Course schedule, links to readings & assignments
Week 1: Introductions
Wednesday, Jan. 21
What we will do in class: Introductions, discuss syllabus/schedule; Watch Dave Zirin's "Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports"
What is due next session: Read "Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction" -- James Fulcher
Week 2: What is this class about?
Monday, Jan. 26
SNOW DAY
Wednesday, Jan. 28
What we will do in class: Introductions, discuss syllabus/schedule; Watch Dave Zirin's "Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports"
What is due next session: Read "Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction" (Chaps 1-3) -- James Fulcher
Week 3: What is CAPITALISM?
Monday, Feb. 2
What we will do in class: Presentation I and discussion of Capitalism
What is due next session: Read the following:
Read "Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction" (Chaps 4-6) -- James Fulcher
Wednesday, Feb. 4
What we will do in class: Presentation II and more on Capitalism
What is due next session: Read the following:
"The Rich, the Poor, and the Growing Gap between Them -- Inequality in America" -- The Economist
"Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America" -- Barbara Ehrenreich
"Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in American" -- Diana Kendall
Week 4: Scarcity, haves & have-nots (by design); is there anything other than capitalism?
Monday, Feb. 9
What we will do in class: Presentation III, discussion on the media’s role in upholding capitalism, begin to watch Robert Reich's "Saving Capitalism"
What is due next session: Read the following:
"Cultural Studies and the Sports Media Complex" -- Sut Jhally
Wednesday, Feb. 11
What we will do in class: Watch the rest of “Saving Capitalism” and Presentation IV
What is due next session: Read the following:
"Sports Media: A Modern Institution" -- Robert V. Bellamy, Jr.
"Content, not platform: How live sports became the streaming subscription driver" -- TVB Europe
"Super Bowl primes sports to be streaming MVP" -- Geoffrey Golfarb, Reuters (Feb. 6, 2026)
Week 5: The Sports-Media Complex
Monday, Feb. 16
NO CLASS - President's Day
Wednesday, Feb. 18
What we will do in class: Presentation V; What is the Sports-Media Complex? What is our role in it? What does it have to do with capitalism?
What is due next session: No new reading; make your notes!
Week 6: The Sports-Media Complex, Part II
Monday, Feb. 23
What we will do in class: Do Assignment #1 in class.
What is due next session: Read the following:
"The Capitalist Foundations of Racialization" -- Charisse Burden-Stelly, Black Perspectives
Wednesday, Feb. 25
What we will do in class: Presentation VI and watch first part of “13th
What is due next session: Read the following:
"Sport, the Media and the Construction of Race" -- Grainger, Newman & Andrews
"Color Coded: Racial Descriptors in Television Coverage of Intercollegiate Sports" -- Rada & Wulfemeyer
EXTRA CREDIT OPTION: Dr. Courtney M. Cox/4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 26 in Hope Room
Week 7: Race and Sport as Social Constructs
Monday, March 2
What we will do in class: Presentation VII and watch conclusion of “13th”
What is due next session: Read the following:
McCarthyism reading
Wednesday, March 4
What we will do in class: Presentation VIII, discuss McCarthyism, media & sport
What is due next session: Read the following:
"The Rhetoric of Winning and Losing: The American Dream and America's Team" -- Vande Berg & Trujillo
"It's all about my 'team': What we can learn about politics from sport" - Natalie Brown-Devin, UT-Austin & Mike Devin, Texas State
"Imagining the Citizen-Fan: Sport Metaphor in American Politics and Implications for Democratic Culture" -- Michael Butterworth, UT-Austin
"'My Whole Life is About Winning': The Trump Brand and the Political/Commercial Uses of Sport" -- Thomas P. Oates, Iowa & Kyle Kusz, Rhode Island
Week 8: Winning, Nationalism and Rhetoric in sports media
Monday, March 9
What we will do in class: Presentation IX, discuss readings; in-class – “What do you know about?”
What is due next session: Watch "The Tillman Story"; assignment. Start reading Kings & Pawns.
Wednesday, March 11
NO CLASS, PROFESSOR AT CONFERENCE
Week 9: Spring Break, no classes
Week 10:
Monday, March 23
Wednesday, March 25
Presentation X – Bryant/Heritage reading
Week 11:
Monday, March 30 – Presentation XI – Ali reading
Wednesday, April 1
Week 12:
Monday, April 6 -- Presentation XII – Lamb reading
Wednesday, April 8
Week 13:
Monday, April 13
Wednesday, April 15
Week 14:
Monday, April 20
Wednesday, April 22
Week 15:
Monday, April 27
FINAL ASSIGNMENT DUE
Wednesday, Jan. 21
What we will do in class: Introductions, discuss syllabus/schedule; Watch Dave Zirin's "Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports"
What is due next session: Read "Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction" -- James Fulcher
Week 2: What is this class about?
