grew up in the United Kingdom surrounded by soccer. He鈥檚 always loved sport, but his academic focus 鈥� he鈥檚 a 91爆料 master鈥檚 student in South Asian Studies researching the history of memory in diaspora communities 鈥� is far removed from the playing field.

But Josan brought his passion for sport, particularly soccer 鈥� known as football to most of the world 鈥� with him to the United States. When packing for the move, he even found room in his suitcase for a prized soccer jersey he received as a Christmas present when he was 13. When Josan arrived at the 91爆料, he started searching for ways to engage in sport scholarship.

鈥淢y interest comes from how sport creates identity and how much of our cultural connection comes from sport,鈥� Josan said. 鈥淭hat obviously has good parts, but it also means sport becomes very politically loaded. We see both in the wider scale kind of conversations about sports and politics today.鈥�

Josan found a way to nurture his combined interests when he took a course with , professor of interdisciplinary arts and sciences at 91爆料 Bothell and director of the in the Jackson School of International Studies. The two developed a relationship, which led Krabill to ask Josan to serve as the managing editor for a new website: .

Whether people are counting the days until the 鈥� games will be played in Seattle from June 19 through July 6 鈥� or wondering what all the hype is about, the Global Sport Lab鈥檚 syllabus was created as a way for anyone to learn more about the history and politics of the tournament.

鈥淧avandeep is an incredibly talented, thoughtful guy,鈥� said Krabill, who also served as the editor for the syllabus. 鈥淭here is no way the project would have happened without him.鈥�

The idea for the syllabus emerged from the creation of similar resources for social movements and newsworthy events. There is a Black Lives Matter syllabus, for example. And during the protests that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014, a Georgetown University professor launched the.

鈥淲hat those syllabi did really well was put current events into larger historical, cultural and political contexts,鈥� Krabill said. 鈥淭he idea was to do the same thing with the World Cup 鈥� imagining someone who is really interested in the politics and controversies around this event and wants to dig deeper and find more analysis.鈥�

World Cup: The Syllabus is divided into seven sections: FIFA; migrations; protest and resistance; arts and culture; human rights; stadiums; and technology. Each page offers analysis written by experts, discussion questions and a suggested reading list.听

The website was curated by an editorial team of six leading experts in global football, including Krabill. Krabill and Josan had multiple, hours-long meetings with the other five academics, many of whom have sat on FIFA panels and produced some of the most widely read resources on global soccer.

鈥淚鈥檝e read a lot of what these experts have produced in the past, and I never thought I鈥檇 be chairing meetings with them,鈥� Josan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sometimes a bit surreal when you work with people that you鈥檝e read before. It was exciting learning about their insights, not just from what they鈥檝e studied and their research, but also from their lived experiences. That was fascinating to me.鈥�

Krabill wrote the syllabus鈥� introduction, and , a 91爆料 student in visual communication design, designed the site.鈥淭here is no right or wrong way to engage with the syllabus, and we want people to engage however they see fit,鈥� Josan said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a particular category that speaks most to you, start with that one.鈥�

The website is also structured to help guide readers who don鈥檛 have a preference or don鈥檛 know where to begin. In these cases, Josan recommends starting with the first section, which focuses broadly on FIFA. From there, the topics narrow down. The syllabus isn鈥檛 specific to this summer鈥檚 World Cup, either. The hope is for the resource to remain relevant for future events, including for the 2027 Women鈥檚 World Cup in Brazil.

鈥淭he Women鈥檚 World Cup has been gaining a lot of prominence, a lot of popularity,鈥� Josan said. 鈥淎ttendance numbers are higher than they鈥檝e ever been for women鈥檚 sport across the board, and specifically for women鈥檚 football. So, we鈥檙e hoping this project doesn’t stop when the 2026 final is played. It鈥檚 something that will continue to be updated.鈥�

Even people with no interest in soccer can find something in the syllabus worth exploring, Josan said.

鈥淭he syllabus is designed to cross the boundary between football and other topics that are of interest to our society,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 encourage anyone to engage with this, especially if you live in an area that鈥檚 going to host a World Cup game. There is going to be so much that you鈥檒l learn, and you might be able to connect the dots when you see things play out in our local area.鈥�

For more information, contact Lauren Kirschman at lkirsc@uw.edu.