This page is for students of Smith College’s ESS 220 – Psychology of Sport – taught by Tim Bacon. You can contact Tim at tbacon@smith.edu or 413-585-2715.
Location & Time
The course this year will be taught on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:10 to 2:30 in the Ainsworth Gym Classroom (main floor – there is only one:).
Prerequisite
The PSY 111 prerequisite is routinely waived if your interest in the course is high and you agree to do any necessary background reading – e-mail Tim for permission. A sport background while not essential, will facilitate understanding of the material. Those without a sport background should be prepared to do additional reading.
Pedagogical Approach to Teaching the Course
The concepts in this years course will be examined through the use of film. Every Monday a sport film will be shown in class, and with the aid of a question guide handed out at the start of the class, and several pauses for “mini-discussions” the key concepts under consideration for that particular film will be made salient. After Monday’s class each student will write a one-page paper on the film and the topic of the week (e.g. Team Spirit). Key reference material from the text will be presented and discussed with reference to the film on Wednesdays. Following Wednesday’s class each student will revise and add to their paper (3-5 pages) based on the reference material and opinions presented during class discussion.
Syllabus
Here is the updated version of the syllabus which replaces the draft we circulated durig the first part of the course: ess-220-syllabus-2008-updated-april-9.
Text
The text is available at the Smith College Bookstore or can be ordered online. The official text is the 4th edition, although any edition will do.
Third Edition is available at Amazon.com – 75 copies available from $3.99 and up
From the Smith College 2007-08 catalogue:
ESS 220 Psychology of Sport: An introduction to the principles and applications of the four main areas of sport psychology: peak performance, psychological skills training, motivation and group processes. Students will have an opportunity to research and apply models of interest.
Film Suggestions
If you have a suggestion for a great film make it below along with a line or so about the link to a sport psychology topic. For example “Miracle” (2004) with the four stages of team-building, or “Personal Best (1982) with Lesbians in sport. Possible resources for sport psychology related films:
Internet Movie Database (IMDb) Top 50 Films.
Wikipedia’s list of sport films.
Sport Psychology Movie Database.
When suggesting films keep in mind that this ESS220 is not this course – although this subject matter is also highly recommended.
Download Films
If you want additional viewing of the films we use in class here are several sites where you can download them – please feel free to suggest additional sites.
Have and like iTunes? – download and view movies from $2.99
Heard of Netflix? They have a FREE trial for new members, and an $8.99/month package with unlimited web viewing (Windows PCs) – so less than $27 to get you through our course!
The Movie Library: Some, not all titles available from $2.99 – burnable to CD or DVD!
Concerned about cost? Remember the restriction to purchase the 4th Ed. $79 text was removed – allowing you to purchase a previos editions for less than $10 – leaving $69 for purchase of DVD viewing! C’mon – get with The Program (wait – that is the title of a sports film with James Caan:)
