COMM 444
Critical Theories of Sport
Daniel T. Durbin
Spring, 2018
ASCJ G38
Instructor: Dr. Dan Durbin
Office: ASCJ G21A
Office Hours: TTh 12:30-1:30, 3:30-4:00; and by appointment.
Phone: (213) 821-6615
Email:
Twitter: @SCDurbin
Course Objectives: This course examines sports in the public sphere. Drawing on critical approaches from rhetorical criticism and critical theory, it examines the intersection of sports and politics, sports and public discourse, and the public expression of social norms through sports. Students will learn key theoretical approaches to the study of sport and will engage in a semester long research project on a particular aspect of sports and culture. Learning Objectives include: 1.) Students will master theories of sport and sports communication, 2.) Students will apply those concepts in a research projectthat should prepare them for professional or graduate level work.
Required Reading:
Brummet, Barry. (ed.) Sporting Rhetoric: Performance, Games & Politics. New York: Peter Lang Publishers, 2009.
Reid, Heather L. Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport [Elements of Philosophy].Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2012.
Course Reader (available at the bookstore)
Assignments: Your primary job this semester is to produce a grad level paper studying some aspect of sports rhetoric. Your assignments (even the ones that may not seem to directly feed into this project) were all developed to move that project forward. You will hand in three papers, have in class presentations and take a final exam. Because of the interactive nature of this class, your participation grade will be higher than it might be for other courses.
Grade Breakdown:
Participation------10
Justification paper------15
Methodology paper------15
In-class article presentation------10
Final paper------25
Final Exam------25
Total------100
Writing Assignments: You will spend much of your time this semester developing a single research project on a subject of your choosing. Your genre paper and final paper will be parts of the same research project. These assignments represent steps as you write and revise a complete study. All written work in this course is expected to be typed following MLA or APA writing guidelines. I will not accept hand written work. Papers will be graded on quality of writing, effective application of theory, quality of insights, and completion of assigned work. Papers with an excessive number of errors in basic spelling and/or grammar (15) will be returned to the author for a rewrite. Students who must rewrite papers will have a zero for the assignment until the rewrite is handed in. Rewritten work will lose one letter grade for having been rewritten. Rewrites are due at the start of the next class period.
Article Presentations: As a scholar of sports rhetoric, you need to practice discussing theories of sports rhetoric and their application to subjects. During the semester, you will report on one article from an important scholarly journal in the field of communication and rhetoric You will hand out a one-page outline of the article that identifies the critical criteria the author uses to examine the film and explains the author’s conclusions. You will have ten minutes to present the article in class. This article should be useful as a piece of research for your papers during the semester. The article review is worth ten percent of your final grade. As with any class report, reading your report from a written text will make your professor extremely cranky and will result in a very poor grade for that assignment. Extemporaneous reports will result in a very cheerful professor, lots of positive comments in class, and much, much better grades. So, explain the articles to us. Don’t read a text. You will be asked to choose an article early in the semester. Article reports will be due when the article is scheduled for class discussion.
Final Exam: The final exam covers all material in class. I will review specific information to be covered before the final.
Participation: This class assumes a high level of student participation (check out that participation percentage). Attendance cannot be counted as participation. Active vocal participation, responses to film clips, discussion of theory and practice, and (most important) discussion of your ongoing research as you build your final paper all feed into your participation grade. Further, positive participation in class discussions will have a very positive impact on all your grades. Failure to participate and/or numerous absences will have a very negative impact on your grades. Also, please have and express an opinion. Feel free to disagree with any of the articles we discuss (though, make sure you have reasons for your disagreement). Your critical response (positive and negative) to our readings and article presentations is an important part of the learning process in this class.
Absences: Students are allowed two absences after which each absence (whether excused or not) will cost 5% of the final grade.
Late work: Late work will result in the loss of one letter grade for each class period the work is late. Of course, your final exam cannot be made up.
Disability Services: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776. Students requesting accommodations for taking tests in DSP must have their information to me and DSP in sufficient time to set up accommodations at DSP.
Academic Integrity: The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University’s Academic Integrity code as detailed in the Scampus guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violations or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the student’s expulsion from the Communication major or minor. If you have any doubts about what is and is not an academic integrity violation, please check with me. The University presumes that you are familiar with its standards and policies; should you be found to have committed a violation, ignorance of these standards and policies will not be accepted as an excuse.
Readings: This class draws on two types of reading. The Reid book was written from the perspective of the field of philosophy. The Brummet book and the articles are all written from the perspective of rhetorical inquiry. My current work on sport as performative public discourse seeks to bridge the gap between those fields (and, yes, that’s something folks have been trying to do, largely unsuccessfully, for twenty-five hundred years). Since we will be discussing my on-going research as well as yours, we will examine perspectives from both disciplines. This class will be run, in many respects, as a graduate course might be. The class will focus on our various research interests and how they are developing. I want to help you produce the best research project you can, one that may be used for student conferences, applications, submissions to research awards programs, in other words, something that you can put on your resume, one day. Let’s face it, writing papers just to pass a class is no fun. The fun starts when you can write with confidence about a subject that fascinates you.
Now, let’s have some fun!
