As a first-year grad student, and a returning BGSU Sport Management undergrad, this class at first seemed like it would be largely identical to the Sport & Gender class I took in undergrad. However, I was pleasantly surprised by much of the class being different from my prior experience. I enjoyed our in-depth analysis of race in sport, something that was not covered in great length as part of Sport & Gender. As a sport fan, particularly one that did not come from a disadvantaged background, it was enlightening to discuss the role that race plays in sports and the role that sport plays in the lives of many disadvantaged people. I also enjoyed our discussion of sports in other countries, as I don't have a lot of experience in that area but am a fan of European soccer.
An article I found to of particular interest to me was the discussion comparing the US vision of the Super Bowl to other international sporting events. I was surprised at the viewership of events like the Cricket World Cup and CFL Grey Cup being much higher than that of the Super Bowl, and really enjoyed getting some insight on the matter from Yannick and Andreas. Having both of them in our class was another highlight of this class for me, as I enjoyed hearing their opinions from an international point of view that often differed from the majority of our class.
Keeping a blog each week helped me focus on the important details of each assigned reading, and I believe it forced me to dig deeper in to the readings to find those details. I also found it useful because I was able to see what others were finding in the readings, and what their opinions were on the topics. Each blog entry allowed me to see what others found, which often led me to see things that I hadn't seen in my original reading of the article for that week. I could then go back and find that information to get a better understanding of the information.
In my career, this class will most importantly give me a better understanding of the hardships that many of the athletes I will eventually be working with have gone through in order to get where they are. This is a great appreciation to have in order to be better at working with athletes and understanding them as individuals, not just what many perceive as "privileged" to play a sport as a career.
Joey -- Thank you for sharing your thoughts in your conclusion. I really enjoyed being in this class and sharing my thoughts about sport in the U.S. and Germany. I am glad you enjoyed having me and Andreas in class, that is great feedback! Like you, I really enjoyed our discussions about race in this class, because that is a topic I am very passionate about. I think that it is very important for professionals to be aware of who is privileged (and, equally important, who remains oppressed) in the sports world. I am glad that the class shone light on these issues. If you liked this class, you should definitely take Dr. Krane’s class on Gender, Sexuality, and Sport. I think it will be offered next in the spring of 2016. Good luck for the future!
ReplyDeleteJoey-I agree with you on several different points and I have enjoyed reading your blogs throughout the semester. I agree with you about the class discussing race and sport. I too have had several different society classes that focus mainly on gender not race. I really enjoyed the discussions we had, as a class, on the different concepts and implications race and sport have together. I think every one has such a strong opinion on the topic and I wish we could have focused more on this from the beginning of the semester. However, the Missouri protests did not really begin until late and I think that is why the discussion has just now started to begin in class. As Yannick said, Dr. Krane’s class is very similar to this, it just discusses gender and sexuality more in-depth than we discussed in sport & society, but is also a very interesting class.
ReplyDeleteJoey, thank you for sharing. I must agree that, in a positive sense, this course was not what I initially anticipated it to be.
ReplyDeleteI also I agree with your statement about how this course can be helpful moving forward in a sport-related career. Through assigned readings and class discussion this course provided an opportunity for one to better understand individuals coming from all walks of life. In a field as diverse as sport, understanding the various perspectives you will encounter is invaluable.
As someone hoping to have a career in sport media relations or sport information, I know this course will have a positive impact on how I interact with the people I encounter on a day-to-day basis in my profession.
Joey
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I too found the article about the Super Bowl and viewing numbers extremely interesting. It goes to show that American sport is not as widely popular as we would like to believe.
You always had good insights in your blog throughout the semester. I agree that being able to read others writing each week was interesting and helped focus the topic by sharing different views.
Maddy