johnson, Post-doctoral Teaching Fellow in Communication Studies
This three-day film course draws from scholarly work being done in media studies and the sociology of sport in order to examine the important cultural, social, and political roles of sport in contemporary society. The focus is on how sport, as well as mediated sport, can be approached critically and read in different ways. The course includes lectures on audiences, masculinity, and commercialism, as well as screenings and discussion. Our objectives include thinking critically about the role that sports play in reinforcing, and sometimes challenging, social and cultural norms, examining the close relationship between sports and media, and looking at the intersection of sports and topics such as race, gender, sexuality, globalization, and national identity.