Course Description

Instructor: Jeff Milsteen

With the Paris Olympics just around the corner, join Jeff Milsteen for a look at the history, culture and future of the world’s most celebrated quadrennial gathering. This class will examine how the Olympics grew from its ancient roots to what has become a multi-billion-dollar business, one that is increasingly too expensive for ordinary citizens to attend and most countries to host. Are the games still relevant? Are they hopelessly corrupted by money, politics, and scandal? Is it time to extinguish the torch? Or does the pomp, pageantry, and athleticism (not to mention the crazy mascots and strange experimental sports!) make it all worthwhile? This class will tackle those and many other questions that are posed with ever greater urgency every four years when we celebrate the great spectacle of global sports.