THE AESTHETICS OF SPORT

Honors Core IV

Spring, 2002

Tuesday and Thursday, 9:25-10:40 am

McAlister 402

Instructor: Dr. Donna Bowman Office: McAlister 310 Office Phone: 450-3631 Office Hours: 8-10 am MWF E-mail: donnab@mail.uca.edu

Assistant: Rob Haulton E-mail: themadwookiee@yahoo.com

Description: Human beings enjoy games and athletic competition much the same way we enjoy theater. There is a dramatic aspect, but there is also an aesthetic aspect. Words like “grace,” “beauty,” and “elegance” are often used to describe athletes, athletic moments, and games. The appreciation of beauty in sport can be a sense of the form of a game shaped by rules, clocks, and the actions of players. It can be the indelible picture of physical exertion, balance, speed, and coordination. It can be imbued with significance by the world outside sport, as when an athlete overcomes hardship or succumbs to tragedy. In all these cases, the factor we want to consider is the appeal of sport to our aesthetic sense, to our perception of harmony, balance, contrast, fit, form, beauty, and intensity. We will observe athletes and practice the discipline of athletes, as well as reading about various aspects of sport.

Objectives:

• To investigate the philosophy of sports, including aesthetic, ethical, and formal properties.
• To understand the social, political, psychological, economic, and personal dimensions of sports.
• To inquire into key issues in the contemporary sports scene.
• To develop an appreciation for various types of sports, and to distinguish between sport and non-sport.
• To participate in group activities, sporting and otherwise.
• To reflect in writing on the topics of the course.
• To read and analyze fiction and nonfiction writing about sports.

Textbooks:

• Bill Littlefield, editor. The Best American Sports Writing 1998. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998.
• William Morgan et al., editors. Ethics in Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2001.
• Allen Guttmann. A Whole New Ball Game: An Interpretation of American Sports. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1988.
• Frequent handouts as noted in the syllabus.

Requirements:

1. Class participation. Read all assigned texts and watch all assigned films. Come to class every day ready to discuss them.

2. Attendance. The majority of the work of this class is discussion – and you have to attend to discuss. You are allowed a grace period of one unexcused absence; thereafter, your grade will be affected. More than two excused absences will affect your grade. If you have special circumstances, please see me early in the semester.

3. Listserv participation. Before each class period you must post a response to the previous class’s topic on the class e-mail listserv. This activity takes the place of the journal entries to which you are accustomed. Your writing, instead of disappearing into the black hole of your instructor’s office, will be sent to every other member of the class. All students, in turn, may reply to your e-mail with their own comments, answers to questions you’ve raised, agreements or disagreements, or any pertinent response – and all those replies will also be sent to the entire class. Posts are due at class time. On most class days, you will be given a topic or question to write about before the next class period.

• The required posts are just the beginning of listserv participation. You are encouraged to use the listserv to pose questions, give answers to others, and generally ruminate on any topic related to the class. It’s a way to “keep the conversation going” outside of class time, and a way for you to help each other through some difficult but important ideas. The website for the listserv (general information, subscription options, archives) is http://l2.uca.edu/mailman/listinfo/sports. Send your postings to sports@l2.uca.edu(that’s an L before the 2).

4. Paper. One research paper of at least 5 pages, with citations as necessary. A choice of topics will be provided. Alternate forms of work, such as video, web site design, music or dramatic performance, fiction, art, etc. may be considered after consultation with me.

5. Group Project. Invent a sport. Details will be provided at the appropriate time in the semester.

6. Book review. Read a book with sports as its theme from a list provided, and write a review in which you evaluate the theme and argument of the work. The review should be 3-5 pages.

7. Exam. A final exam of essay questions designed to demonstrate your mastery of the assigned material and ability to integrate it into well-formed arguments.

8. Miscellaneous. From time to time in-class writing assignments, presentations, or homework assignments will be given.

Class Schedule

Jan. 15 (Tues)

Introduction to the study of sports

Why Do We Play?

Jan. 17 (Thurs)

Readings: George Plimpton, “Medora Goes to the Game,” in David Halberstam, ed., The Best American Sports Writing of the Century (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), pp. 466-477.

John H. Gibson, “The Consequence of Contemporary Values for Sport,” in Performance Versus Results: A Critique of Values in Contemporary Sport (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 47-60.

Jan. 22 (Tues)

Readings: Tom Boswell, “Controlling Force,” in George Plimpton, ed., The Best American Sports Writing 1997 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), pp. 110-129.

Johann Huizinga, excerpt from Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1949), pp. 1-27.

Jan. 24 (Thurs)

Readings: Richard Ford, “Hunting With My Wife,” in Plimpton, op. cit., pp. 72-92.

Tom Regan, “Why Hunting and Trapping are Wrong,” in Morgan et al., pp. 319-325.

The Body

Jan. 29 (Tues)

Readings: S. L. Price, “Weight Bench Warriors,” in Tom Boswell, ed., The Best American Sports Writing 1994 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1994), pp. 87-89.

Guttman, “The Destruction of the Body,” pp. 159-172.

Jan. 31 (Thurs)

Readings: Tony Hendra, “Man and Bull,” in Plimpton, op. cit., pp. 56-71.

Torbjörn Tonngju, “Is Our Admiration for Sports Heroes Fascistoid?” in Morgan et al., pp. 393-408.

Sports and Sexuality

Feb. 5 (Tues)

Readings: Steve Marantz, “A Man’s Appreciation for Woman Athletes,” in Littlefield, pp. 376-387.

