My project examines the history of modem athletic stadiums in order to explore the connections between urban landscape, spectatorship, and political activity in late-nineteenth century and twentieth-century France. Stadium construction flourished from the end of the nineteenth century onward in order to accommodate the surge in popularity of such sports as bicycle racing, soccer and rugby. New spectator cultures developed at athletic events, with different practices of spectatorship emerging in particular regions and stadiums. At the same time, stadiums drew crowds for political festivals and demonstrations, and influenced the "spectacularized" politics of a wide variety of groups during the interwar period. In my research project, I will examine stadiums as key sites of cultural and political production by addressing four central questions. What role did stadiums, as landmarks and constructed public spaces, play in processes of urban development and change in late nineteenth and twentieth-century France? How did the internal architecture of the stadium affect the experience of the spectator? How were sport and spectatorship alike transformed within the stadium? And how did stadiums shape the development of mass politics in modem France?