Lessons from Ted Lasso: Dalhousie University to offer course based on hit TV show

This image released by Apple TV+ shows Jason Sudeikis in a scene from "Ted Lasso." (Colin Hutton/Apple TV+ via AP)

Students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., will soon be able to learn lessons from Ted Lasso.

The school plans to launch a new course next winter term called KINE 4240: Coaching and Life: Lessons from Ted Lasso – taught by Dr. Lori Dithurbide, an assistant professor of kinesiology, who developed the course.

“At one point, my friend and work colleague joked, ‘You should teach a class on Ted Lasso.’ I laughed, but the idea stuck. I mentioned it to Laurene Rehman, our director and a fellow fan, and we started brainstorming how the show could serve as a lens for discussing coaching, leadership, and social justice in sport and beyond,” said Dithurbide in a news release from Dalhousie University.

“If the Lasso way is wrong, it’s hard to imagine being right”

Ted Lasso, which is streamed on Apple TV+, is a heartwarming comedy-drama television series that stars Jason Sudeikis in the title role. Lasso is an American football coach who is hired by an AFC Richmond – an English football (soccer) team. Despite his lack of knowledge about the sport he’s coaching, Lasso manages to win over his colleagues, the team, and the audience with his optimistic leadership style and important lessons.

According to the university, the purpose of the class is to “analyze and interpret sport psychology and sociology as well as explore leadership, social justice, and coaching.”

“Ted Lasso has emerged as more than just a feel-good sitcom — it’s a masterclass in coaching, teamwork and human connection,” said the university in the release.

“Believe”

The school believes basing a class on a popular show helps to make education “fun and relatable,” but says the course is “backed up by academic rigour.”

“It’s a fourth-year course, so it’s not like ‘let’s watch the show and talk about it, and that’s it,” said Dithurbide.

“It’s really meant to inspire critical thinking and create learning outcomes in self-awareness and self-reflection in the context of coaching leadership and social justice issues. My area of expertise is sports psychology, so we will be covering that topic in the class as well.”

The course will be open to all senior students and is not restricted to those in Kinesiology or the School of Health and Human Performance.

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