The Sport Media and Culture major examines the complex and dynamic relationship between sporting organizations and media companies, and how this relationship shapes the cultures of sports in the U.S. and beyond. Students take courses in the area of sport and media and the area of sport and culture in order to gain an understanding of how cultural meanings are shaped and contested through sport.
Students who major in Sport Media and Culture can pursue a wide variety of exciting career paths within and beyond the growing and diverse field of sport media. These include more established careers in storytelling (writing, public relations, and marketing) as well as emerging professions in social media, podcasting, digital market research, and analytics. The major also provides students with a firm background in the critical and contextual analysis of sport media institutions that can prepare them for careers in law or for socially committed organizations that seek to transform sport by making it more equitable, diverse, and inclusive.
Learning Outcomes
Sport Media and Culture graduates learn how to study sports critically and understand their complex relationships with cultural meanings. This entails an understanding of:
- Contemporary U.S. sports' relationship with media and how this relationship intersects with other institutions and contexts including politics and the economy.
- Diversity of sporting experiences in the U.S., including how opportunities for and the nature of participation are influenced by social class, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, age, and ability/disability; as well as how that diversity is represented in sport media.
- Historical and cultural forces that shape the relationship between U.S. sport and media from the 19th century to the present.
- U.S. sport media's relationship to global sport media and the historical, political, and social factors that impact it.
- Theories and research methods that allow students to forge their own well-informed and clearly communicated critical studies of sport media.
Coursework
Coursework provides students with the critical skills necessary to understand sport media’s relationships to economics, politics, and education. A focus on race, class, gender, and sexuality in sports is central to the major. Listed below are the general categories of coursework required to earn the degree; for more specific information on courses, curriculum, and requirements of the Bachelor of Arts in Sport Media and Culture, visit the UI General Catalog.
| Title | Hours |
|---|---|
| Foundation courses | 6 |
| Sport and Media courses | 12 |
| Sport and Culture courses | 12 |
| Capstone course | 3 |
| Second Area of Study |
| Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Both of these: | ||
| SMC:1050 | Sport and the Media | 3 |
| SPST:1074 | Inequality in American Sport | 3 |
| Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Two of these: | ||
| SMC:2084 | Sport and Film | 3 |
| SMC:2101 | Digital Media and the Future of Sport | 3 |
| SMC:2400 | Sport Media and Culture Experience | 3 |
| SMC:2500 | Sport and Technology | 3 |
| Two of these: | ||
| SMC:3182 | Sport, Scandal, and Strategic Communication in Media Culture | 3 |
| SMC:3184 | Narrative Sports Journalism | 3 |
| SMC:3186 | Athletes, Activism, and Social Media | 3 |
| SMC:3187 | American College Athletics: A Big Money Tradition Unlike Any Other | 3 |
| SMC:3188 | Staging the World's Game: Soccer & Media | 3 |
| SMC:3540 | The Business of Sport Communication | 3 |
| Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Two of these: | ||
| SPST:2077 | Sport and Religion in America | 3 |
| SPST:2078 | Women, Sport, and Culture | 3 |
| SPST:2079 | Race and Ethnicity in Sport | 3 |
| SPST:2170 | Sport and Globalization | 3 |
| SPST:2847 | Hawkeye Nation: On Iowa and Sport | 3 |
| Two of these: | ||
| SPST:3171 | Baseball in America | 3 |
| SPST:3172 | Football in America | 3 |
| SPST:3173 | Cultures of Basketball | 3 |
| SPST:3176 | Sport and Nationalism | 3 |
| SPST:3178 | History of Sport in the United States | 3 |
| SPST:3500 | The Olympics | 3 |
| Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| This course: | ||
| SMC:4500 | Sport Media and Culture Capstone | 3 |
Second Area of Study
Every student majoring in sport media and culture must complete a second area of study. The second area of study enables students to acquire a substantial body of knowledge or expertise in a relevant area, learn how another discipline views the world, and/or develop a companion set of skills to those in sport media and culture. Students must complete the requirements for the sport media and culture major (at least 33 s.h.) and must satisfy the second area of study requirement in one of three ways.
Option 1
Students complete a second major.
Option 2
Students complete an undergraduate certificate. Students may not double count courses for the major and a certificate being used as their second area of study.
Option 3
Students complete an undergraduate minor. Students may not double count courses for the major and a minor being used as their second area of study.