SOC 310 - Gender, Race, and Sports

Instructor
Kaufman

In this course, we will examine the interrelations between gender, race, and sports. We will view sports through a sociological lens and consider how sports are shaped by and in turn shape social interaction. We will focus on how sports influence our definitions of masculinity and femininity, the opportunities and obstacles sports provide for members of different racial/ethnic and gender groups, and the images associated with race, gender, and sports. We consider why certain sports are associated with certain races, how sport is used to prove masculinity, experiences of gay athletes, Title IX and issues of gender segregation, the politics of gender verification, sports as an opportunity for upward mobility, exploitation in college sports, racial position segregation in college football, sports and violence, the criminalization of black masculinity in sports, mascots and racial imagery, and representations of race and gender in sports media.

Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies Major and Minor, Africana Studies Major and Minor, and Social Science Thought.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.