What is the role of sport in the construction of local, national, and international identities? What social structures and cultural trends influencing sports participation and consumption? What is the impact of commercialism and globalization on contemporary sport?  This course has been designed to provide international students an opportunity to understand sports in a British context against a backdrop of the Olympics, with London as the host city - 1908, 1948 & 2012.

The course will be presented from a historical and contemporary perspective will examine a series of themes and issues, primarily through sports history and the sociology of sport, with supplementary references to economics, politics, and the media.  Students enrolled in this course will gain the skills to analyze sports as a social phenomenon and use them as an analytical tool to illuminate contemporary situations and problems in the international arena, provide an insight into the wide range of British sports and sports organizations through practice and study visits, and apply a sociological lens to the world of sports and athletics through the incorporation of academic writing, popular media, and personal experiences and observations.

EXAMPLE CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (2-4 PER COURSE)

• Emirates Stadium
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
• Wimbledon, All England Lawn Tennis

COURSE OUTLINE