RCHUMS 334 003 FA 2016

Residential College Humanities 334 (Special Topics in the Humanities):

Sport as Art

(Wednesdays and Fridays, 10-11:30; 1423 EQ)

Professor Yago Colás

scolas@umich.edu, Office Hours WF 1:15-2:45 pm, 2012 Tisch Hall

Many of us have had a moment, while watching or participating in a sporting event, where we feel or even exclaim, "That was beautiful!" The purpose of this course is to spur deeper reflection on what we are experiencing and saying at such moments.To judge something "beautiful" is to make what is called an "aesthetic judgment."  For centuries, philosophers have reflected upon such judgments in a branch of philosophy called "aesthetics."  

Therefore, one goal of this course is to acquaint you with some of the different, sometimes conflicting, views that philosophers have expressed on this topic. A second, more specific, goal is to familiarize you with how philosophers who think and write about sports have explored the role of the beautiful (or of other aesthetic categories) in sports.  As the semester progresses, you should be building a toolbox of terms, concepts, and arguments that you can use to understand what you are seeing and feeling when you watch a sporting event and when you, or others, make aesthetic judgments about them.

Additionally, I want through this course to challenge you to improve your ability to read, think, speak, listen, write, and construct arguments.

To accomplish these goals, I've structured the course as follows (you can click on each item below to read more about it):

Reading

Attendance (10 %)

Attention and Participation (15 %)

Quotes and Notes (25 %)

Art and Aesthetic Response Essays (20 %)

Presentation (20 %)

Narrative Self-Evaluation (10 %)