August 26: Course introductions, expectations
Getting Started
August 28 – September 4: Methods for Interpretation
VIEW (in-class): Nine Innings from Ground Zero (2004)
READ (by August 28):
Russell McCutcheon, “What is the Academic Study of Religion?” (from author’s professional Web page)
Andrew Mullen, “Are Video Games a Sport?” (from Marlin Chronicle, 2013)
Clifford Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System” (from The Interpretation of Cultures, 1973)
DUE (by November 18): Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops (entire)
Locating Sport in U.S. Religious History
September 9 – September 11: The Protestant Model
READ (by September 9):
William J. Baker, Playing for God, pages 1-63;
Ruth Moon, “Pastors Blame Kids’ Sports for Attendance Dips” (from Christianity Today, 2013)
DUE (on September 9): Film Response #1 (on Nine Innings from Ground Zero)
PROMPT: How can we use what we’ve learned from the Geertz reading to interpret in Nine Innings from Ground Zero in terms of religion?
DUE (by November 18): Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops (entire)
September 16 – September 18: Sport in the Protestant Model
READ (by September 16):
William J. Baker, Playing for God, pages 64-107
Sean O’Neil, “Tim Tebow, Protestant Saint: When the Myth Fits…” (from Religion Dispatches, 2011)
Michael Frost, “Kaepernick vs. Tebow: Two Christians on Their Knees” (from Washington Post, 2017)
Philip Pullella, “Vatican to Field Cricket Team, Take on Anglican Church” (from Reuters, 2013)
VIEW (by September 16): Chariots of Fire (1981)
DUE (by November 18): Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops (entire)
September 23: NO CLASS (Rosh Hashanah)
Acculturation & Americanization
September 25 – October 7: Non-Protestants in America
[October 2: NO CLASS (Yom Kippur)]
READ (by September 25):
William J. Baker, Playing for God, pages 218-239
Alan Baldwin, “International Basketball Rule Change Allows Players to Wear Religious Headgear” (from Religion News Service, 2017)
Chuck Bennett, “Devotion Wins Out” (from New York Post, 2013)
Michael Leahy, “Should American Catholics Cheer for Old Notre Dame?” (From Washington Post, 2013)
DUE (on September 25): Film Response #2 (on Chariots of Fire)
PROMPT: How could we use the Baker reading to explain the religious dilemmas experienced by the two main characters in Chariots of Fire?
VIEW (by September 25): Rudy (1993)
Transformations
October 9: NO CLASS (Fall Break)
October 14 – October 16: The Religion of Sport
READ (by October 14):
William J. Baker, Playing for God, pages 129-217
Rebecca Alper, “Introduction,” in Religion and Sports, pages 2-35
Vernon L. Andrews, “Rituals of the African American Domus: Church, Community, Sport, and Lebron James” (from God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture, 2nd edn., ed. Eric Michael Mazur and Kate McCarthy, 2011)
Michael Serazio, “Just How Much is Sports Fandom Like Religion?” (from Atlantic, 2013)
DUE (on October 14): Film Response #3 (on Rudy)
PROMPT: Using the assigned readings, how can we understand the relationship of the main characters in Rudy to the University of Notre Dame?
VIEW (by October 14): The Natural (1984)
October 21 – October 23: Nationalism & Internationalism
READ (by October 21):
Kathryn McClymond, “Of Fists and Feathers” (from Ritual Gone Wrong, 2016)
William J. Baker, Playing for God, pages 108-128
DUE (on October 21): Film Response #4 (on The Natural)
PROMPT: What are the mystical / magical elements in The Natural, and how could they help us understand what the film is saying about baseball?
DUE (by October 21): “Case Study Project” conference
DUE (by November 18): Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops (entire)
October 28 – October 30: Topics & Research Methods
DUE (October 28): “Case Study Project” bibliographic essay
November 4 – November 6: Sacred Space & Time
READ (by November 4):
Mircea Eliade, chapters 1-2 (from The Sacred and the Profane, 1957)
VIEW (by November 4): Field of Dreams (1989)
November 11 – November 13: Sport, Religion, & Ethics
READ:
William J. Baker, Playing for God, pages 240-262
Bron Taylor, “Surfing into Spirituality and a New, Aquatic Nature Religion” (from the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 2007)
DUE (on November 11): Film Response #5 (on Field of Dreams)
PROMPT: How can we use Eliade notions of sacred space and sacred time to interpret baseball in Field of Dreams?
DUE (by November 18): Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops (entire)
VIEW (by November 11): Tin Cup (1996)
The Home “Stretch”?
November 18 – November 20: Non-Protestant Models
READ (by November 9): Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops
DUE (on November 9): Film Response #6 (on Tin Cup)
PROMPT: How can we use Tin Cup to understand what it means to “do the right thing” in sport?
VIEW (by November 18): The Legend of Bagger Vance (2001)
November 25: NO CLASS (Instructor away)
DUE (by 5:00 pm): “Case Study Project” draft
November 27: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
December 2 – December 4: “Case Study Project” Presentations
DUE (on December 2): Film Response #7 (on The Legend of Bagger Vance)
PROMPT: How can we use what we have read this semester to interpret The Legend of Bagger Vance in terms of religion?
December 8 (Monday, 11:30 am, regular classroom): Wrap-up
DUE (by 5:00 pm): “Case Study Project” final paper
