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Modules

The course comprises of four taught modules, plus a final project.

Social and Cultural Themes of Sport
This module examines the development of sport and physical culture in Britain and continental Europe from the 1850s. This includes the emergence of amateurism and the on-going tension between the amateur ethos and the commercialisation of sport as well as the codification, modernisation and globalisation of sporting practices. Particular reference is made to the importance of social divisions, such as class, gender and race.

Sport, Politics and Policy
This module examines the relationship between sport and international politics, and looks at how government public policies have impacted on sport and explores identity politics in sport. The module is based around the history of mega-events such as the Olympic Games and also global sporting institutions like the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. In addition, sport in the Cold War is also examined.

Investigating Sports History: Research Methods
The primary aim of this module is to prepare students for their dissertation. It looks at project planning, research methodologies (including archival research, oral history and the use of various forms of media) and effective writing techniques.

In addition, to help you specialise, you will choose one from the following:

Sport, Writing and History 
The module considers written social and cultural aspects of the representation of sport in Britain and in an international context. The central aim is to promote appreciation of an historical approach to imaginative literature and non-fiction including autobiography, sports journalism and popular writing. This will enable students better to identify and explain long-term changes in the representation of sport and recreation and its transmission to a wide range of readers and audiences. 

Football: Past and Present
This module explores the history of the game, from its origins, and its development from both domestic and international perspectives. It is arranged both thematically and chronologically and includes: the origins of football; the early professionalization and commercialisation of the game; the emergence of international football; football and the media; the football manager; football fans; the modernisation of football and global actors, such as FIFA.

Final Project options (choose one):

Dissertation
With this option, students write a 15,000 word dissertation on a subject of your choice selected in consultation with your tutor.

Heritage Project
With this option, students focus on a heritage-based project, understanding “heritage” in its broader sense. This can include major projects such as exhibitions, cataloguing or digitising collections, creating databases, etc. Students will be expected to develop a heritage project in conjunction with an existing organisation. The heritage project needs have a clear outcome achievable by the deadline. Students will submit a Proposal, a formal proposal about the intended heritage project, including the concept, structure, and format; the Heritage Project itself, in an appropriate format; and a Report, a critical evaluation and analysis of the project.

Overview

The Sports History and Culture MA allows you to study at your own pace. Study materials for your coursework are accessed via Learning Zone, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥'s virtual learning environment. For each module there are sets of written lecture materials plus online reading, in addition to the resources available via the Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Library. Module materials are released to students electronically at regular intervals, and whilst each has its own set of assignments and related deadlines, students are free to work through lecture and reading materials at a pace and at times that suit them.

There are module leaders for each module and they will provide input regarding your coursework. Module leaders will be available each week by video/phone call and email. Alongside set assignments, you are encouraged to suggest your own proposals in preparation for writing essays and, particularly, your dissertation. 

For most modules, there are two types of assessments: a critical analysis assignment and an essay. The length of the essay is 5,000 words; critical analysis assignments are 2,000 words in length. For the module, Investigating Sport: Research Methods, you will write a primary source analysis (3,000 words) and a dissertation plan (3,000 words). Deadlines will be set for each assessment.

Contact hours

This is a distance learning programme. Full-time students are expected to commit 35 hours a week of study to this programme, which will include reading lectures and secondary sources; writing assessments (critical analysis assignments or essays where appropriate for first three modules); engaging with research methods and historiography; undertaking primary source research and writing of dissertation.

We offer a flexible programme of study for part-time students, though we recommend a commitment of at least 15 hours a week to the course.

There is no set timetable for degree modules, meaning study can be conducted at times and in ways that suit the individual student. You can discuss individual study plans and approaches with the Programme Leader and Module Leaders.

The ICSHC has the foremost historians in the field on its staff who publish critically acclaimed books and articles, are editors of leading journals, organise international conferences, and work as consultants for a variety of projects, including the major BBC radio series Sport and the British. Each member of staff is personally involved in the teaching and supervision of MA students and can easily be contacted directly during your studies. The team, and some of their recent publications, include:

• Dr Dave Dee: Sport and British Jewry: Integration, Ethnicity and Anti-Semitism, 1890-1960
• Dr Neil Carter: The Football Manager: A History; Medicine, Sport and the Body: A Historical Perspective
• Dr Heather Dichter: Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO 
• Professor Martin Polley: Moving the Goalposts: A History of Sport and Society since 1945; The British Olympics: Britain’s Olympic Heritage 1612–2012
• Professor Matthew Taylor: The Leaguers: The Making of Professional Football in England, 1900–1939; The Association Game: A History of British Football

Other members of the Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ History team also assist with the degree, mainly as regards supervision and marking of Dissertation projects.