INQUIRY SEMINAR: HISTORY OF SPORTS

HU 3900-C16 Peter Hansen

Term C2018 – CRN 24316 phansen@wpi.edu
Wed., 10:00-11:50 am, SL226 Tel: +1-508-831-5481
Office Hours: by appointment Office: Salisbury Labs 107

Seminar Description:
This inquiry seminar serves as the culmination of the Humanities and Arts Requirement. All Inquiry
Seminars have two primary goals: 1) to foster independence of thought through self-directed research
and writing, and 2) to encourage a cooperative approach to learning through open exchanges with peers
in a small seminar setting. Students will learn how to frame questions and to research and write about a
self-chosen topic related to the theme of this seminar, the history of sports.

Seminar Outcomes:
Each student who completes this inquiry seminar will:
• frame and investigate a significant research question in a thematic area
• identify appropriate scholarship using the library and other resources
• evaluate which sources are the most reliable and authoritative
• develop their own argument about the research question using relevant evidence
• discuss the work of other students in the seminar in a spirit of openness, cooperation, and
dialogue

Reading:
Walter LaFeber, Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism (New York: Norton, 2002). [Bookstore]

Expectations
Students in every Inquiry Seminar should develop the skills required for independent research and
writing. These include critical thinking, using appropriate resources, developing an argument,
communicating clearly and persuasively, and demonstrating originality and creativity. Independent
research begins with the ability to define a topic, survey work relevant to your subject, and develop a
bibliography. But diligent research is merely the first step towards writing a good paper. You should also
demonstrate the ability to organize, analyze, and integrate the material into your own argument. Even
experienced scholars find this a challenge. Good writing requires a great deal of rewriting and revision.
The seminar is equivalent to a course and you should expect to spend 16-20 hours per week outside of
class working for this seminar. An old adage says that time plus energy equals learning; there is simply
no substitute for spending time reading, researching, writing and working on your project.

Thematic Panels
Though you will work on your own topic, you will discuss your work in a thematic panel. During the first
class, we will brainstorm about research topics related to the history of sports. This discussion may
identify questions that are too large for individual papers but serve as general topics related to the
seminar theme. These will define the Call for Papers that invites proposals for individual paper topics
related to one of several thematic panels. Each student must participate in one of the panels. If any
panel has fewer than three subscribers, we will cancel it. If a panel gets too big, we will divide it.
Students on a panel work together to formulate their topics, serve as readers and editors through the
drafting process, and serve as coaches for presentations at the end of the term.

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Final presentations are an opportunity for you to present the highlights of your research. By the time of
these presentations, you will submit a full draft of your work. After the presentations, each student will
revise their paper. The result of this process will be an individual research paper that stands on its own
merits and receives an individual grade. Developed in dialogue with one another, however, these
papers should speak to a range of similar issues as an example of a community of critical inquiry.

Class Schedule

[N.B.: Jan. 10 follows a Monday class schedule]

Jan 17 – Critical Inquiry in Sports and Call for Papers

Read LaFeber, entire. Finalize the CFP topics for your research papers

Jan 24 – Thematic Panel Proposals and Student-Led Discussions I

Present proposals for research topics; Paper Proposals and Bibliography due

Jan 31 –Student-Led Discussions II

Outlines and revised bibliography due

Feb 7 – Student-Led Discussions III

Drafts of first part of the paper due

Feb 14 – Student-Led Discussions IV

Drafts of second part of paper due

Feb 21 – Thematic Panel Presentations and Drafts

Full draft due; individual meetings for feedback, discussion of revisions

Feb 28 – Submission of Final Papers

First Reading Assignment (Jan 17)

To give us a common starting point, we will read and discuss Walter LaFeber, Michael Jordan and the
New Global Capitalism. Please come with a list of questions about these readings and turn in one sheet
of paper with your questions. The topics of the thematic panels will not necessarily relate to this work,
but it should stimulate discussion of possible avenues of inquiry. Since our first class is a full week after
the beginning of the term, you must finish reading this book before the first class.

Call for Papers (CFP) (Jan 17)

At the first class, bring two or three ideas for possible topics or questions for research papers that you
might work on. To do this properly requires preliminary research. Identify books on the possible topics
that you are considering. Some may be listed on this syllabus or a bibliography posted on Canvas. I will
be available to meet with everyone individually to discuss possible topics before the first meeting. You
will need to prepare in advance of the first class.

