Women, Sport, and Film Course
Spring 2004

 

Sponsored by the Department of Athletics and Physical Education at Bryn Mawr College, with support from the Center for Science in Society at Bryn Mawr College and the Serendip website

A five part series that will explore the role of women and sport as seen through documentaries and popular film. Students will view films and discuss women in sports in relation to how women's images are framed in sport:

These topics have dramatically shaped the opportunities for women in sport as well as the societal view of women engaged in sport.

This course will be taught by Amy Campbell, Bryn Mawr College Director of Athletics and Physical Education since 1999. A
four sport pre-title IX varsity collegiate athlete, Amy now enjoys hiking. Assisting in the film and conversation on society, class and gender, will be History of Art Ph.D. candidate Mya Mangawang. A 1995 All-American in lacrosse, Mya more recently was the first place woman in the Maine Marathon. To promote a richer and broader discussion, students will participate in on-line discussion. Organization of the on-line forums and of web materials is the responsibility of Paul Grobstein, director of the Center for Science in Society at Bryn Mawr College, and Ann Dixon, BMC '83, Serendip's webmaster, both co-founders of the Serendip website. In addition to their weekly forum writing, students will prepare a three page final paper related to the material of the course which will be posted together with other course materials as a contribution to continuing discussion of issues related to women and sport.

Bryn Mawr has a long and storied history of supporting sport and physical education. Constance Applebee, Bryn Mawr's first director of physical education was responsible for bringing field hockey to the United States and oversaw its rise in the early 1900's as a rigorous outdoor team sport for women. The effort to discuss the issues that affect women's sport, more than a century after Constance Applebee first developed the physical education and sport programs at Bryn Mawr, reflects an understanding that sport and the culture of sport are pervasive features of contemporary society. They mirror and refract, in ways both positive and not, society's image of women. Understanding the culture of sport and how women are portrayed through film and documentaries is important to the broader understanding of the role women play in today's society.

At Bryn Mawr, the course will meet from 7 pm to 10 pm on successive Thursdays beginning January 29 in Carpenter 21.


Schedule Web Links Bibliography Forum Web Papers



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