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Skidmore College
First-Year Experience

Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description

Sport, Self and Society

Instructor(s): Jeff Segrave, Health and Human Physiological Sciences

How many hours do we devote to sport in a week, as participants or fans? How many of us follow with fanatical devotion a favorite team or athlete? Whether on the school, club, neighborhood, city, or national level, many of us identify passionately with athletes, teams, and our chosen sports. In this seminar, we will examine our personal relationship to sports as recreation and institution. We will broaden our focus to study the structure and culture of athletics over the past three-hundred years, examining the relationship of sport to such social, cultural, and political institutions as clubs, schools, neighborhoods, church, state, and nation. We will also consider sport’s past and present role in international affairs and its enormous economic presence in our lives. The seminar will feature several field trips as well as guest speakers.

Course Offered: