HIST 3902A, Topics in European History: Sports in the Cold War
Winter 2022
Instructor: Prof. Erica Fraser
“All world records should be ours!” USSR, 1948
This course will be conducted entirely online in the Winter 2022 semester, regardless of whether the University has resumed in-person classes at that time.
“Sport and politics should not mix.”
We’ve all heard that adage before. But whether or not you believe they should mix, they most certainly always have, especially in the politically tumultuous 20th century.
During the Cold War – an ideological battle between communism and capitalism that dominated the world from 1945 to 1991 – sports competitions became the primary way that the Soviet Union and countries in Europe and North America “battled” each other as a means of avoiding direct military conflict. In this class, we will focus on sport as a lens through which to view Cold War societies and cultures and as a unique way of viewing Cold War rivalries. We will look at topics such as: the role of gender, race, class, ableism, sexuality, and other themes in sports history, the government sponsorship of celebrity sports “heroes,” conceptions of national toughness based on sports performance, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the Olympic Games, and more.
I am a historian of the Soviet Union, and so while the Cold War was a global conflict, as a European history class we will focus geographically on the Soviet Union and Europe, their Cold War worldviews, and their competitive engagements with teams and individuals in North America. Western observers generally dismissed Soviet athletes as finely tuned robots, well trained but heartless and ruthless in their pursuit of victory for their dictatorship (see the stereotypical villain Ivan Drago in Rocky IV). We will look at those stereotypes and why the west invested so much in them, but we will also consider the specific ideology in the USSR and Eastern Europe that insisted physical fitness among individual citizens and excellence in sports would collectively build a strong communist society – the most peaceful and humane society in the world, according to believers.
All students are welcome – athletes and couch fans alike, history majors as well as those from other programs – but be aware that this is a third year history course and as such, the readings will be set at that level. I also expect third year levels of sophistication in your writing and analysis, regardless of your major.
Online class format:
This online class will be conducted asynchronously, which means we will not meet at any set time. The course materials will consist of my lecture videos that you can watch any time during the week, supplementary videos or podcasts, weekly readings of primary and secondary sources, and short quizzes designed to keep you on track. That said, I will be available once a week or more for “live” office hours or optional Q-and-A sessions via web conferencing, and I will certainly be available to help you with your essays and take-home exams.
** This course will be conducted entirely online in the Winter 2022 semester, regardless of whether the University has resumed in-person classes at that time.
Assignments:
Quizzes on video content, reading responses or discussion board posts, one research essay, a take-home mid-term exam, and a take-home final exam.
Texts:
Most readings will be journal articles available electronically through the library catalogue or primary source documents available online.
Questions? Feel free to email me at erica.fraser@carleton.ca