Jane English, “Sex Equality in Sports,” in Morgan et al., pp. 211-218.

Feb. 7 (Thurs)

Readings: Johnnette Howard and Lester Munson, “Betrayal of Trust,” in Littlefield, pp. 358-375.

Paul Davis, “Sexualization and Sexuality in Sports,” in Morgan et al., pp. 285-292.

Children and Parents

Feb. 12 (Tues)

Readings: Linda Robertson, “On Planet Venus,” in Littlefield, pp. 77-93.

Gary Smith, “The Chosen One,” in Plimpton, op. cit., pp. 297-316.

Recommended: Guttman, “Children’s Play from Jackson Island to the Little Leagues,” pp. 82-100.

Feb. 14 (Thurs)

Readings: Randall Patterson, “The Trophy Son,” in Richard Ford, ed., The Best American Sports Writing 1999 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), pp. 109-123.

Susan Sterling, “The Soccer Parents,” in Littlefield, pp. 388-392.

Race

Feb. 19 (Tues)

Readings: Kenneth L. Shropshire, “The Roots of Racism and Discrimination in Sports,” in In Black and White: Race and Sports in America (New York: New York University Press, 1996), pp. 20-35.

Jon Entine, “Nature’s Experiment: The ‘Kenyan Miracle,’” in Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About It (New York: Public Affairs, 2000), pp. 43-67.

Feb. 21 (Thurs)

Readings: David Remnick, “Kid Dynamite Blows Up,” in Littlefield, pp. 332-357.

Feb. 26 (Tues)

Readings: Guttman, “Black Athletes,” pp. 119-138.

Phillip Hoose, “Hot Blood,” in Necessities: Racial Barriers in American Sports (New York: Random House, 1989), pp. 90-122.

The Dream

Feb. 28 (Thurs)

Readings: Dan Wetzel and Don Yaeger, excerpt from Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth, pp. 1-34.

** Monday, March 4: MTV – Hoop Dreams (3-6 pm, The Forum)**

Mar. 5 (Tues)

Discussion of Hoop Dreams

Mar. 7 (Thurs)

Readings: John Paul Newport, “They Might Be Giants,” in Boswell, op. cit., pp. 256-269.

David Finkel, “Golf’s Saving Grace,” in Littlefield, pp. 143-164.

At the Top of The Game

Mar. 12 (Tues)

Readings: Tom Boswell, “Late Boomer,” in Littlefield, pp. 302-317.

Mark Levine, “The Birdman,” in Dick Schaap, ed., The Best American Sports Writing 2000 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000), pp. 90-106.

Mar. 14 (Thurs)

Readings: David Halberstam, “Jordan’s Moment,” in Ford, op. cit., pp. 57-68.

Nicholas Dixon, “On Winning and Athletic Superiority,” in Morgan et al., pp. 49-70.

SPRING BREAK

The Business

Mar. 26 (Tues)

Readings: John Seabrook, “Tackling the Competition,” in Littlefield, pp. 258-274.

Frank Deford, “The Running Man,” in Boswell, op. cit., pp.270-294.

Mar. 28 (Thurs)

Readings: Roberts and Olson, eds., “Television, Sports, and Mass Culture” and “The Roone Revolution,” in Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America Since 1945 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), pp. 95-131.

The University

Apr. 2 (Tues)

Readings: Frank Deford, “The Rabbit Hunter,” in Halberstam op. cit., pp. 478-498.

Murray Sperber, excerpts from Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2000), pp. 33-44, 53-68.

Apr. 4 (Thurs)

Readings: Leslie P. Francis, “Title IX: Equality for Women’s Sports?” in Morgan et al., pp. 247-266.

Ethics

Apr. 9 (Tues)

Readings: Scott Raab, “The Hit King,” in Littlefield, pp. 318-331

Guttmann, “Muscular Christianity and the Point Spread,” pp. 70-81.

Apr. 11 (Thurs)

Readings: Morgan et al., “Fair Play, Being a Good Sport, and Cheating: At What Price Victory?” in Morgan et al., pp. 1-5.

Oliver Leaman, “Cheating and Fair Play in Sport,” in Morgan et al., 91-99.

Violence

Apr. 16 (Tues)

Readings: Jeff MacGregor, “Less Than Murder,” in Schaap, op. cit., pp. 107-126.

Carol Spindel, “Video Letters,” in Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy over American Indian Mascots (New York: New York University Press, 2000), pp. 252-272.

Apr. 18 (Thurs)

Readings: Angela Schneider and Robert Butcher, “Ethics, Sport, and Boxing,” in Morgan et al., pp. 357-369.

Animals

Apr. 23 (Tues)

Readings: William Nack, “Pure Heart,” in Halberstam op. cit., pp. 548-563.

Bernard E. Rollin, “Rodeo and Recollection: Applied Ethics and Western Philosophy,” in Morgan et al., pp. 326-337

Apr. 25 (Thurs)

Readings: David Mamet, “The Deer Hunter,” in Ford, op. cit., pp. 227-236.

J. Ortega y Gasset, “The Ethics of Hunting,” in Morgan et al., pp. 295-303.

** Monday, April 29: MTV – Fastpitch (3 pm, The Forum)

For the Love

Apr. 30 (Tues)

Readings: David Halberstam, excerpt from The Amateurs (New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1985), pp. 9-34.

Melissa King, “It’s All in the Game,” in Ford, op. cit., pp. 43-56.

May 2-May 9: Group Project Presentations

FINAL EXAM WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2 PM!