RACE, AND SOCIAL CHANGE AMST 252/ER&M 302 Yale Summer Session I, M/W, 1-4:15 PM Draft Course Syllabus

Professor Daniel Martinez HoSang [email protected] Office: WLH 103 Office phone: 203/432-5728

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

Recent protests by during professional and sporting events are the latest chapters in a long history of political activism emanating from sports.

This course examines a broad range of sporting sites—from public protests by athletes to debates about sports mascots to recreational and amateur sports leagues—to explore themes of political formation, domination, and resistance in the . It considers the ways that athletes, political groups and social movements have made use of amateur and to shape particular visions of rights, freedom, and democracy. The course engages frameworks from across the humanities and social sciences, including Black Studies, critical race theory, cultural studies, women of color feminism, and critical sports studies.

No background in sports or scholarship on sports is assumed or required.

Pending the resumption of amateur and professional sporting leagues in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the course will also take a field trip to a women’s professional basketball (WNBA) game and students will attend at least one other amateur sporting event to produce a short ethnographic paper.

The objectives of this course are:

• To familiarize students with some of the important themes, debates and arguments central to the study of race, gender and sports in the United States during the last 100 years. • To think engage with a series of important concepts related to the critical study of race and gender, especially freedom, populism, indigeneity, nationalism, colorblindness, and power. • To improve critical writing and analytic skills through regular practice and feedback. • To provide extensive opportunities for students to reflect upon their own experiences and perspectives in light of the course themes.

B. REQUIRED TEXT

The following text is required and can be purchased through an online retailer or at the Yale Bookstore. In addition, there will be required readings posted on Canvas.

Robert Scoop Jackson, The Game is Not a Game: The Power, Protest, and Politics of American Sports (Haymarket, 2020).

C. ASSIGNMENTS

1. RESPONSE & REFLECTION JOURNAL. You will spend 10-15 minutes during most class meetings writing responses to questions based on the assigned readings, films and discussion. YOU MUST PURCHASE A COMPOSITION BOOK (black and white hard cover notebook) and bring the book to each class meeting to record your responses, as well as to take notes about course readings and discussions. The journal will be submitted weekly for comments and grading. The questions will require you to demonstrate your engagement with this material. A grading rubric can be found on Canvas. (25% of final grade).

2. AMATEUR/RECREATIONAL SPORTS OBSERVATION ESSAY. You will write a 750-1000 word essay (about 3-4 double spaced pages) based on your observations of a local amateur sports practice, game or event that connects to the course themes. (15% of final grade). 3. OPINION-EDITORIAL ESSAY. You will write a 500-750 word Op-Ed essay on a current topic related to sports and race and/or gender. (15% of final grade). 4. FINAL EXAM. All students will take a final oral exam during a scheduled time during the final week of the course. The exam will be approximately 25 minutes long. Students will be provided with a pool questions in advance. (25% of final grade). 5. READING, PARTICIPATION AND ATTENDANCE. Participation and attendance are important to the success of the class, and will be considered in calculating your final grade. (20% of final grade).

D. READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE: Sports and social change

We begin the course by considering the historical relationship between sports and social change. Professional athletes, on the one hand, have often been admonished to “shut up and play,” and some critics contend sports are mere cultural spectacle, serving to distract the public from more trenchant social issues. On the other hand, many of the most dominant issues of the day—police violence, militarism, racial segregation, gender equality-- have been contested through sports and by athletes.

Monday, May 25

*Noam Chomsky. “Sports and Spectacle.” The Nation. July 27, 2011 (in class) *Film--Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports

Wednesday, May 27

* Jackson, The Game is Not a Game, 1-55

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*Kaufman, Peter, Wolff, Eli A. “Playing and Protesting: as a Vehicle for Social Change.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues, May 2010; vol. 34: pp. 154-175.

WEEK TWO: Sports, Indigeneity, Patriotism, and National Identity

Sports have been a continual site to perform, express, debate, and contest group- based identities, especially racial and national identities. This week, we’ll examine these of the most prominent examples of such debates: (1) The role of the military and performances of patriotism within sports, particularly within a political climate of Islamophobia and rising militarism; (2) The use of Native American mascots in amateur and professional sporting events, and policies regulating their use.

Monday, June 1

* Jackson, The Game is Not a Game, 55-100 *Zareena Grewal, “Lights, Camera, Suspension: Freezing the Frame on the Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf- Anthem Controversy.” Souls, Vol 9, 2007, Issue 2. *Zareena Grewal, “Taking a Stand by Sitting Down.”

