606:531
Studies of the 20th Century:
The Values of Sports
Master of Arts in Liberals Studies Program
Spring 2006
Instructor: Bill Tucker
btucker@camden.rutgers.edu
Office: 225-6545
Office: Armitage 345
Home: 354-0119
Office hours: Monday & Wednesday, 5:00-6:00
Department: 225-6520
Course Description
The Duke of Wellington famously remarked that “the battle of Waterloo was
won on the playing fields of Eton,” an allusion to the role that he believed
sports play in the formation of character, instilling such virtues as self-sacrifice,
determination, courage, and fair play. In the post-modern era, however,
athletes and coaches often seem like the poster children for bad behavior.
In this course we will read some of the best recent literature on athletics
at various levels and look at the relationship between the values associated
with sports and the values of the larger society.
Evaluation
Grade in the course will be based on three equally weighted factors:
- mid course paper
- final paper
- class contributions
Reading required of everyone:
Copies provided by the instructor:
- B.L. Standish, Frank Merriwell at Yale, available (without
copyright infringement) from Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11115
On sale at the university bookstore:
- M. Novak, The Joy of Sports (Madison Books, 1994)
- H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream
(Da Capo, 2000)
- D. Frey, The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams (Mariner,
2004)
- R. Telander, Heaven is a Playground (University of Nebraska
Press, 1995)
- J. Feinstein, A Season on the Brink (Fireside, 1989)
- M. Sperber, Beer and Circus (Henry Holt, 2000)
Orderable used online:
- J. Ryan, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking
of Elite Gymnasts and Figureskaters (Doubleday, 1995)
Additional reading done by subgroups of the class:
- G.C. Ward, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
(Knopf, 2004)
- D. Margolick, Beyond Glory: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, and a World
on the Brink (Knopf, 2005)
- D. Remnick, King of the World (Vintage, 1999)
- L.S. Ritter, The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days
of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It (Perennial, 2002)
- R. Kahn, The Boys of Summer (Perennial, 2000)
- H. Bryant, Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power and the Fight for the
Soul of Major League Baseball (Viking, 2005)
Class Schedule
January 17:
Introduction to the course
January 24:
- Class topic: Sports at the dawn of the 20th cemtury
- Reading: Frank Merriwell at Yale
January 31:
- Class topic: Sports as religion
- Reading: The Joy of Sports
February 7:
- Class topic: Basketball - the city game
- Reading: Heaven is a Playground and The Last Shot
February 14:
- Class topic: Football - the Texas obsession
- Reading: Friday Night Lights
February 21:
- Class topic: The thin line between inspiration and abuse
- Reading: Season on the Brink
February 28:
- Class topic: Sports and the degradation of higher education
- Theme of paper to be announced
- Reading: Beer and Circus
March 7:
Spring Break
March 21:
- Class topic: Health and humiliation
- Reading: Little Girls in Pretty Boxes
March 28 & April 4:
- Class topic: The most symbolic sport of all: the heavyweight championship
- Reading: Unforgivable Blackness or Beyond Glory or
King of the World
April 11 & April 18:
- Class topic: From national pasttime to national scandal
- Reading: The Glory of Their Times or The Boys of Summer
or Juicing the Game
April 25:
- Conclusion
- Final paper due