This course examines the history of the world’s most popular sport, soccer, in broader social, economic, and cultural context. We will retrace the emergence of the modern game in nineteenth-century Britain; its mobilization as a vehicle for political, social, cultural, and gendered identities; fandom and supporter culture; and the economics of soccer. Students will engage with a wide range of primary sources and scholarly literature from an array of disciplinary perspectives (including history, cultural anthropology, sociology, literature, and economics). While the course is appropriate for History majors, it is accessible to students from other units as well.
This course examines the history of the world’s most popular sport, soccer, in broader social, economic, and cultural context. We will retrace the emergence of the modern game in nineteenth-century Britain; its mobilization as a vehicle for political, social, cultural, and gendered identities; fandom and supporter culture; and the economics of soccer. Students will engage with a wide range of primary sources and scholarly literature from an array of disciplinary perspectives (including history, cultural anthropology, sociology, literature, and economics). While the course is appropriate for History majors, it is accessible to students from other units as well.
