Big-Time Sports in American Universities

This book expands on the argument that spectator sports, despite their problems, have become a central function of American universities.

List of contents

Part I. Commercial Sports as a University Function: 1. Strange bedfellows; 2. Priorities; 3. The bigness of 'big time'; Part II. The Uses of Big-Time College Sports: 4. Consumer product, mass obsession; 5. Commercial enterprise; 6. Institution builder; 7. Beacon for campus culture; Part III. Reckoning: 8. Ends and means; 9. Prospects for reform; Appendices.

About the author

Charles Clotfelter is Professor of Public Policy at Duke University, North Carolina, where he received his Bachelors. He received a Doctorate in Economics from Harvard. He has written four other books on education and economics, including Unequal Colleges in the Age of Disparity (2017), After Brown: The Rise and Retreat of School Desegregation (2004) (winner of the Gladys Kammerer prize), and Buying the Best (1996). He also co-authored two other books, including Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America (1990). In 2011, he was selected to give the Spencer Foundation Award Lecture, and in 2015 he was elected to the National Academy of Education.

Summary

Why do so many American universities operate spectator sports businesses that have virtually nothing to do with research, service, or learning? The new edition of Charles T. Clotfelter's book continues to explore how this enterprise has become a central function in American universities, and argues for an honest accounting of its costs and benefits.

Additional text

Advance praise: 'Charles T. Clotfelter's new book shows in details and data how college sports have become center stage in American universities of the twenty-first century. His chapters are exciting and his analyses are balanced and fair. Finally we have a book by a leading scholar who knows both academics and athletics. This leaves us with a great basis for reform.' John Thelin, University of Kentucky, author of Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics

Product details

• Authors: Charles T. Clotfelter, Charles T. (Duke University Clotfelter, Clotfelter Charles T.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.11.2018
• EAN: 9781108421126
• ISBN: 978-1-108-42112-6
• No. of pages: 398
• Subjects: Guides > Sport > General, dictionaries, handbooks, yearbooks, history; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; USA, Cultural Studies, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industrial Management, Sociology: sport & leisure, Organizational theory & behaviour, Political Economy, Sociology: sport and leisure, United States of America, USA, universities, Sports management & facilities, Sports management and facilities, Economics of industrial organisation, Higher education, tertiary education, Organizational theory and behaviour, Economics of industrial organization