JRLC 5080 International Mass Communication at Oxford

Grades and assigments

Framing analysis

Module 1: Sports and media on both sides of the pond

Module 2: Football, gender, sport, and media

Excursion 1: Manchester (Module 2)

Module 3: Cricket, sport, race, and media

Module 4: Para sport and media

Mini module 5: Sport, capitalism and media

Excursion 2: Birmingham (Module 4)

Master schedule

Assignment schedule

Class agenda

Explore

Module 4: Para sport and media

In this module we will explore and discuss the evolution of what is variously called para sport or adaptive sports—sports that have been adapted to enable individuals with physical challenges such as missing limbs, paralysis and vision impairment to compete at a very high level. (This is not to be confused with the Special Olympics, an American competition for athletes with intellectual challenges.) The 2012 Paralympics in London made para sports a good deal more mainstream in the UK than in the US, so we are going to focus on what that means and how para athletes and their stories have become some of the most intriguing and inspiring influencers in sports. The module will culminate with attending para sport events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and speaking with athletes and coaches there.

In this module students will...

Be introduced to quasi-experimental methods

Learn about the history of adaptive sport competition

Consider theoretical approaches to portraying and marketing adaptive sports

Interview individuals engaged in adaptive sport competition

Envision future opportunities for adaptive sport athletes

Module 4

Module 4

Day

Date

Module

Class plans

Readings and assigment (due 11:59pm)

Sunday

7/24/2022

4: Para sport and media

#12askstef

Monday

7/25/2022

4: Para sport and media

Zoom conversation with Stef Reid, recently-retired Paralympian turned broadcaster

#12experiment

Tuesday

7/26/2022

4: Para sport and media

Adaptive/para sports, supercrips, and research

#13murderball

Wednesday

7/27/2022

4: Para sport and media

Murderball, games, and social influencing

Sunday

7/31/2022

4: Para sport and media

#14legacy

Monday

8/1/2022

4: Para sport and media

Social marketing and sports; sporting events and legacy

#15influencer

No results from filter

⁠

Sunday July 25

#12askstef

Stefanie Reid is a recently-retired Paralympian who is becoming a broadcaster. We’ll talk with her about her own experiences as a Paralympic athlete as well as the landscape she sees for para sport both in the UK and the US. You can find more information about her on

her website⁠

and especially on

her Instagram⁠

. We will have a Zoom conversation with her in class on Monday, July 25.

Please write two questions you’d like to ask Stef about adaptive sport and her career on

this page⁠

Monday, July 25

Class: Day 13

Introduction to parasport

Zoom conversation with Stef Reid (see above)

#12experiment

Readings:

Suggs and Guthrie

⁠

Suggs_Guthrie.pdf

451.7 kB

⁠

This link can't be embedded.⁠

⁠

Assignment:

⁠

Take this survey⁠

. It should take 5-10 minutes.

In the #12experiment channel, post a screenshot of the final page of the survey.

Read this article by Ronald Berger:

Tuesday, July 26

Class: Day 14

The “supercrip” critique

Discussion of research methods

Ethics and research

#13murderball

Watch:

⁠

Murderball⁠

(you may need to register an account with Kanopy using your

uga.edu⁠

account)

Assignment:

In the #13murderball account, write a short post considering two things:

What are the two or three key frames the filmmakers use to introduce quad rugby and the athletes in the film?

In class we’ve talked about framing para athletes as inspiring viewers to see all people with disabilities as more worthy of attention versus seeing them as “supercrips” who imply that all people with disabilities can be successful if only they try harder.

Wednesday, July 27

Class: Day 15

Murderball analysis

Paralympics and Commonwealth Games

Athletes and social influence

Sunday, July 31

#14legacy

Readings:

News articles about Paralympic legacy

⁠

News articles.pdf

374.6 kB

⁠

Brittain

⁠

Brittain backgrounder.pdf

360.1 kB

⁠

Assignment:

Consider the Brittain article and at least two of the articles in the news media packet. What did Brittain and the authors you chose believe to be the most important frames in understanding what the “legacy” is of the Paralympic Games? Is it supposed to be lasting economic benefit for the UK and London? Improved profiles for athletes and para sport in general? Greater well-being for people with disabilities in general? Or something else? In the #15legacy channel, write a short post comparing the authors you chose and what they chose to emphasize, and how that matches up to what you believe legacy to be.

Monday, August 1

Class: Day 16

Social marketing and sports

#15influencer

Readings:

Brown

⁠

paralympic marketing.pdf

195.7 kB

⁠

Burton, Naraine and Scott

⁠

Burton on digital sponsorship strategy.pdf

1.7 MB

⁠

Assignment:

Find three adaptive-sports athletes on social media (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) and look over their feeds for the past couple of weeks. Do the same for three able-bodied athletes in the same sports. (Athletes can be from any country). What similarities and differences do you notice in what they post and how they style/contextualize what they post? What is due to disability and what is due to the athletes’ personal approaches? Does their strategy with sponsors resonate with what you read from the articles above? Of the six, which athletes’ messages/posts resonate the most with you? Write a short post with links to all six athletes in #14influencer.

Thursday, August 4

Commonwealth Games excursion

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