Thematic Panel Proposals (Jan 24)

Each student will write a 1-2 page (250-500 words) proposal for their individual paper along with a
bibliography of sources that you plan to use. A good bibliography at this point should have at least ten

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scholarly sources. Each student also should think about a very general outline of three or four main
sections for the paper—this is about the broad scope of the paper, not a detailed outline. Individual
paper proposals will be submitted by each student; if it makes sense, identify an overall theme for the
panel as a whole.

Student Discussion Leaders (periodically)

Each week for part of the term, the seminar will be devoted to student-led discussion of an
article/chapter related to your research topics. This is an opportunity for you to discuss and get
feedback on substantive issues related to your research. In advance of class each week, students who
will be the Discussion Leaders are responsible for posting on Canvas a short article or book chapter (15-
30 pages). Please check with me about whether the selection is appropriate before you post it. If an
electronic copy is freely available at WPI (through JSTOR, an e-book, or other database or journal
subscription at WPI), then you need only post a link to a Stable URL. (The link must give the full text, so
the “free previews” for recent books on Google Books do not work consistently; the results you see in a
Google search are almost certainly different than the results for someone else, because you have
different search histories). For sources published before 1923, stable links to HathiTrust or Archive.org
or Google books will work. If the source is not freely available with a stable URL, you must make one
electronic copy, which you then upload to Canvas for discussion. The copier/scanner in Gordon Library
will make a PDF version of anything that can be photocopied, which you should email to yourself and
then post on Canvas. Everyone in class will be required to read the posted material and come to class
with questions about the readings. All students must turn one sheet of paper with typed questions
about that day’s reading (that is, one piece of paper in total with questions for the readings posted for
that day). Presenters may open with a presentation to provide further background (at most 5 minutes),
and then lead the seminar in discussion of the topic (another 15-20 minutes).

Finding Common Ground (Jan 31)

What are the common issues related to your panel? Are there common sources or problems that you
are all grappling with? We will discuss these and related issues during this week.

Refining or Retrofitting (Feb 7-14)

Based on what you have learned in your research, how do you need to refine, revise, or retrofit the
problem(s) you started with? What are the gaps in your research so far?

Drafts Due (in stages—first part, second part, and eventually full draft)
You will submit a first draft of part of your paper, a week later a second draft of part of your paper, and
finally a complete draft. The shape of the first and second drafts will be different for each project, but
you need to be intentional about writing. Almost everyone benefits from beginning to write before they
feel ready. The writing process will help you to determine areas in which you need to do more research
as well as to clarify your thinking. Drafts are a component of the overall course grade. The preliminary
deadlines mean you cannot wait until the full draft is due to begin writing.

Conference Presentations and Final Papers (Feb 21)

Students on each panel will present the highlights of their research at the Conference Presentations.
You will not read your papers aloud. Instead, your panel will have about 30 minutes to share what you
have learned about your topic. The length of each presentation may vary depending on the number of
papers/panels. Each panel should meet beforehand to discuss and rehearse their presentations.

Final Papers (Feb 28)

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The final paper should be at least 12-15 pages in length, exclusive of notes and bibliography. There is no
a minimum or maximum length. However, papers that are 12 pages or fewer rarely provide the depth of
critical analysis required to provide a satisfactory answer to the research question. Please use endnotes
in a consistent citation style (Chicago, MLA, APA, etc. are ok, but please do not use one of the “science”
styles, such as CSE). WPI holds a competition for the Class of 1879 Prize to recognize the best humanities
and art projects from the previous calendar year. Aim high. Plan to research, write, and revise well
enough to win one of these awards.

Grading Criteria
You will earn a letter grade evaluating your performance for the term. This term grade reflects your
work in each area of the course:

Class discussions (participation, weekly responses and discussion leader): 30%

Shorter assignments (CFP proposal, bibliography, outline, drafts): 20%
Final Research Project: 50%

Grading criteria for final research projects

• A grade denotes excellent work that attains all of the project goals and learning outcomes. Students
identify clear objectives, take the initiative to identify what must be done, and do it in a manner that
demonstrates originality and creativity.
• B grade denotes a consistently good work that attains the project goals and learning outcomes.
Students accomplish their objectives, but rely heavily on faculty guidance. In other words, they do
everything they are told to do and do it well.
• C grade denotes acceptable work that partially attains the project goals and learning outcomes. The
work may be satisfactory, but the quality is less than anticipated.
• NR grade will be given when little or no work has been performed, the work did not attain the goals
or learning outcomes, or is insufficient for registered credit.

