Sports Major: Competitive performance as a liberal art

• Published in: Liberal Education Vol. 108; no. 2; pp. 26 - 3
• Main Author: Matz, Lou
• Format: Journal Article Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Association of American Colleges and Universities 22.03.2022
• Subjects: 19th century; 20th century; Classical Languages; College Athletics; College basketball; College presidents; Colleges & universities; Core curriculum; Dialectics; Education, Humanistic; Educational aspects; Educational Change; Enrollments; Evaluation; Extracurricular activities; Higher education; History; Humanistic education; Humanities; Knowledge; Learning; Liberal Arts; Majors (Education); Mathematics; Morality; Philosophers; Philosophy; Pragmatics; Social sciences; Sports; Students; Teaching Methods; Undergraduate Study; United States; Universities; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0024-1822; 2693-518X

[...]the introduction of a dance major in the first part of the twentieth century, colleges and universities in the United States had only recognized the development of intellectual skills as worthy of inclusion in liberal arts curricula. Plato's ideal education for rulers, which he describes in his Republic, and the history of pragmatic-oriented reform of the liberal arts in the United States. [...]analogous to dance or music performance, intercollegiate athletics should also contribute to a first-of-its-kind sport performance major, which I am in the process of trying to establish at the University of the Pacific, a non-football Division 1 institution in the West Coast Conference. After the US Civil War, however, the distinctive American university evolved from the colonial colleges to address the practical needs of a growing agricultural and industrial economy, the increasing importance of research and specialized knowledge in the natural and emerging practical-oriented social sciences, and the demand for knowledge and skills of potential leaders in the still-young democratic republic. In the second half of the twentieth century, the demographic of higher education increasingly included more Black, Indigenous, and other students of color, as well as more women, working adults, and international students, prompting institutions to reconsider the content and goals of liberal learning, such as how to give more attention to social and political activism and to inequalities in all domains of life.