Schedule, readings & discussion prompts
- WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION
What we will do in class: Discuss our own fandom and what makes us fans
WEEK 2. WHY ARE WE SPORTS FANS?
Tuesday, Jan 28
What we will do in class: Discuss what makes fandom different, plan for the rest of the course
What is due next class?
READ:
- "Keeping the Faith: The Elementary Forms of Sports Life" in The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture by Michael Serazio
- "Using Sport Fandom to Fulfill Personal and Societal Needs" by Daniel L. Wann (in Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom)
- Why do humans become sports fans?
- How did sports and religion become intertwined? And how are they still today?
- What kind of societies engage in sport fandom?
- Wann writes of four "individual needs" and of four "societal needs" sport fandom satisfies. Jot down how you have engaged personally and as a member of society in sport (or other) fandom to satisfy each of these needs. Be read to talk about them.
What we will do in class: Discuss Serazio and Wann.
What is due next class?
READ:
- "They Saw A Game: A Case Study" by Albert Hastorf & Hadley Cantril
- "Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies" by Robert B. Cialdini, Richard Borden, et. al
- What happened in the Dartmouth-Princeton game?
- What is real and does it matter?
- What do we get from our favorite teams' success?
- Defend the use of "we" as fans when referring to favorite teams. What about "they?" Are there consequences of “we/they?”
WEEK 3. EARLY THEORIES OF SPORTS FANDOM
Tuesday, Feb. 4
What we will do in class: Watch two video clips: 2018 | 2017 and discuss in terms of “They Saw a Game.” Then talk about we/them and BIRGing.
What is due next class:
READ:
"Die-Hard and Fair-Weather Fans: Effects of Identification on BIRGing and CORFing Tendencies" by Daniel L. Wann & Nyla R. Branscombe
"The Process of Becoming a Sports Fan: The Psychological Continuum Model" by D.L. Wann & Jeffrey D. James
DISCUSSION POINTS:
Describe the PCM in layman's terms
What are the four stages of connection and how do they apply to you personally?
Thursday, Feb. 6
What we will do in class: SNOW DAY!
What is due next class:
READ (same readings as the ones assigned Tuesday):
"Die-Hard and Fair-Weather Fans: Effects of Identification on BIRGing and CORFing Tendencies" by Daniel L. Wann & Nyla R. Branscombe
"The Process of Becoming a Sports Fan: The Psychological Continuum Model" by D.L. Wann & Jeffrey D. James
DISCUSSION POINTS:
- Describe the PCM in layman's terms
- What are the four stages of connection and how do they apply to you personally?
- Watch the Super Bowl! Take some notes on how people express and how they feel about their fandom AND their "identity." This does not just apply to Chiefs' and Eagles' fans, either. It might also apply to Kendrick Lamar fans, Taylor Swift fans, fans of Donald Trump (who will be the first sitting president to attend), fans of the commercials or even of football itself. USE THE READINGS as your guide -- how are they "connecting?" How are they (and/or society) engaging with the personal and societal needs? is anyone BIRGing or CORFing?
WEEK 4.
Tuesday, Feb 11
What we will do in class: Discuss Super Bowl and everything above.
What is due next class:
READ
"Points of Attachment" by D.L. Wann & Jeffrey D. James
"Motivation and Sport Fandom" by D.L. Wann & Jeffrey D. James
Thursday, Feb. 13
What we will do in class: Discuss points of attachment and motivation; Introduce prompt for Paper #1.
No new readings
DISCUSSION POINTS
- Think about the "Attachment" and "Allegiance" stages of fandom. With those in mind, what are your points of attachment?
- Next, we used religion as a comparative point of discussion on Tuesday. What are the points of attachment in your religion? How are they similar to/different from sports fandom? (In religion, are there "environmental origins?" "Rival salience?"
- New motives are introduced -- eight of them. How do these eight motives compare to the eight societal/individual "needs" Wann introduced in an earlier reading? Are motives and needs the same thing? Explain.
