THE CULTURE OF SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Liz Timbs

South African History in a Digital Age

April 17, 2014

COURSE PHILOSOPHY This course delves into the varied and diverse world of sportingcultures in South Africa and their relationships to broader social,economic, and political change. It will explore popular global sports(soccer, rugby, cricket, swimming, track and field, boxing) as well assports which are more specific to South Africa (netball, stick-fighting,competitive dancing, martial athletics). By combining specific casestudies with broader considerations of currents in South Africanhistory, the readings and lectures for this course aim to show that sportin South Africa changed, and was changed by both global dynamicsand local change in South Africa. This course also aims to connectcontemporary South African sport to broader historical trends,illustrating how intersections of race, gender, and class impacted theworld of South African sport today.

READING ASSIGNMENTS Overcoming Apartheid

Students required to integrate points from assigned unit to each week’s post

Monographs John Nauright’s Long Run to

Freedom: Sport, Cultures and Identities in South Africa(primary text)

Chuck Korr and Martin Close More Than Just a Game: Football v. Apartheid

Additional Readings Various scholarly articles/news

articles/book chapters

VIDEOS

In addition to reading assignments, students will be required to watch (and engage with in their writings) weekly lecture videos of 15-20 minutes.

Videos (how-to, introduction, lecture) recorded and edited using Camtasia Integrate photos, videos, music with

historical content

Emphasizes points from the weekly readings and study guides

Week 5 will also require students to view The 16th Man, an ESPN 30-for-30 on the 1995 Rugby World Cup

ASSIGNMENTS

Introductory Assignment (5%)

Blog (30%)

Blog Comments (20%)

Final Exam (30%)

Digital Projects (15%)

DIGITAL PROJECTS

Required to produce digital content on some component of South African sports history using any platform of their choosing, including: Twitter/Vine (example)

TimeMapper

Tumblr

Required to post a 500-word minimum blog post (with a direct link to their digital content) that explains their choices, sources, and the argument that they are attempting to make (the significance).

CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF:HTTP://HISTORY.MSU.EDU/HST745