Case students study context as well as content of sports in innovative new SAGES seminar
Presidential Fellows like Chris Sheridan help transform undergraduate education
For immediate release: March 12, 2004
As an editorial writer and columnist for the award-winning daily newspaper the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chris Sheridan expounds on education issues in Cleveland and Ohio.
 So what is she doing teaching a Case Western Reserve University SAGES seminar on "Sports and American Society in the 20th Century?"
She, and the course, are part of a revolutionary new model of liberal learning at Case—one that brings prominent community experts as well as graduate and professional school professors and emeriti faculty into undergraduate classrooms to teach innovative seminars that focus on context rather than content.
And Sheridan, who studied athletics as a history major focusing on 20th century society—and has served as a swimming and rowing coach in addition to her work as an education reporter—knows the substance and significance of sports.
"The students have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of current sports statistics and developments but often don't have much knowledge of historical context," Sheridan said. "Their eyes have really been opened by some of the readings about taxes and public financing of stadiums, for instance. I'm pushing them to think about their roles as taxpayers and citizens in a democratic society. My hope is they will leave my class as informed participants in civic discussions because of what they learned here."
An innovative educational experience
Sheridan is among the first of Case's presidential scholars tapped to teach first and second-year seminars under the university's Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) program.
SAGES, now in its pilot phase, is one of the most innovative educational programs in the country and a cornerstone of the transformative educational experience at Case, where students at one of the nation's top private research institutions learn through small classes, real world experience and an unparalleled combination of arts and humanities and science, engineering and technology.
The part athletics plays
The SAGES seminar that Sheridan teaches examines the role of, and attitudes toward, sports in colonial and early American history. Students examine the influence of sports on small towns through the documentary "Go Tigers" and the book Friday Night Lights: a Town, a Team and a Dream. The course also looks at sports in major cities in the context of taxpayers subsidizing stadiums and arenas, the relationship between sports and race, athletics and gender, and athletics in the academy.
Much of the material used to teach the course are works Sheridan has read herself or ideas she encountered as a history major at Yale University or in her own life.
"In studying American history a lot of issues involving race always come up. I've also followed Title IX (the federal law mandating equal funding for women's athletics) closely as it affected the high school rowers and swimmers I've coached," she explained.
Case connections
Sheridan, who currently coaches the women's crew club at Case, heard about the presidential scholars and the chance to teach a SAGES seminar through the students on the rowing team.
"I checked it out on the Web site and found that the presidential fellows are comparable to a program that allowed me to take a seminar on the First Amendment with the general counsel of CBS. So the concept was appealing because of its familiarity, and it seemed like an opportunity to give back some of what was given to me as an undergraduate," she said. "I've enjoyed teaching the class a lot."
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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