Anthropology of Sport

Code:

317

Acronym:

AD

Instance: 2025/2026 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Sports Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LCD	196	First Degree in Sports Sciences (2011/2012)	3	-	3	30	81
		First Degree in Sports Sciences (2025/2026)	3	-	3	30	81

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The fundamental purpose of the Anthropology of Sport course is to lead students to an understanding of sport as a cultural phenomenon deeply rooted in the human condition. Starting from the premise that sport is a meaningful practice, and not just a set of motor actions, the course seeks to highlight its symbolic, social, and anthropological value, making it a legitimate subject for scientific and humanistic study.

In this course, students will acquire an understanding of the anthropological foundations that legitimize sport, situating them both in the historical evolution of the human species and in the biographical course of each person. At the same time, we value the development of a critical, reflective, and sensitive attitude towards the cultural diversity of sports practices, as well as the role that the body, play, technique, and transcendence play in the construction of meaning and the expression of humanity through sports.

Learning outcomes and competences

The course aims to develop students' ability to think critically about sport from fundamental anthropological questions, encouraging them to adopt a reflective attitude committed to understanding the human condition. Through the presentation and discussion of the proposed topics, students are encouraged to recognize sport as a meaningful practice, embedded in diverse cultural contexts and revealing values, symbols, and tensions inherent in human societies.
The course values intellectual autonomy and the reasoned expression of ideas, both in the analysis of texts and authors and in the problematization of concrete situations. Students are expected to develop attentive listening to the body, culture, and experience, cultivating an ethic of knowledge that recognizes the demands of effort, discipline, and openness to transcendence as constitutive dimensions of humanity.
From this perspective, the aim is for each student to construct an anthropological vision of sport, capable of articulating knowledge, questioning evidence, and deepening the meaning of human action in play, technique, performance, and life.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

not applicable

Program

1. 
   

   In search of an anthropological foundation for sport
    1.1. The human person as the center of sports anthropology
    1.2. Attempts to define the human being
     1.2.1. From classical antiquity to the present day
     1.2.2. Differences between humans and animals
     1.2.3. The search for transcendence as a distinctive trait
    1.3. Understanding the concept of culture
     1.3.1. From E. Tylor to A. Kröeber
     1.3.2. Culture as a creative expression
    1.4. In search of a definition of sport
     1.4.1. Sport and motor elements
     1.4.2. Sport and human elements
     1.4.3. Sport as a structure of meaning
     1.4.4. Proposed definition of sport
    1.5. The relationship between human beings and transcendence: sport as a form of symbolic elevation

   
   


2. 
   

   Anatomical bases of hominization
    2.1. Origins of human beings
    2.2. Liberation of the hand
    2.3. Acquisition of consciousness
    2.4. From an upright position to running: a symbolic reading of the vertical body

   
   


3. 
   

   The roots of human beings, evolution, and sedentarism: constructing a cultural hypothesis
    3.1. Obesity as a global and cultural issue
    3.2. Presentation of an explanatory constellation
     3.2.1. Technology
     3.2.2. Human evolution
     3.2.3. The Holocene
     3.2.4. The domestication of plants
     3.2.5. The domestication of animals
    3.3. Sedentary lifestyles and obesity as effects of a millennial evolutionary process

   
   


4. 
   

   The body in sports anthropology
    4.1. The body as a cultural construct
    4.2. The body throughout the life cycle
    4.3. Body, death, and the quest for immortality

   
   


5. 
   

   Sport in the mythical-religious universe
    5.1. Popular imagination and archetypes of the hero
    5.2. Sport as a symbolic and ritual phenomenon
    5.3. The symbolism of sport
     5.3.1. The ball
     5.3.2. The space-time structure of the game
    5.4. The actors of sport and their symbolic roles

   
   


6. 
   

   Sport and modernity
    6.1. Sport in the context of contemporary societies
    6.2. The concept of modernity and its cultural implications
    6.3. From tradition to postmodernity
    6.4. Sport from the perspective of modernity
    6.5. Sport as an expression of hegemonic culture
    6.6. Approaches between play and sport in the modern world

   
   

Mandatory literature

Rui Garcia; Antropologia do Esporte, Shape Editora - Rio de Janeiro, 2007. ISBN: 85-85253-60-6
Rui Garcia; No labirinto do Desporto, Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda. ISBN: a publicar
Costa , Luísa Ávila da; Além da epiderme : uma antropologia do corpo em Paulo Cunha e Silva
Garcia , Rui Proença; Antropologia do desporto : o reencontro com Hermes
Garcia , Rui Proença; Desporto e educação : uma visão a partir da antropologia
Johan Huizinga; Homo ludens, Edições 70, 1015. ISBN: 9789724418438
Roger Caillois; Os Jogos e Os Homens, Cotovia, 1990. ISBN: 9789729013287

Complementary Bibliography

Clyde Kluckhohn; Antropologia. Um espelho para o homem, Editota Itatiaia, 2005
A. Kröeber; A natureza da cultura, Edições 70, 1993
Richard Dawkins; A grande história da evolução, Companhia das Letras, 2009
Niko Besnier, Thomas F. Carter e Susan Brownell; The Anthropology Of Sport Bodies, Borders, Biopolitics, University of California Press, 2017. ISBN: 9780520289017

Teaching methods and learning activities

The course is based on a teaching model that combines theoretical exposition with critical questioning and dialogue. Classes are enlivened by audiovisual resources and selected texts that introduce the main concepts and authors of Sports Anthropology.

In addition to the presentation of content, collective discussion is encouraged, promoting active listening, shared reflection, and the questioning of ideas. Where relevant, guiding questions are used to help prolong reflection and establish links between different topics.

Students are provided with all the essential materials for their studies, as well as a supplementary bibliography and support for reading and interpreting texts. Autonomy, curiosity, and reflective participation are valued throughout the learning process.

keywords

Social sciences

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	100,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	51,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

Attendance for the course unit is assessed exclusively by a final exam. Passing the exam requires a grade of 9.5 or higher.

Calculation formula of final grade

The final grade corresponds to the score obtained in the final exam, expressed on a scale of 0 to 20. Passing requires a minimum grade of 9.5.

Examinations or Special Assignments

not applicable

Internship work/project

not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Final exam according the Pedagogical Board deliberation.

Classification improvement

The classification may be improved through a final exam, in subsequent periods, under the terms established by the University of Porto's Assessment Regulations.