WEEK 5.
Tuesday, Feb. 18
What we will do in class: Discuss the Wann & James readings, talk about your points of attachment. Introduce the paper prompt.
What is due next class:
READ
- "Who doesn't like sport? A taxonomy of non-fans" by Heath McDonald, et al. (Note: Access to this entire piece is available by connecting through the URI library system.
- Is a fan's motivation the same as a non-fan? Why? How?
- How does a non-fan act?
What we will do in class: Discuss the previous three readings; talk about the paper prompt
What is due next class:
- Begin work on your paper. Produce an outline for class discussion on Tuesday
WEEK 6.
Tuesday, Feb. 25
What we will do in class: Critique and discuss outlines
What is due next class: The paper! Please attend Wednesday afternoon's event if possible!
Thursday, Feb. 27 NO CLASS; ATTEND FEB. 26 HOME & HOME SERIES FEATURING KATIE BARNES, FELICE DUFFY & BECKY CARLSON
WEEK 7. IDENTITY THEORY AND SPORTS FANDOM
Tuesday, March 4
What we will do in class: Discussion and role-playing
What is due next class:
READ
(read this first; it's boring, but it'll pay off!) "Identity Theory and Social ldentity Theory" by Jan E. Stets & Peter J. Burke (2000)
"Mr. and Mrs. Seahawk: True-Blue fans" by Molly Yanity (2006)
"Psyched Up: Inside the weird minds of Eagles' fans" by Sandy Hingston (2023)
DISCUSSION POINTS
- Is a fan an identity or a social identity? Is it both? How and why?
- In the Seahawks and Eagles reading, where do you see "identity" and where do you see "social identity" playing out?
What we will do in class: Class will be held via Zoom (link here) Be prepared to participate.
What is due next class:
Read
"Performative Sport Fandom: An approach to retheorizing sport fans" by Annie Osborne & Danielle Coombs (2013) -- if you can't access this by simply clicking the link, you can access it by going into the URI library site and pulling it up.
"Examining soccer fan performances through performative sport fandom theory: how fans of the Spurs perform their fandom" by Zachary Humphries & Jake Andrew Kucek (2019)
DISCUSSION POINTS
- The theory of "performative sport fandom" uses social identity theory, but goes farther in a bit of a different direction. Why do the creators of this theory think social identity theory isn't enough? How does the theory differ at its core?
- In the Tottenham Hotspurs piece, the authors show how Spurs fans perform their fandom. How do fans of your favorite teams perform their fandom and how do those performances differ from other fanbases?
WEEK 8.
No class
Spring Break
WEEK 9. PERFORMATIVE SPORT FANDOM
Tuesday, March 18
What we will do in class: Talk about PSF and fill out women's brackets. Where is your fandom when it comes to this event? The teams? The players?
What is due next class:
Read Chapter 3 of "Female Fans of the NFL" by Osborne & Coombs (2015) -- link to chapter sent to you on 3/18 via Brightspace.
DISCUSSION POINTS
- What are the factors that affect fandom?
- Identify where your fandom is situated when you are in different social situations? Is your fandom situated differently from watching your favorite team with your friends than it is, for example, watching the women's basketball tournament at my insistence? Explain.
What we will do in class: GUEST SPEAKER Dr. Danielle S. Coombs, one of the scholars who conceptualized PSF.
WEEK 10. PERFORMATIVE SPORT FANDOM
Tuesday, March 25
What we will do in class: Talk about Coombs' visit to class. How are our brackets doing?
Thursday, March 27
WEEK 11.
Tuesday, April 1
Thursday, April 3
WEEK 12. EXPERIENCING FANDOM FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
Tuesday, April 8
Thursday, April 10
WEEK 13.
Tuesday, April 15
Thursday, April 17
WEEK 14.
Tuesday, April 22
Thursday, April 24
WEEK 15.
Tuesday, April 29.
FINAL PAPER DUE no later than 11:59 p.m., Thursday, May 1 via Brightspace
FINALS WEEK.