‘Learning Is Not a Spectator Sport’: Oral History Archives and Simulation in the Sport History Classroom

Abstract

Sport historians have called for more use of oral history in research, writing, preservation, and community engagement projects. Applying oral history sources to sport history pedagogy by focusing on a simulation assignment for an undergraduate-level ‘Sport in American History’ course reveals the potential of this material to enlivening learning opportunities. In this model, students in this class engage in conventional reading, research, writing, and discussion throughout the semester, but in the second half of the course they prepare for and participate in an active-learning assignment based on the ‘1968 U.S. Olympic Team Oral History Project’ conducted and archived by the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports at the University of Texas. Each student adopts a persona from one of the 120 participant histories catalogued in the project. With that oral history as a foundation, students produce supplementary research to corroborate the information from the audio file of their interview and ascertain background information on their subject. After completing this multifaceted research, the class simulates negotiations over a proposed boycott of the 1968 Summer Olympics. Qualitative observations, student surveys, and assignment assessment data demonstrates that integrating oral history into a sport history course raises student engagement in the undergraduate classroom.