A/P/A Sports
Asians and Pacific Islanders are increasingly visible in the realms of American and global
competitive sports. These athletes, however, represent only the current state of the sports world
and its transnational nature. In this course, we will consider the longer histories from which these
athletes emerge: modern sports’ diffusion across and around the Pacific. A robust transnational
flow of athletes dates to the late nineteenth century and includes Hawaiian surfers and
swimmers, Chinese Ivy-League soccer stars, and barnstorming Asian baseball teams, as well as