1. LECTURE

For six slides per page format (for printing) click : HERE

For one slide per page format (for viewing on computer) click: HERE

2. VIDEO CLIPS

These video clips, unless otherwise advised, will be shown during lecture.  They are made available here for revision purposes.

Video Clip 1: Guardian video feature focused on Texas Roller Derby.

Video Clip 2:  News feature from "Under the Pink Carpet" focused on the Bingham Cup, gay rugby tournament.

Video Clip 3:  National Geographic feature on the base jumper, Dean Potter.

Video Clip 4:  A short film on the endurance runner, Jez Bragg, and his record breaking journey running the length of New Zealand.

Video Clip 5:  A promotion film for the “My Playground: A Film About Movement in Urban Space” documentary film.

Video Clip 6:  A YouTube film focused on tomb stoning in Plymouth Harbour, England.

Video Clip 7: New York Times video feature on Da Hui, Wolf Pack, and issues surrounding the Oahu North Shore surfing culture “Surfing’s Dark Side on Oahu’s North Shore.”

Video Clip 8:  CBS Inside Edition story focused on alley cat racing.

Video Clip 9: Two television advertisements demonstrating the mainstream commercial use of alternative youth sport practices and sensibilities.

Video Clip 10: Parkour parody from “The Office”; a Scion commercial featuring Sébastien Foucan; and, a free running excerpt from “Casino Royale” (2006).

Video Clip 11: An alley cat racing even sponsored by Red Bull.

Video Clip 12: Brief clips from the “Yoga Inc.” (2006) documentary, focused on the commercialization and commodification of yoga.

3. REQUIRED READINGS

It is expected that you will complete these readings prior to the discussion sections, and that–where appropriate–your engage them within your classroom discussion. 

Reading I: Breivik, G. (2010). Trends in adventure sports in a post-modern society. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, 13(2), 260 - 273.

Reading II: Higgins, M. (2009, January 22).  Rough waves, tougher beachers.  The New York Times.

Reading II: Trebay, G. (2008, May 15).  A line in the sand and in the stores.  The New York Times.

4. THEMATIC REVIEW QUESTIONS

Given the volume of information provided in the classroom, you are strongly advised not to engage the material solely during lectures.

Rather, you are strongly encouraged to review each theme carefully on your own, following which you should test your knowledge and understanding by answering the Thematic Review Questions which can be accessed HERE.

5. KEY CONCEPTS

Subcultures as Social Collectivities/Groupings

The Dimensions of Subculture and Subcultural Formations

Insider/Outsider Subcultural Status/Membership

Counter, Resistant, and Deviant Subcultures

Subcultural Boundaries, Commitment, and Boundary Maintenance

Spectating and Participatory Sport Subcultures

Roller Derby as a Counter Subcultural Formation

Gay Sport Subcultures as Progressive Cultural/Political Resistance

Lifestyle/Alternative Sport Subcultures

The Dynamics of Subcultural Identity

Seeking an Alternative to the Disciplinary Regimes of Traditional Sport 

Alternative/Lifestyle Sports and the New Expressive Individualism

The elements of “California” Sports

Sporting Involvement, Lifestyle, and Self-Identity

Deriving Subcultural Capital and Subcultural Status

Sporting Subculture’s Gender Conundrum

Risk and Adventure Sports and Alternative Lifestyle Cultures

Risk Society and Control

The Contradictions of Risk Society

Risk Sports as Oppositional Acts

The Quest for Excitement in Unexciting Societies

Low (Pre-Modern), High (Modern), and Risk (Post-Modern) Societies

The Embodied Paradox of (Post)Modernity

Managing and Controlling Risk and Subcultural Status

The Social/Pyshcological Positives of Risk

Risk Sport and the Upper/Middle Class

Working Class Quests for Excitement, Freedom, and Control

Surf Subculture Ethos

Boundary Maintenance and Surfing Subculture Status

Surfing and Sub-Cultural Localism and Territorialism

Work-Leisure, Work-Life Distinctions

Occupational Identity and Leisure Identity

The Common Experiences of Cycle Messengering

Cycle Messengering and Transcending Work-Leisure Differences

The Presentation of the Cycle Messenger Self

Replicating Work Outside of Work

The Negatives and Positives of Cycle Messenger Subculture

The Colonization of Subcultural Cool

Mainstream Incorporation and Commercial Colonization

Skateboarding as Contested Subculture/Space

Yoga’s Subcultural Fragmentation and Divide

6. DISCUSSION QUESTION/TASK #9

This question/task will be discussed in discussion sections on:

Monday, November 24

Wednesday, November 26

Utilizing Wheaton’s (2000) understanding of subcultural capital and status, examine a sport subculture which you are familiar with (either through participation, observation, or both), and discuss the specific factors that determine  membership (insider/outsider, core/margins etc.) within that subcultural grouping.

7. ESSAY QUESTION #9 (this is an option for the Module 3 essay)

To what extent, and in what ways, do contemporary sport subcultures offer an alternative to the sporting mainstream?  In answering this question, you can refer to one, or more, sport subcultures.

This assignment should be a minimum of 1,500 words (6 double-spaced pages) to answer it comprehensively.

You may find the following academic sources useful in completing this assignment.  You do not have to use these sources, they are simply provided for you as an introduction to the literature, and you should use them where appropriate and/or relevant. Also, be warned, these readings do not count towards the THREE additional academic sources you are expected to use within your essays (however, they may direct you toward additional academic sources you could use).

Anderson, K. L. (1999). Snowboarding: The construction of gender in an emerging sport. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 23(1), 55-79.

Carlson, J. (2010). The Female Signifiant in All-Women's Amateur Roller Derby. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27(4), 428-440.

Daskalos, C. T. (2007). Locals only! The impact of modernity on a local surfing context. Sociological Perspectives, 50(1), 155-173.

Fincham, B. (2008). Balance is Everything: Bicycle Messengers, Work and Leisure. Sociology, 42(4), 618-634.

Gilchrist, P., & Wheaton, B. (2011). Lifestyle sport, public policy and youth engagement: examining the emergence of parkour. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 3(1), 109-131.

Langseth, T. (2011). Risk sports – social constraints and cultural imperatives. Sport in Society, 14(5), 629-644.

Lewis, C. S. (2008). Life chances and wellness: Meaning and motivation in the "yoga market". Sport in Society, 11(5), 535-545.

West, A., & Allin, L. (2010). Chancing your arm: the meaning of risk in rock climbing. Sport in Society, 13(7-8), 1234-1248.

Wheaton, B. (2000). "Just do it": Consumption, commitment, and identity in the windsurfing subculture. Sociology of Sport Journal, 17(3), 254-274.

If you choose to complete this essay, and in addition to the sources provided on this page, you need to identify and use (either through paraphrasing or direct quotation) interpretations, insights, or information from a MINIMUM OF THREE appropriate academic sources (in addition to those provided for you on this website).

The deadline for submitting your Module 1II Essay is before class on Sunday December 14.  In order to receive feedback from your TA, you can submit a draft version of your essay up to and including Sunday December 10.

Important: The ELMS/Canvas website will not accept essays after the due time and date.

Be sure to review the details on the module essay page.   On that page you will find the EVALUATION CRITERIA for module essays (which you are strongly encouraged to read), you will also find links to the appropriate academic sources you should use when researching and writing your module essays, and the style and format guidelines you need to follow when completing module essays.  All this information needs to be read, understood, and closely followed for you to succeed in this course.