FRE 354 - Sporting Identities (1)

What can an examination of sports tell us about national cultures and identities in the French-speaking world? How do sports affect-and how are they affected by-gender, class, and race? How do sports and sports narratives change over time and how does this influence the meanings and messages they propagate or are made to carry? Do the same sports mean the same things for different cultures, or even for different people? Through various literary and cultural texts-photographs, films, short stories, non-fiction, etc.-we will examine the role of sports and sports narratives in creating, resisting, shifting, or maintaining elements of cultures and identities. Students do not need to have any familiarity with sports to take this class, but they do need to have met the prerequisites for taking upper-level courses in French, as the course will be conducted in French. Prerequisites: This course also counts towards the GSS major. Prerequisite: FRE 301 or permission of the instructor. FRE 311 or FRE 312 strongly recommended.
(Humanities)