Aristocratic pastime or the peoples game? This course will examine the historical emergence of golf as both an amateur and professional sport and as a popular leisure activity in the U.S. between 1860 when Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland hosted the first (British) Open -- and the present. The course will be run as a colloquium, with students exercising considerable leadership responsibility for each class. Discussions will center on a wide variety of historical, sociological, literary, legal, and mass media sources, all designed to illuminate broader themes of class, gender, race, and age in social and cultural history. All students are welcome to take the course, whether or not they play the game of golf. However, if you think that St. Andrews is the Vaticans summer home; or that 6-under is Tony Sopranos 2006 business plan; or that a mashie niblick is a side dish at KFC, you may want to reconsider.
Aristocratic pastime or the peoples game? This course will examine the historical emergence of golf as both an amateur and professional sport and as a popular leisure activity in the U.S. between 1860 when Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland hosted the first (British) Open -- and the present. The course will be run as a colloquium, with students exercising considerable leadership responsibility for each class. Discussions will center on a wide variety of historical, sociological, literary, legal, and mass media sources, all designed to illuminate broader themes of class, gender, race, and age in social and cultural history. All students are welcome to take the course, whether or not they play the game of golf. However, if you think that St. Andrews is the Vaticans summer home; or that 6-under is Tony Sopranos 2006 business plan; or that a mashie niblick is a side dish at KFC, you may want to reconsider.
