Course Content
Modules
The course comprises of four taught modules, plus a 15,000 word dissertation on a subject of your choice selected in consultation with your tutor.
Social and Cultural Themes of Sport
This module examines the development of sport and physical culture in Britain and continental Europe from the 1850s. This includes the emergence of amateurism and the on-going tension between the amateur ethos and the commercialisation of sport as well as the codification, modernisation and globalisation of sporting practices. Particular reference is made to the importance of social divisions, such as class, gender and race.
Sport, Politics and Policy
This module examines the relationship between sport and international politics, and looks at how government public policies have impacted on sport and explores identity politics in sport. The module is based around the history of mega-events such as the Olympic Games and also global sporting institutions like the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. In addition, sport in the Cold War is also examined.
Investigating Sports History: Research Methods
The primary aim of this module is to prepare students for their dissertation. It comprises two mandatory essays a Primary Source Analysis and a Dissertation Plan for which you will receive expert guidance, concerning historiography and methodology.
In addition, to help you specialise, you will choose one from the following:
Sport, Writing and History
The module considers written social and cultural aspects of the representation of sport in Britain and in an international context. The central aim is to promote appreciation of an historical approach to imaginative literature and non-fiction including autobiography, sports journalism and popular writing. This will enable students better to identify and explain long-term changes in the representation of sport and recreation and its transmission to a wide range of readers and audiences.
Football: Past and Present
This module explores the history of the game, from its origins, and its development from both domestic and international perspectives. It is arranged both thematically and chronologically and includes: the origins of football; the early professionalization and commercialisation of the game; the emergence of international football; football and the media; the football manager; football fans; the modernisation of football and global actors, such as FIFA.
The History of Rugby
This module examines the social history of rugby, starting in the mid-19 century and the popularisation of the sport through Tom Brown’s Schooldays to the 1995 professionalisation of rugby union. Using film, oral history and primary sources, the module examines the development of the sport through the perspectives of class, gender and national identity. At each stage the history of the sport is related to the broader history of British society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