Monday, Jan. 26
SNOW DAY
Wednesday, Jan. 28
What we will do in class: Introductions, discuss syllabus/schedule; Watch Dave Zirin's "Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports"
What is due next session: Read "Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction" (Chaps 1-3) -- James Fulcher
Week 3: What is CAPITALISM?
Monday, Feb. 2
What we will do in class: Presentation I and discussion of Capitalism
What is due next session: Read the following:
Read "Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction" (Chaps 4-6) -- James Fulcher
Wednesday, Feb. 4
What we will do in class: Presentation II and more on Capitalism
What is due next session: Read the following:
"The Rich, the Poor, and the Growing Gap between Them -- Inequality in America" -- The Economist
"Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America" -- Barbara Ehrenreich
"Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in American" -- Diana Kendall
Week 4: Scarcity, haves & have-nots (by design); is there anything other than capitalism?
Monday, Feb. 9
What we will do in class: Presentation III, discussion on the media’s role in upholding capitalism, begin to watch Robert Reich's "Saving Capitalism"
What is due next session: Read the following:
"Cultural Studies and the Sports Media Complex" -- Sut Jhally
Wednesday, Feb. 11
What we will do in class: Watch the rest of “Saving Capitalism” and Presentation IV
What is due next session: Read the following:
"Sports Media: A Modern Institution" -- Robert V. Bellamy, Jr.
"Content, not platform: How live sports became the streaming subscription driver" -- TVB Europe
"Super Bowl primes sports to be streaming MVP" -- Geoffrey Golfarb, Reuters (Feb. 6, 2026)
Week 5: The Sports-Media Complex
Monday, Feb. 16
NO CLASS - President's Day
Wednesday, Feb. 18
What we will do in class: Presentation V; What is the Sports-Media Complex? What is our role in it? What does it have to do with capitalism?
What is due next session: No new reading; make your notes!
Week 6: The Sports-Media Complex, Part II
Monday, Feb. 23
What we will do in class: Do Assignment #1 in class.
What is due next session: Read the following:
"The Capitalist Foundations of Racialization" -- Charisse Burden-Stelly, Black Perspectives
Wednesday, Feb. 25
What we will do in class: Presentation VI and watch first part of “13th
What is due next session: Read the following:
"Sport, the Media and the Construction of Race" -- Grainger, Newman & Andrews
"Color Coded: Racial Descriptors in Television Coverage of Intercollegiate Sports" -- Rada & Wulfemeyer
EXTRA CREDIT OPTION: Dr. Courtney M. Cox/4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 26 in Hope Room
Week 7: Race and Sport as Social Constructs
Monday, March 2
What we will do in class: Presentation VII and watch conclusion of “13th”
What is due next session: Read the following:
McCarthyism reading
Wednesday, March 4
What we will do in class: Presentation VIII, discuss McCarthyism, media & sport
What is due next session: Read the following:
"The Rhetoric of Winning and Losing: The American Dream and America's Team" -- Vande Berg & Trujillo
"It's all about my 'team': What we can learn about politics from sport" - Natalie Brown-Devin, UT-Austin & Mike Devin, Texas State
"Imagining the Citizen-Fan: Sport Metaphor in American Politics and Implications for Democratic Culture" -- Michael Butterworth, UT-Austin
"'My Whole Life is About Winning': The Trump Brand and the Political/Commercial Uses of Sport" -- Thomas P. Oates, Iowa & Kyle Kusz, Rhode Island
Week 8: Winning, Nationalism and Rhetoric in sports media
Monday, March 9
What we will do in class: Presentation IX, discuss readings; in-class – “What do you know about?”
What is due next session: Watch "The Tillman Story"; assignment. Start reading Kings & Pawns.
Wednesday, March 11
NO CLASS, PROFESSOR AT CONFERENCE
Week 9: Spring Break, no classes
Week 10:
Monday, March 23
Wednesday, March 25
Presentation X – Bryant/Heritage reading
Week 11:
Monday, March 30 – Presentation XI – Ali reading
Wednesday, April 1
Week 12:
Monday, April 6 -- Presentation XII – Lamb reading
Wednesday, April 8
Week 13:
Monday, April 13
Wednesday, April 15
Week 14:
Monday, April 20
Wednesday, April 22
Week 15:
Monday, April 27
FINAL ASSIGNMENT DUE