These grading criteria emphasize initiative as well as the quality and originality of the work because all of
these will be important to your success after graduation.

The grade for participation in class will be based on the following criteria: attendance, preparation,
frequency and quality of participation, ability to listen thoughtfully and engage in discussion with others
in a respectful and constructive way. More specifically, levels of participation can be characterized as
follows:

• Outstanding Contributor: Contributions in class reflect exceptional preparation. Ideas offered are
always substantive, provide one or more major insights as well as direction for the class. Challenges
are well substantiated and persuasively presented. If this person were not a member of the class,
the quality of discussion would be diminished markedly.
• Good Contributor: Contributions in class reflect thorough preparation. Ideas offered are usually
substantive, provide good insights and sometimes direction for the class. Challenges are well
substantiated and often persuasive. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of
discussion would be diminished.
• Adequate Contributor: Contributions in class reflect satisfactory preparation. Ideas offered are
sometimes substantive, provide generally useful insights but seldom offer a new direction for the

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 discussion. Challenges are sometimes presented, fairly well substantiated, and are sometimes
persuasive. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of discussion would be
diminished somewhat.
• Non-Participant: This person says little or nothing in class. Hence, there is not an adequate basis for
evaluation. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of discussion would not be
changed.
• Unsatisfactory Contributor: Contributions in class reflect inadequate preparation. Ideas offered are
seldom substantive, provide few if any insights and never a constructive direction for the class.
Integrative comments and effective challenges are absent. If this person were not a member of the
class, valuable air-time would be saved.

Work Outside of Class

This 1/3 unit (3-credit hour) course requires 2 hours of classroom instruction and 16-20 hours of out-of-
class student work each week for approximately 7 weeks. Out-of-class work may include but is not
limited to required reading, research, and writing assignments.

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

As in every course or project at WPI, students are expected to understand and to abide by the Academic
Honesty Policy: see www.wpi.edu/about/policies/academic-integrity/dishonesty If you have any
questions about what constitutes plagiarism, or the proper use of sources, quotations, paraphrasing, or
endnotes, please see me. You are responsible for your work.

Preferred Name/Pronoun
I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or preferred gender pronoun.
Please advise me of this preference early in the term so that I may make appropriate changes to my
records.

Disability Services
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you have medical
information to share with me that may impact your performance or participation in this course, please
make an appointment with me as soon as possible. If you have approved accommodations, please go to
the Exam Proctoring Center (EPC) in Morgan Hall to pick up Letters of Accommodation. If you have not
already done so, students with disabilities who need to utilize accommodations in this class are
encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) as soon as possible to ensure that such
accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. This office can be contacted via email:
DisabilityServices@wpi.edu, via phone: (508) 831-4908, or in person: Daniels Hall First Floor (124 or
137).

Equal Opportunity, Anti-Discrimination & Harassment and Sexual Harassment

WPI policy provides each qualified individual—regardless of race, sex, age, color, national origin,
religion, genetic identity disability, gender identity or expression, marital or parental status, sexual
orientation, transgender status, veteran status, or any other protected status—the opportunity to
participate in the University’s educational and employment programs and activities in a discrimination
and harassment-free environment. Any individual who believe(s) that he or she has been subjected to
prohibited discrimination or harassment in connection with any University program or activity should
immediately bring the matter to the attention of Melissa A. Pierce, Title IX Coordinator, 1-508-831-
6514, mapierce@wpi.edu (for student, faculty or staff conduct), or one of the other Deputy Title IX
Coordinators.

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Classroom Digital Etiquette/Cell Phone Policy
Digital etiquette requires that use of phones or other electronic devices in the classroom be limited to
purposes related to class work. If you have a cell phone, smart phone, or other mobile communication
device, put it in silent mode or turn it off during class. If you have a laptop, use it only to take notes but
not for other purposes such as email, games, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, and so on. No messaging on
any devices during class. Such activity distracts you and other students nearby and limits your
participation in class discussion. In case of an emergency, discuss the unique circumstances with the
instructor before class if possible. Please try to maintain an atmosphere in which electronic devices are
used only for academic purposes and their use does not have to be prohibited from the classroom.

