Week 2 and 3...a blur!

After an interesting first week in Duke University's course, Sports and Society, headed up by Orin Starn, I was looking forward to the week 2 and 3's lesson topics. I was shocked at both how interesting the content was and how the time was flying.

On Monday I finally had some time so I decided to throw myself into week 2. The lecture videos were excellently done. The topics included the globalization of sport, nationalism and sport, and finally wrapped up with athletes and social activism. Between the readings and studying the lecture videos it took me 2 hours, but it seemed like minutes.

The reading was an excerpt from Eduardo Galeano's book, Soccer in Sun and Shadow. Galeano is a famous Uruguayan journalist. It was very cleverly written and I really enjoyed the different style of writing he brought to the course.



The lecture topic of athletes and social activism was particularly riveting. Orin explored such key athletes as Tommie Smith and John Carlos and their who used their athletic status to speak out about social injustice and prejudice in the United States. These are the runners from the 1968 Olympic games who did the famous Black Power salute.

Orin also examines the opposite of the social activist athlete, and in this case he called them the "corporate athlete". This athlete goes out of their way to not say anything controversial in order to maximize their earning potential. Orin gave the classic quote from Michael Jordan, who when asked to support a democratic politician, refused, saying, "republicans buy shoes to", of course referring to sales of his Nike products he endorses.

Week 3 proved to be just as fascinating as the topics included race, sports, and identity in a multicultural world. The course covered and discussed such topics as imperialistic nostalgia and how they have been a part of the north American sports scene with respects to Native Americans. Orin explored such positive relationships as with Florida State University and the Seminole Tribe, and other more negative ones between the Washington Redskins and opponents of the use of the derogatory name.

Photo Credit: Keith Allison via Compfight cc

 



Between week 2 and 3 when it was all said and done I had invested about 6 hours of time, but it seemed like half of that. The topics are so well presented and interesting to me that I always look forward to the next lesson.

 

Observations about MOOCS and Sports and Society so far:

 

-The lectures are very interesting and Orin brings a very personal approach to teaching.

-The online quizzes and homework provide instant feedback which is great

-The world map is a cool feature. There is a nice community feel to such a huge course when you can learn together. The discussion forums are also very lively and bring a lot of different ideas and people together.