S2 EP 2 - Religion and Race in Sports

Although religion and race may not immediately seem connected, Jeffrey Scholes (UCCS) and Umer Hussain (Missouri State) join us to explain how they are intimately intertwined in sports. We discuss what is religion and its relationship with sports. We then explore how Muscular Christianity did not just popularize modern sports, but also made sports central to the British empire . We look at how British imperialism created new sporting forms in colonies through a focus on South Asia. We discuss how religious theologies materialize in the social world through people's sporting practices in North America and South Asia, especially when athletes perform religious expressions in sporting spaces. We also talk about how religious and sporting identities create important management issues. And, contradictions that emerge when sports and religion merge. You can join the conversation on the Sports in Society discord server - https://discord.gg/QDzzETYThv