Thursday, May 27, 2010

Academic Rigor, Anyone?

To disabuse readers of any notion that "Seminar Abroad 2010: FIFA World Cup/South Africa" is anywhere near a gut course, one need only know that the students -- under the tutelage of Dr. Dan Covell -- were required to read three books*, write two response papers, research and present on a course-related topic, submit a post-trip assessment of findings, and actively participate in in-country events and activities. Happily, most of the assignments were completed in the spring, which provided students with a fuller appreciation of the social, political, and economic dynamics of international soccer and modern-day South Africa.


*Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation, by John Carlin; Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World; and A History of South Africa, by Leonard Thompson.

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