Final Reflections

Before I took this class, I had never thought critically about the relationship between sport and culture. I knew that sport played a huge role in US society, but never realized the extent to which it shapes and perpetuates larger constructs and issues in society such as racism, sexism, violence, and more. This class has greatly changed my understanding and perception of the US sports culture because it has allowed me to think critically about these issues and how they manifest themselves in sport, and to just become a more aware and informed sports fan.

My favorite topic in class was when we talked about the violence in sports. I thought it was interesting (and I had never thought about) the comparisons we drew between sports and war. Everything from the symbolic uses of flags at games, to comparing a game to ‘going to battle.’ I also enjoyed our discussion on whether or not this comparison was problematic both in the sports realm and war realm. Another thing I enjoyed in class were the debates like when we discussed whether or not college athletes should get paid. I thought it was fun to pick a side and argue it, but the opposing argument still opened my eyes.

I plan to work in sports, so I will definitely take a lot of the information I learned in this class with me! It will be useful in my career and in my life as an avid sports fan.

I really enjoyed this class and would recommend it to a friend! I thought it was challenging but rewarding, and it was material that I was truly interested in which I haven’t been able to say for many other classes I have taken at CU. I thought the class got better when we had fewer journals because it allowed us to keep up with the readings better and be a little less overwhelmed.