This article describes major but common pitfalls in teaching undergraduate students to engage in critical analysis of sport through two separate large-scale online sport sociology courses (KIN 142 and KIN 249) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Three instructors at varying stages in their careers as graduate students, and…

Olympism as a philosophical concept has been highly contested and challenged for its relevancy in a contemporary world. Some scholars argue that Olympism is simply a relic of the modern age and has little educative and/or social legitimacy. Others argue that despite the criticism and its contested nature it remains one of the most coherent and…

The significant cost of hosting the London 2012 Olympics is justified, in part, by claims that the games will inspire greater social cohesion, promote peace and encourage the public adoption of active healthy lifestyles. This critical review paper examines these justifications and finds them wanting. The first section provides a socio-historic…

High-stakes testing is the practice of attaching important consequences to standardized test scores, and it is the engine that drives the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The rationale for high-stakes testing is that the promise of rewards and the threat of punishments will cause teachers to work more effectively, students to be more motivated,…

Describes how in the late 1930s a novelist named John R. Tunis began publishing a long series of books about various athletic situations and issues of his day. Examines Tunis' attempt to demonstrate where sports sometimes touch contemporary social issues. Explicates three texts: "All-American"; "Keystone Kids"; and "Yea! Wildcats!" (SG)

Responds to criticisms of a 1978 research study on the relationship between interscholastic high school athletics and delinquent behavior. Suggests that the relationship needs more study and that criticisms of the research are not well founded in the academic tradition of the sociology of sports. (Author/DB)

Evaluates two British ethnographic studies by Bruce Carrington and Edward Wood, and by Cecile Y. Wright claiming to find evidence of teachers' racist attitudes and behaviors toward Afro-Caribbean students that contributed to student underachievement. Delineates methodological flaws. Argues that Wright's findings that the source of racism is in…