Professor: John Mihelich, Ph.D.
Office: Phinney 401
Office Phone: 885-5046
Office Hours: W 2:00-4:00 p.m. & TTh 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Or by appointment
Email: jmihelic@uidaho.edu

INTERDISCIPLINARY CORE OVERVIEW:

The course “Sports and American Society” is part of the progressive interdisciplinary core program at the University of Idaho.  This year long course offers you the opportunity to explore the topic of sport in depth and through the studies of a variety of disciplines.  Through the small class sizes, you are encouraged to participate and to both pursue and generate knowledge.  Not only will you fulfill four credits of your social science and three credits of your humanities core requirements, you will, more importantly, broaden your mind and your perspective on the world on your way to becoming a broadly educated graduate of the University of Idaho.  The course will offer you a unique educational opportunity to develop understandings of a specific topic and cultivate skills necessary for success both in your college studies and in your future.  I welcome you to the University of Idaho and to this core program and challenge you to pursue your curiosity and take full advantage of the privilege of studying and wondering about things that do not immediately affect your subsistence.  Good luck.

“Mass entertainment [delivers] messages of mass consumerism and celebrity.  How mass spectator sport emerged as a carrier of the ‘dominant values’ that underpin our capitalist consumer culture is a story in itself” (David Meggyesy, in What's My Name Fool: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Dave Zirin, p. 13.  Chicago: Haymarket Books. (2005).

“Sports keep people from Worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about.  And in fact it’s striking to see the intelligence that’s used by ordinary people in sports [as opposed to political and social issues].  I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in—they have the most exotic information and understanding about all kinds of arcane issues.  And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this…Sports is a major factor in controlling people. Workers have minds; they have to be involved in something and it’s important to make sure they’re involved in things that have absolutely no significance. So professional sports is perfect. It instills total passivity.” (Noam Chomsky, in Manufacturing Consent, cited in Dave Zirin, What's My Name Fool: Sports and Resistance in the United States, pp. 20-21. Chicago: Haymarket Books. 2005).

“The weakness in Chomsky’s argument, however, is that it disregards how the very passion we invest in sports can transform it from a kind of mindless escape into a site of resistance” and it “also reflects a lack of understanding of why sports are, at their core, so appealing. Amid the politics and pain that engulf and sometimes threaten to smother big-time sports, there is also artistry that can take your breath away.” (Dave Zirin, What's My Name Fool: Sports and Resistance in the United States, p. 20-21. Chicago: Haymarket Books. 2005).

“How we do sport…is a window to see and format through which to express [a] vision of a better world...sport can be a powerful carrier of the best within us, which is respect for each other’s humanity and life itself, human relationship and connection, and the joy of play with our fellow humans”  (David Meggyesy, in What's My Name Fool: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Dave Zirin, p. 15.  Chicago: Haymarket Books. 2005).