MSU Offering Free Online Course in Conjunction with 2014 World Cup

Billions of people tune into the FIFA World Cup to watch the greatest soccer players from around the world compete.

Published: June 20, 2014
By: Fox 47 News

Billions of people tune into the FIFA World Cup to watch the greatest soccer players from around the world compete. But beyond the spectacle of the matches themselves, mega events like the FIFA World Cup have a far greater cultural, societal and economic impact lasting well beyond the short-term event itself.

Mark Wilson, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction and the director of SPDC Global; Eva Kassens-Noor, assistant professor of URP and the Global Urban Studies Program; and Lisa Robinson, head of metadata management for MSU Libraries, will explore those deeper impacts during the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a free MOOC called "Mega Events: Inside the FIFA World Cup," starting June 23 and ending July 21, 2014.

“Our hope is that this course gives participants a functional understanding of the FIFA World Cup, how it is organized, and how host cities and countries manage the event,” Wilson said.
Mega events typically have some key characteristics — they are short, large-scale events with millions of spectators, they are expensive and they draw an expansive audience and media presence.

There are currently more than 150 cities bidding to host different events. Wilson said that the draw for host cities is that the events are prestigious and draw the attention of spectators, viewers and media to one place on the planet at the same time, engaging a worldwide audience.

The MOOC will feature five self-paced modules focused on different aspects of the FIFA World Cup, including the sport itself, its history, culture and politics, business and urban planning.

The goal of the course is to show how the impact of the FIFA World Cup can be seen and interpreted in many different ways. Wilson said the course will become a trademark of MSU, as the next MOOC, focusing on the World’s Fair, is already in the making.

To register for this free course, visit "Mega Events: Inside the FIFA World Cup."
The course will be MSU’s sixth pilot MOOC. Visit MSUglobal’s MOOCs at MSU page for more on Michigan State’s pilot MOOCs.

PRESS RELEASE: MSU TODAY

http://www.jrn.com/fox47news/news/we-are-spartans/MSU-Offering-Free-Online-Courses--263972941.html

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