AMERICAN SPORTS HISTORY

WINTER INTERSESSION, 2006

MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE

Instructor:  L. Bowling

DVDs:
“Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football”
“Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team”
Ken Burns’s “Baseball”—episodes 4 (Babe Ruth) & 7 (New York, 1950s)
“Ultimate Jordan”

 Field Trips:
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Mass.
National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, N.Y.

Books:

Elliott J. Gorn &  Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of
American Sports (Urbana, 2004)

Benjamin Rader, Baseball; A History of America’s
Game, 2^nd ed. (Urbana, 2002)

Requirements:
Attendance, Readings, Participation,
Oral Reports, FInal Examination

Description:

In 1800, sports in the United States were primarily associated with
children, holidays, and the dubious pastime of gambling.  In
the 19th century, a sports culture was created that only grew
bigger in the 20th century and beyond.  This course will
consider the development of American sports through
primary and secondary sources examined in-class and
also via trips to the Basketball and Baseball Halls of Fame.