Sport Studies

Overview 

A concentration

What is it about sports that inspires such loyalty and camaraderie or, conversely, that provokes fans to take the fight outside the arena?

At Bryant, the Sport Studies concentration allows you to take a close, critical, and multi-faceted look at the global phenomenon of sport. You will complete courses that focus on the institutional and cultural aspects of sports, the media and sports, the interplay between these aspects of sports, and the embodied and physiological core aspect of sports and athletics.

In this course of study, you will learn key concepts in the study of sports; understand the contradictions of the phenomenon of sports; master major concepts of a discipline-based approach and apply it to the study of sports; and describe and critically analyze sports as a cultural, social, political and economic context for human interaction.

Future careers, post-grad opportunities

Bryant’s Sport Studies concentration allows you to complement many courses of study with the knowledge provided by a discipline-based approach to examining sports and athletics. You can pursue a career in sports development, the health and fitness industry, or as a coach. You may also go on to postgraduate study or even launch your own business in a related field.

Sport Studies faculty

The interdisciplinary concentration in Sport Studies offers students a program that combines rigorous and in-depth analysis of sport with a specific disciplinary focus the applied psychology, sociology, economics, communication or legal studies, as well as exposure to more broad-based knowledge in the study of the institution and cultural practice of sport. Faculty in this concentration are drawn from Sociology, English and Cultural Studies, Science, Applied Psychology, Communication, Legal Studies, and Economics.

Faculty work with students to develop relevant internships and directed studies consistent with the students' interests, curricular needs, and graduate school and career plans. 

>> Search the faculty directory

Requirements

For an 18-credit concentration:

Choose one (1) of the following as a foundation course:

  • Public Speaking (COM202)
  • Introduction to Communication (COM203)
  • Media Literacy (COM260)
  • Microeconomics (ECO113)
  • Macroeconomics (ECO114)
  • Introduction to Literary Studies (LCS121)
  • The Legal Environment of Business (LGLS211)
  • Western Legal Tradition (LGLS220)
  • Introduction to Psychology (PSY260)
  • General Biology (SCI251)
  • Principles of Sociology (SOC251)

Choose one (1) of the following as a related course:

  • Public Relations (COM361)
  • Industrial Organization-American Industry (ECO363)
  • Managerial Economics (ECO393)
  • Sexuality and Culture (LCS383)
  • Health Psychology (PSY375)
  • Nutrition (SCI354)
  • Anatomy and Physiology (SCI360)
  • Sociology of Gender, Health, and Illness (SOC352)
  • Internship in area of student’s choosing

Choose at least three (3) concentration core courses:

  • Sports Media Production (COM344)
  • Sports Economics (ECO340)
  • Sport and the Law (LGLS380)
  • Exercise and Sports Psychology (PSY481)
  • Sociology of Sport (SOC360)
  • Directed Studies in a content area of student’s choosing
  • Internship in area of student’s choosing

Choose a Capstone course in the discipline-based track. The Capstone must be at the 400 level. For disciplines in which there is no Capstone course, students might use a 400-level directed study or other 400-level opportunity for a Capstone experience, developed with the guidance of a Sport Studies faculty advisor.

Request info

To learn more, please contact:
Judy McDonnell, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Department of History and Social Sciences
jmcdonne@bryant.edu