Who is the first female athlete you admired? Were male and female athletes treated differently in your high school? Is there a natural limit to women's athletic ability? How has Title IX opened up opportunities for women athletes?

Every semester since 1996, Bonnie Morris has encouraged students to confront questions like these in one of the most provocative college courses in America: Athletics and Gender, A History of Women's Sports. What's the Score?, Morris's energetic teaching memoir, is a peek inside that class and features a decades-long dialogue with student athletes about the greater opportunities for women-on the playing field, as coaches, and in sports media. From corsets to segregated schoolyards to the WNBA, we find women athletes the world over conquering unique barriers to success.

What's the Score? is not only an insider's look at sports education but also an engaging guide to turning points in women's sports history that everyone should know.

About the Author

Bonnie J. Morris, author of 19 books and a member of the Authors Guild, has been teaching women's sports history since 1996, becoming Professor of the Year and emeritus professor at George Washington University, Vicennial Medalist at Georgetown, and a nominee for the Excellence in Teaching Prize at UC-Berkeley. She is a scholarly adviser to the National Museum of Women's History, a history consultant to Disney, and the archivist for Olivia Records, as well as three-time faculty for the global Semester at Sea program. Find her talks on C-SPAN and her writing at www.bonniejmorris.com. Morris is currently a lecturer in history at the University of California at Berkeley.

Reviews

What do gender and sports fandom have to do with the American and global social and political landscape? As historian Bonnie J. Morris (The Disappearing L) writes, despite progress with women's rights, we still 'don't expect women to initiate, share, participate in, or pass along sports literacy. In other words, except on a few annual occasions, we don't expect women to know the score.' In response to this gendered cultural gap and the lack of a conversation around it, Morris created a course called Athletics and Gender, which she taught for 25 years at several universities, including George Washington University and UC Berkeley. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, and What's the Score? takes readers into Morris's classroom, reflecting on the social and cultural changes that shaped discussions with students and stakeholders over the years. Morris describes her book not as a 'complete or formal history of women's sports' but a 'memoir of teaching and a template for teaching, drawing from remembered and successful best practices to pass on.' She shares how the course was created and developed over time, along with insights from her students and how the conversation around sports and gender is pertinent to a large variety of undergraduate fields. This invaluable resource for sports fans also includes three versions of the syllabus and a wealth of additional information, including reading materials, documentaries and various legal and sports timelines.

-- Michelle Anya Anjirbag * Shelf Awareness *



Book Information
ISBN 9781684351800
Author Bonnie J. Morris
Format Hardback
Page Count 294
Imprint Red Lightning Books
Publisher Red Lightning Books
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 22mm