Introduction to Communication and Sports

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores how sports are communicated across media formats and within both interpersonal and intergroup contexts. Examines the production and circulation of sport communication through television, print, online platforms, podcasts, blogging and/or social media. Considers how teams, athletes, organizations and fans communicate within and about sport. Includes attention to how sports communication reflects and shapes cultural narratives involving community, gender, race, politics and/or national identity. Course material may draw on real-world events and perspectives that reflect diverse experiences within or about sport. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Supports workforce preparation by engaging practices central to sports media, journalism, broadcasting, public relations, digital content, interpersonal and organizational communication. Emphasizes applied skills such as writing, presenting, interviewing, photography, storytelling, analysis and audience engagement. Connects course work to professional settings in athletics, media industries, marketing, sports administration, journalism and strategic communication. Reinforces academic preparation for continued study in media, communication, sport culture or public discourse by linking applied practice to theoretical and analytical approaches within the discipline. Strengthens civic understanding by highlighting how communication in sports influences public dialogue, institutional decision-making and community identity. May include exploration of potential career pathways across the sports communication landscape. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Clarifies how sports communication goes beyond entertainment or fandom to include cultural meaning, identity and/or power. Highlights the role of media and messaging in interpersonal, group and organizational dynamics that shape public perception of athletes, teams and sporting events. Considers how communication in sport settings can influence public dialogue around such contemporary issues as health and injury, gender, race, nationalism, economics and social belonging. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include analysis of sports media platforms; study of sportscasting, reporting and commentary; writing about sporting events; communication within teams and organizations; player–coach interaction; family communication about sport; fandom and fan culture; identity, gender, race and nationalism in sport; crisis and reputation management; sport as community and industry. Course content may address contemporary issues or public events that reflect differing perspectives or cultural debates connected to sport.