The 2026 SIAH application will open on January 5, 2026.
Application deadline: March 2, 2026 at 11:59p.m.
Seattle’s World Cup: Storytelling Through Community Mapping
As the hype around Seattle’s hosting of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup continues to build, we often hear that “the world is coming to Seattle!” But what does that really mean? Who, specifically, will be coming to our city, and what will they be doing while they are here? What impressions will they leave behind, and what will they take with them? How will area residents experience the Cup? And what are the broader political and cultural questions swirling around the tournament and Seattle’s host city status?
The 2026 Summer Institute will use innovative community mapping alongside other arts and humanities methodologies (which could include photo and video essays, podcasts, journalistic reporting, blogging, etc.) to tell stories surrounding Seattle’s place-based experience of the World Cup. Students will learn the theoretical approaches of critical sport studies to engage in hands-on research and storytelling driven by the fundamental question of how people make meaning – personal, cultural, political – through large-scale events like the World Cup.
Schedule:
Spring Quarter 2026
- Early Spring Quarter – Interviews and selection process
- Late Spring Quarter – Meet & Greet and Orientation
- Late Spring Quarter – Optional Community Mapping Tech Crash Course
Summer Quarter 2026
Green text – Fieldwork in Seattle and surrounding area
Black text – Classes/workshops on campus
- Week 0 – June 15-19 – All optional because precedes summer quarter
- Monday – Match in Seattle
- Wednesday – Quick Debrief and Fieldwork Reset
- Friday – Match in Seattle (USMNT)
- Week 1 – June 22-26 (25 contact hours)
- Monday – 9:30a.m.- 2:30p.m. Overview and Introduction to Politics of Soccer (5 hours)
- Tuesday – 9:30a.m.- 2:30p.m. Introduction to Community Mapping Tools (5 hours)
- Wednesday – 9:30a.m.- 3:30p.m. Noon Match in Seattle (fieldwork 6 hours)
- Thursday – 11a.m.- 2p.m. Debrief of Wednesday and Welcome Luncheon (3 hours)
- Friday – 6p.m.- 11p.m. Match in Seattle (fieldwork 6 hours)
- Week 2 – June 29-July 3 (15 contact hours)
- Monday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Debrief fieldwork, planning for next match (3 hours)
- Tuesday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Critical Sport Studies: Key Concepts and Approaches (3 hours)
- Wednesday – 10:30a.m.- 4:30p.m. for 1p.m. Match in Seattle (Round of 32 – fieldwork 6 hours)
- Thursday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Debrief fieldwork, planning for next match (3 hours)
- Week 3 – July 6-10 (12 contact hours)
- Monday – 2:30p.m.- 8:30p.m. for 5p.m. match in Seattle (Round of 16 – fieldwork 6 hours)
- Tuesday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Debrief fieldwork (3 hours)
- Wednesday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Critical Sports Studies: Diving Deeper (3 hours)
- Week 4 – July 13-17 (6 contact hours)
- Tuesday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. What Stories do we want to tell? Form teams (3 hours)
- Wednesday – 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Initial Team Meetings in-person with mentors (3 hours)
- Week 5 – July 20-24 (3 contact hours)
- Independent/Research Team work
- Wednesday 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Check-in with entire group and/or teams
- Week 6 – July 27-31 (3 contact hours)
- Independent/Research Team work
- Wednesday 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Check-in with entire group and/or teams
- Week 7 – Aug 3-7 (3 contact hours)
- Independent/Research Team work
- Wednesday 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Check-in with entire group and/or teams
- Week 8 – Aug 10-14 (3 contact hours)
- Independent/Research Team work
- Wednesday 9:30a.m.- 12:30p.m. Check-in with entire group and/or teams
- Week 9 – Aug 17-21
- Thursday – 9:30a.m.- 2:30p.m. Symposium Prep/Rehearsal
- Friday – 9:30a.m.- 4:30p.m. All Day SIAH Symposium