This past spring, I taught a class on Popular Sport & the Modern World, with a pretty wide brief… the basic outlines of the class held our discussions to the mid-nineteenth century and later, but we read and discussed topics from the emergence of association football in industrial England to segregation in American baseball to cricket in India.
I also gave my students a specific project: they had to pick a topic, research it, and produce a short podcast episode presenting their ideas to a popular audience. This podcast would then be shared publicly.
And here it is! I’m very happy to present the first of seven student podcasts. Ian Williams, Devin Hayes, Ellen Stephens, Braxton Couch and Torey Hawkins discuss the question of whether or not industrialization is a necessary prerequisite for modern sport. I’m proud of the work these students have done and I hope you enjoy it.
Centre Trail 