*Film--By the Dawn's Early Light: Chris Jackson's Journey to Islam (2004)

Wednesday, June 3

*Jackson, The Game is Not a Game, 100-150 Jennifer Guiliano, The Fascination and Frustration with Native American Mascots; The Society Pages, August 20, 2013. https://thesocietypages.org/specials/mascots/ *E. Staurowsky. “’You Know, We Are All Indian.’ Exploring White Power and Privilege in Reactions to the NCAA Native American Mascot Policy.” J. of Sport and Social Issues Feb 2007 vol. 31 no. 1 61-76.

WEEK THREE: Everyday experiences of sport and political rebellion.

This week we will consider the regulation of gender and sexuality in women’s college and professional basketball. At the end of the week we will take a class trip to watch the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and will read scholarship on race, sexuality, and the women’s basketball.

Monday, June 8

*Kristine E. Newhall and Erin E. Buzuvis. “(e)Racing Jennifer Harris: Sexuality and Race, Law and Discourse in Harris v. Portland.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 2008 32: 345. *Paula J. Giddings, “What the dominance of black female athletes means to American culture.” Feb 24, 2017 espnW.com. http://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/article/18750694/what-dominance- black-female-athletes-means-american-culture *Film: Training Rules: No Drinking, No Drugs, No Lesbians www.trainingrules.com

Choose one additional article: *Susannah Dolance (2005) “’A whole stadium full’: Lesbian community at women's national basketball association games,” The Journal of Sex Research, 42:1, 74-83.

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*Tiffany K. Muller (2007) “Liberty for All? Contested spaces of women's basketball.” Gender, Place & Culture, 14:2, 197-213, *Mary G. McDonald (2008) “Rethinking Resistance: The Queer Play of the Women’s National Basketball Association, Visibility Politics and Late Capitalism.” Leisure Studies, 27:1, 77-93.

Wednesday, June 10

* Jackson, The Game is Not a Game, 150-177 *Howard Bryant, https://theundefeated.com/features/book-excerpt-heritage-black-athletes-a- divided-america-and-the-politics-of-patriotism-by-howard-bryant/ *Howard Bryant, https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/23325303/howard-bryant-excerpt-how- today-activist-athletes-reclaimed-heritage *Danielle Sarver Coombs, David Cassilo. “Athletes and/or Activists: LeBron James and Black Lives Matter” Journal of Sport and Social Issues. July 18, 2017; pp. 425–444

WEEK FOUR: Race and Gender in Amateur Athletics. During the first class meeting we will welcome former MLB player, Yale lecturer, and journalist Doug Glanville to talk about journalism and sports advocacy. In the same meeting, we will discuss amateur athletics and the everyday ways people use sports to express their values, identities and aspirations.

Monday, June 15

*Doug Glanville, “Still Standing.” U.S. News & World Report. September 2, 2016 http://www.dougglanville.com/still-standing.html *Doug Glanville, “Why I Still Get Shunned by Taxi Drivers.” The Atlantic, October 24, 2015 http://www.dougglanville.com/why-i-still-get-shunned-taxi-drivers.html *Doug Glanville, “I Was Racially Taunted on Television, Wasn’t I?“ New York Times, May 18, 2019.

Choose two articles to read: *Paul O’Connor, “Skateboarding, Helmets, and Control: Observations From Skateboard Media and a Hong Kong Skatepark.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues. Vol 40, Issue 6, pp. 477 – 498. *Charles Fruehling Springwood,“ Basketball, Zapatistas, and Other Racial Subjects.” Journal of Sport & Social Issues. Vol 30 Num 4. Nov 2006 (364-373.) *Blaine Robbins. “That’s Cheap.” The Rational Invocation of Norms, Practices, and an Ethos in .” Journal Of Sport & Social Issues, Volume 28, No. 3, August 2004, Pp. 314-337. *Richard Ittenbach and Brad Chissom. “Social Involvement and the Sport of Weight Lifting: A Microethnography.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 1993, 7(a), 55-61.

Wednesday, June 17

*Jackson, The Game is Not a Game, 175-207 *In class film—Stadiums of Hate (2012 BBC)

WEEK FIVE: Racial apartheid and its legacies

To conclude the course, we will consider a range of contemporary issues at the intersection of race, sports and social change, including a day of student-led discussions.

Monday, June 22

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*William Simons, " and the American Mind: Journalistic Perceptions of the Reintegration of " Journal of Sport History, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 39-64 *In class film: Gaspar González and Matthew Frye Jacobson, A Long Way from Home: The Untold Story of Baseball’s Desegregation (2018).

Wednesday, June 24

For the last class, each student will select a reading to discuss in class that relates to course themes. We will afford approximately 20 minutes to discuss each article and its relation to the course. Articles should be emailed to Professor HoSang one week in advance. Articles should be between roughly 800 and 2000 words.

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