Writing Center
Located on the first floor of Daniels Hall (room 116), the Writing Center is a valuable resource for
helping you improve as a writer. Writing Center tutors are your peers (other undergraduate and
graduate students at WPI) who are experienced writers and who enjoy helping others. Although a single
tutoring session should never be seen as a quick fix for writing difficulty, these sessions can help you
identify your strengths and weaknesses, and teach you strategies for organizing, revising, and editing
your course papers, projects, and presentations. Writing Center services are free and open to all WPI
students in all classes, and tutors will happily work with you at any stage of the writing process (early
brainstorming, revising a draft, polishing sentences in a final draft). Visit the Writing Center website
http://wpi.edu/+writing to make an appointment.

Gordon Library
The research librarians at Gordon Library can assist you with a variety of research questions related to
locating and citing sources. Their walk-in office hours are M-F 8-5 and Saturday 1-5 in offices 202A-C.
You may also schedule a research meeting with a librarian by visiting tinyurl.com/wpilibrary or writing to
library@wpi.edu

Research, Citation, and Style Guides

For an overview of the research and writing process, from formulating questions, reading critically,
building arguments, and revising drafts, consult Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers,
Theses, and Dissertations, 8th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), at the library or
bookstore. It includes information on citation styles. History papers generally follow the Chicago style,
but you may use another system such as MLA or APA if you follow it consistently. WPI has a site-license
for Endnote, which allows you to manage citations easily. See the library website:
libguides.wpi.edu/citingsources

Additional Resources
The course website will be on canvas.wpi.edu. Below is a selected list of books relevant to themes of this
seminar. You could look at several of these depending on your interests or topic. A longer “Sports In
Society” bibliography by Jay Coakley on Canvas has additional references. Consult the WPI Gordon
Library, and this portal for some e-books: http://libguides.wpi.edu/ebooks The list below could be
expanded considerably, so use this as a starting point…

General and Games

Allen Guttman, Sports: the First Five Millennia
S.W. Pope and John Nauright, eds., Routledge Companion to Sports History
Tony Collins, Sport in Capitalist Society: A Short History

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Michael A. Messner and Michela Musto, Child's Play: Sport in Kids' Worlds

Sports: Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Hockey, Boxing, Climbing, etc.

Michael Oriard, Brand NFL: Making and Selling America’s Favorite Sport
Mark Yost, Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How the NFL Became the Most Successful Sports League
Richard C. Crepeau, NFL Football: A History of America's New National Pastime
Alan M. Klein, Sugarball: the American Game, the Dominican Dream
Alan M. Klein, Growing the Game: the Globalization of Major League Baseball
Daniel A. Gilbert, Expanding the Strike Zone: Baseball in the Age of Free Agency
Aram Goudsouzian, King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution
Grundy and Shackelford, Shattering the Glass: the Remarkable History of Women's Basketball
Damion Thomas, Globetrotting: African American Athletes and Cold War Politics
Douglas Hartmann, Midnight Basketball: Race, Sports, and Neoliberal Social Policy
Andrei S. Markovits and Steven L. Hellerman, Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism
Szymanski & Zimbalist, National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball And the Rest of the World Plays Soccer
Michael A. Robidoux, Men at Play: a Working Understanding of Professional Hockey
Nancy Theberge, Higher Goals: Women's Ice Hockey and the Politics of Gender
Loïc J. D. Wacquant, Body & Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer
Mary Louise Adams, Artistic Impressions: Figure Skating, Masculinity, and the Limits of Sport
Christopher S. Thompson, Tour de France: a Cultural History
Eric Reed, Selling the Yellow Jersey: The Tour de France in the Global Era
George B. Kirsch, Golf in America; Richard J Moss, Golf and the American country club
Orin Starn, The passion of Tiger Woods: an anthropologist reports on golf, race, and celebrity scandal
Daniel S. Pierce, Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France
Andrew Denning, Skiing into Modernity: A Cultural and Environmental History
Scott Laderman, Empire in Waves: A Political History of Surfing
Joseph Taylor, Pilgrims of the Vertical: Yosemite Rock Climbers and Nature at Risk
Erin Beresini, Off Course: Inside the Mad, Muddy World of Obstacle Course Racing
Stephen C. Poulson, Why Would Anyone Do That? Lifestyle Sport in the Twenty-First Century