Class Grades
Final class grades will determined according to the following scale:
A94-100
A-91-93
B+88-90
B84-87
B-80-83
C+77-79
C74-76
C-70-73
D+67-69
D64-66
D-60-63
F59 and below
USC Statement on Academic Conduct and Support Systems
Academic Conduct:
Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism inSCampusin Part B, Section 11, “Behavior Violating University Standards” policy.usc.edu/scampus-part-b. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information inSCampusand university policies on scientific misconduct,
Support Systems:
Student Counseling Services (SCS) – (213) 740-7711 – 24/7 on call
Free and confidential mental health treatment for students, including short-term psychotherapy, group counseling, stress fitness workshops, and crisis intervention. engemannshc.usc.edu/counseling
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1 (800) 273-8255
Provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services (RSVP) – (213) 740-4900 – 24/7 on call
Free and confidential therapy services, workshops, and training for situations related to gender-based harm. engemannshc.usc.edu/rsvp
Sexual Assault Resource Center
For more information about how to get help or help a survivor, rights, reporting options, and additional resources, visit the website: sarc.usc.edu
Office of Equity and Diversity (OED)/Title IX Compliance – (213) 740-5086
Works with faculty, staff, visitors, applicants, and students around issues of protected class. equity.usc.edu
Bias Assessment Response and Support
Incidents of bias, hate crimes and microaggressions need to be reported allowing for appropriate investigation and response. studentaffairs.usc.edu/bias-assessment-response-support
The Office of Disability Services and Programs
Provides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange relevant accommodations. dsp.usc.edu
Student Support and Advocacy – (213) 821-4710
Assists students and families in resolving complex issues adversely affecting their success as a student EX: personal, financial, and academic. studentaffairs.usc.edu/ssa
Diversity at USC
Information on events, programs and training, the Diversity Task Force (including representatives for each school), chronology, participation, and various resources for students. diversity.usc.edu
USC Emergency Information
Provides safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued if an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible. emergency.usc.edu
USC Department of Public Safety – UPC: (213) 740-4321 – HSC: (323) 442-1000 – 24-hour emergency or to report a crime. Provides overall safety to USC community. dps.usc.edu
Reading Schedule and Due Dates
Weeks One and Two
1/9-1/18
Initial Sports Theories
Readings: Reid, Chapters 1-4, Brummett, Introduction and Chapter 1.
Proposed Research Subject due 1/18.
Weeks Three, Four and Five
1/23-2/8
Classical Theories
Readings: Course Reader-Durbin, “The Public Nature of Sports: Plato, Aristotle and Suits,” Kruse, “Apologia in Team Sports,” Reid Chapters 5-7, Grano, “Michael Vick’s ‘Genuine Remorse’ and Problems of Public Forgiveness.”
Justification Paper Due 2/8.
Weeks Six and Seven
2/13-2/22
Rhetoric, Ethics and Sports
Readings: Reid, Chapters 8-11, Course Reader-Gorsevski and Butterworth, “Muhammad Ali’s Fighting Words: The Paradox of Violence in a Nonviolent Rhetoric,” Brummet and Duncan, “Theorizing without Totalizing: Specularity and Televised Sport.”
Week Eight
2/27-3/1
Contemporary Approaches to Sport
Readings: Course Reader-Durbin, “Rules of Sport and the Rule of Rhetoric: Sport as Performative Public Discourse,” Salazar, “Rhetoric on the Bleachers, or, The Rhetorician as Melancholic,” Brummet-Wright, “Performing Perfection or, How to be a Ninja Warrior,” Reid, Chapters 12-13.
Methodology Paper Due 3/1.
Week Nine
3/6-3/8
Burkean Approaches to Sport
Readings: Course Reader-Butterworth, “Purifying the Body Politic: Steroids, Rafael Palmeiro and the Rhetorical Cleansing of Major League Baseball,” Milford, “Kenneth Burke’s Punitive Priests and the Redeeming Prophets: The NCAA, the College Sports Media, and the University of Miami Scandal,” Grano and Zagacki, “Cleansing the Superdome: The Paradox of purirty and Post-Katrina Guilt.”
Spring Break March 12-16, no classes scheduled.
Weeks Ten and Eleven
March 20-29
Rhetoric, Identity and Sport
Readings: Brummet-Webster, “It is a Girl Thing: Uncovering the Stylistic Performance of Female Athleticism,” Winslow, “Bull Riding and the Performance of Masculinity,” Carrero, “Rollergirls: Superhero Rhetoric in Post-Feminist Television,” Johnson, “Hip-Hop, the NBA, and Street Basketball,” Bagley, “Performing Social Class: The Case of Rutgers Basketball versus Don Imus.”
Weeks Twelve and Thirteen
April 3-12
Sports, Politics and Culture
Readings: Course Reader-Nomai and Dionisopoulos, “Framing the Cubas Narrative: The American Dream and the Capitalist Reality,” Brummet-Gatche, “The Rhetoric of Monstrosity in Professional Sports Controversy,” Greene, “Towards a Rhetoric of Nostalgia and Cultural Memory: Silver League Base Ball and the Performance of the Past,” Childers, “Going All In on the Global Market: The Rhetorical Performance of Neoliberal Capitalism on ESPN’s The World Series of Poker,” Barberena, “Lucha Libre: Mexican Wrestlers and the Portrayal of Politics.”
Weeks Fourteen and Fifteen
April 17-26
Sports Cultures and Conclusions
Readings: Brummet-Congalton, “Competitive Eating as Sport: A Simple Recipe for Everyone,” Steffensmeier, “Sacred Saturdays: College Football and Local Identity,” Reid, Chapters 14-15, Conclusion.
Final Exam May 3, 2-4