Baseball and Americanism (Coursera)

Baseball and Americanism (Coursera)

This course will explore baseball and Americanism. What does it mean that baseball is the national pastime? What does national pastime even mean? What about national? When you think of the United States, what do you think of? Is baseball a part of that? These are some of the aspects we are going to delve into throughout this course. We are going to spend some time discussing how baseball reflected American culture at the time. In some instances, we will discuss how baseball reflected what people wanted American culture to look like, or appear to be.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 3 of 4 in the American History Through Baseball Specialization.

What You Will Learn

  • Gauge the role of nationalism in American history.
  • Survey institutions, such as the U.S. presidency, in shaping baseball.
  • Investigate how American identity is tied to baseball.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Continental Expansion and Beyond
In this module we will cover topics surrounding the Civil War, reconstruction, the Indian Wars, and the Spalding Tour.

WEEK 2
Imperial Reach
In this module we will cover topics surrounding baseball and the early American empire, leading up to WWI.

WEEK 3
The Inter War Years
In this module we will cover topics surrounding the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the New Deal.

WEEK 4
The American Century
In this final module we will cover topics surrounding baseball and WWII, a post war world, and the Korean war.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Patrick Henry: Forgotten Founder (Coursera) Coursera
University of Virginia,UVA Lifetime Learning, Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation

Patrick Henry: Forgotten Founder (Coursera)

“Give me liberty, or give me death:” Remembering Patrick Henry, the Forgotten Founder. Patrick Henry was enormously popular during the American Revolution. Even Thomas Jefferson, who over time developed a deep loathing of Henry (some would say jealousy), had to admit that “it is not now easy to say what we should have done without Patrick Henry.” Edmund Randolph, a patriot leader in his own right, explained that “It was Patrick Henry … awakening the genius of his country, and binding a band of patriots together to hurl defiance at the tyranny of so formidable a nation as Great Britain.”

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Paradoxes of War (Coursera) Coursera
Princeton University

Paradoxes of War (Coursera)

The Paradoxes of War teaches us to understand that war is not only a normal part of human existence, but is arguably one of the most important factors in making us who we are. Through this course, I hope that you will come to appreciate that war is both a natural expression of common human emotions and interactions and a constitutive part of how we cohere as groups. That is, war is paradoxically an expression of our basest animal nature and the exemplar of our most vaunted and valued civilized virtues.

Jun 1st 2026
13-24 Weeks
The Science Behind Anti-Doping (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
King's College London

The Science Behind Anti-Doping (FutureLearn)

Discover the life-cycle of a sample collected for anti-doping processes within sport, and the science behind it. Learn the science behind the anti-doping process with King’s College London. This fascinating course will cover the life cycle of a sample (blood and urine) collected for anti-doping purposes within sport and explain the science behind the analytical processes involved.

Jun 24th 2024
4 Weeks
Business History of the FIFA World Cup (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of York

Business History of the FIFA World Cup (FutureLearn)

Trace the historic development of the FIFA World Cup as a business entity to build expertise in sports business and management. On this three-week course from the University of York, you’ll trace the business history of the FIFA World Cup. Acknowledging the broader cultural, political, economic and social context of the tournament, you’ll examine its status as a business supported by a system of increasingly powerful monopolies.

Jan 29th 2024
3 Weeks
Doping : Sports, Organizations and Sciences (Coursera) Coursera
University of Lausanne

Doping : Sports, Organizations and Sciences (Coursera)

The objective of this course is to encourage a critical understanding of doping. To achieve this goal, this course will rely on a multidisciplinary approach that allow you to see how different disciplines get into a single object, in different perspectives and in often complementary ways. This approach will also allow us to appreciate the complexity of a subject like doping. Doping in sports is a complex practice whose definition and identification is the result of socially and historically constructed norms. This course offers to shed light on the processes that led to the use and prohibition of doping substances.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Race and Cultural Diversity in American Life and History (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Race and Cultural Diversity in American Life and History (Coursera)

Learners will deepen their understanding and appreciation of ways in which race, ethnicity and cultural diversity have shaped American institutions, ideology, law, and social relationships from the colonial era to the present. Race and ethnicity are ideological and cultural categories that include all groups and individuals. Hence, this course is designed in significant part to take a broad look at the ideology of race and cultural diversity in America’s past and present.

Jun 15th 2026
4 Weeks
Sports Marketing (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

Sports Marketing (Coursera)

Today, there is demand for people skilled in Sports Marketing. Organizations want your expertise to strength and grow customer bases and teams want to enlarge their fan base, attract new sponsors to their sport, build strong programs with existing sponsors, and run their fan conventions and other events. In addition, a wide range of companies recognize the value sports relationships have in positioning and building their brands.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
American Education Reform: History, Policy, Practice (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

American Education Reform: History, Policy, Practice (Coursera)

Discover what shapes how we talk about schools today by exploring the history of U.S. education reform. Engage with the main actors, key decisions, and major turning points in this history. See how social forces drive reform. Learn about how the critical tensions embedded in U.S. education policy and practice apply to schools nationally, globally— and where you live.

May 4th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Benjamin Franklin and His World (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Benjamin Franklin and His World (Coursera)

Welcome to Benjamin Franklin and His World! In this course, we explore the life of one of the United States’ most important historical figures. We examine Franklin’s early life growing up in the American colonies, his professional career as a printer and scientist, and his role in the American Revolution and the founding the United States as a new nation on the world stage.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks
The Emergence of the Modern Middle East - Part I (Coursera) Coursera
Tel Aviv University

The Emergence of the Modern Middle East - Part I (Coursera)

This course will review the emergence of the modern Middle East from the fall of the Ottoman Empire, at the end of the First World War to the present. We will discuss the Ottoman legacy in the region and the Western imperial impact on the creation of the Arab state system. The course will review the rise and retreat of Arab nationalism, the problems of internal cohesion of the Arab states, issues of religion and state, and the evolution of Islamist politics. We will also focus on the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its impact on the region and will conclude with an in depth analysis of the “Arab Spring” by placing these contemporary revolutionary events in their historical context.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks