Professor: Trond Jacobsen

4.00 credits

• CRN 32060: Monday & Wednesday, 12:00-1:50pm @ CHA 202

Baseball is often characterized as our national pastime, a truly American invention that distills our national character and charts our national history. As the French writer Jacques Barzun wrote in 1954: “whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” Among the topics used in this course to explore American history are issues of race, gender, class, immigration, modern entertainment, urban planning, capitalism, American imperialism, data analytics and Sabermetrics, and our evolving national identity through the focusing lens of baseball . One does not need to particularly enjoy the game of baseball to recognize the important role it has played in our history. This course offers a unique perspective for understanding the changing character of American life.