College Sports
Charles Clotfelter, Big-Time Sports in American Universities
William G. Bowen and Sarah A. Levin, Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational Values
Michael Oriard, Bowled Over: Big-time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS era
Mark Yost, Varsity Green: A Behind the Scenes Look at Culture and Corruption in College Athletics
Brian M. Ingrassia, Rise of Gridiron University: Higher Education’s Uneasy Alliance with Big-Time Football
Murray Sperber, Beer and Circus: How Big-time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education
Pamela Grundy, Learning to Win: Sports, Education, and Social Change in Twentieth-Century NC
James L. Shulman and William G. Bowen, The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values
Andrew Zimbalist, Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-time College Sports
Howard Nixon, The athletic trap: how college sports corrupted the academy
Albert J. Figon, Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball
Howard P. Chudacoff, Changing the Playbook: How Power, Profit, and Politics Transformed College Sports
Ronald A. Smith, Wounded Lions: Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, and the Crises in Penn State Athletics

Olympics
David Goldblatt, The Games: a Global History of the Olympics
Toby C. Rider, Cold War Games: Propaganda, the Olympics, and U.S. Foreign Policy
Robert K Barney, et al., Selling the Five Rings: The IOC and the Rise of Olympic Commercialism
David Maraniss, Rome 1960: the Olympics that Changed the World
Amy Bass, Not the Triumph but the Struggle: the 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete
Kevin B. Witherspoon, Before the Eyes of the World: Mexico and the 1968 Olympic Games
Kay Schiller and Christopher Young, The 1972 Munich Olympics and the Making of Modern Germany

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Susan Brownell, Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China
Xu Guoqi, Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008
Dave Zirin, Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: the World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy
Andrew Zimbalist, Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and World Cup
John Sugden, Alan Tomlinson, eds., Watching the Olympics: Politics, Power and Representation
Jules Boykoff, Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London

Race and Sports

Amy Bass, In the Game: Race, Identity, and Sports in the Twentieth Century
David J. Leonard, Playing While White: Privilege and Power on and off the Field
David Kenneth Wiggins, Out of the Shadows: a Biographical History of African American Athletes
Earl Smith, Race, Sport, and the American Dream
Howard Bryant, Shut Out: the Story of Race and Baseball in Boston
Katherine C. Mooney, Race Horse Men: How Slavery and Freedom Were Made at the Racetrack
Carolyn Finney, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great
Outdoors

Gender and Sports

Lindsay Parks Pieper, Sex Testing: Gender Policing in Women's Sports
Jean O'Reilly and Susan K. Cahn, eds., Women and Sports in the United States: a Documentary Reader
Michael A. Messner, Taking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports
Victoria Robinson, Everyday Masculinities and Extreme Sport Male Identity and Rock Climbing
Linda K. Fuller, Sport, Rhetoric, and Gender: Historical Perspectives and Media Representations
Betsy Ross, Playing Ball with the Boys: The Rise of Women in the World of Men's Sports

National Histories and Globalization

Richard Holt, Sport and the British: a Modern History
Steven A. Riess, Major Problems in American Sport History: Documents and Essays
Patrick F. McDevitt, May the Best Man Win: Sport, Masculinity, and Nationalism in Great Britain and the Empire,
1880-1935
A.S. Markovits, L. Rensmann, Gaming the World: How Sports are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture
David Goldblatt, Futebol Nation: A Footballing History of Brazil
Ronojoy Sen, Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India

Fans
Erin C. Tarver, The I in Team: Sports Fandom and the Reproduction of Identity
K. G. Quinn, Sports and their Fans: History, Economics and Culture of the Relationship between Spectator and Sport
L. W. Hugenberg, et al., eds., Sports Mania: Essays on Fandom and the Media in the 21st century
J. A. Gray, et al., eds., Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World

Games
Ian Bogost, Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games
Simon Parkin, Death by video game: danger, pleasure, and obsession on the virtual frontline
R.A. Brookey and T.P. Oates, eds., Playing to win: sports, video games, and the culture of play
Bonnie Ruberg and Adrienne Shaw, eds., Queer game studies

Business of Sport
Michael Lewis, Moneyball: the Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Albert Theodore Powers, The Business of Baseball
Andrew Zimbalist, Circling the Bases: Essays on the Challenges and Prospects of the Sports Industry
Andrew Zimbalist, The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business
Roger I. Abrams, Sports Justice, the Law and the Business of Sports
Travis Vogan, ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire [a variety of these titles may be available as e-books]