The Rhetoric of Sports and Games invites students to explore how competition, identity, and persuasion intersect with language, storytelling, and symbolism make sports more than just games.
From online esports to the hard hitting world of the NFL to the pressure packeted tables of the World Series of Poker, the world is captivated by sports. Designed for upper-level students, this class blends theory and practice to examine sports and games on deeper rhetorical level. We will examine sports and games as locations where competition, identity, values, and culture intersect.
What to Expect
This course challenges students to think critically about how competition, fan culture, and media narratives shape our understanding of success, teamwork, gender, race, and national identity. Through documentaries, podcasts, and readings from both academic and popular sources, students will analyze the rhetorical power of sports as microcosm of human life.
This semester will feature a special guest lecture from bestselling author and World Series of Poker finalist James McManus.
Dr. Aaron Duncan
MW 10:30am-11:45am