LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY

Mission

The Centre for Olympic Studies seeks to promote, facilitate and conduct academic research into Olympism and the Olympic movement. Drawing on the field of social sciences and the humanities, the Centre for Olympic Studies is concerned to generate and disseminate a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the ideals expressed through Olympism.

Aims and Objectives

Specifically, the Centre for Olympic Studies seeks to:

· co-operate with the British Olympic Association, and the various UK sport organisations in academic, cultural, educational and social scientific fields

· undertake research into Olympism, specifically drawing on the fields of the humanities and the social sciences

· develop educational initiatives involving Olympic education

· facilitate, via seminars, conferences and publications, the dissemination of knowledge relating to Olympism.

· act as a repository for documentation and archives relating to Olympism and, to allow access to students, visitors and academics

· articulate with organisational elements of the wider Olympic movement, including the International Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Academy and other nationally based Olympic Studies Centres

· foster the analysis of policy and governance in relation to Olympism

· develop the evaluation of management processes in the bidding and staging of the Olympic games and the Olympic movement more broadly.

Management

The Centre for Olympic Studies draws on the existing international expertise located in the Sociology of Sport group and the Institute of Sport & Leisure Policy in SSES. The Centre will comprise two co-directors, Professor Joseph Maguire and Professor Ian Henry. The directors will be responsible for the management and academic direction of the Centre. A steering committee will provide guidance on achieving and fulfilling the mission of the Centre. This committee will meet three times in the first year to establish and monitor core business, and twice each year thereafter and will comprise of the following:

The Steering Committee:

Co-Director Professor Joseph Maguire

Co-Director Professor Ian Henry

Honorary President (ex-offico) tbc

Head of SSES Professor Stuart Biddle

BOA Representative tbc

British Olympic Studies Research Group Dr Jim Parry

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research),

Loughborough University Professor Neil Halliwell

Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, Professor Peter Golding

Loughborough University

The Centre will also seek advice from and collaboration with colleagues in the UK and abroad. This will take the form of an advisory committee which we anticipate will comprise of:

Advisory Committee:

Professor Richard Cashman Centre for Olympic Studies

(University of New South Wales).

Professor Jay Coakley Centre for Study of Sport and Society

(University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)

Professor Peter Donnelly Centre for Study of Sport Policy

(University of Toronto)

Professor Kari Fasting Norwegian University of Sport

Professor Barrie Houlihan Loughborough University

Professor Miquel de Moragas Centre for Olympic Studies/Sport Studies

(University of Barcelona)

Professor Gudrun Doll-Tepper International Council for Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE)

Representative International Olympic Academy

Nominee of the Director of the IOC Museum, Lausanne

Professor Kevin Warmsley International Centre for Olympic Studies (University of Western Ontario)

Links

Internal links will be established within SSES, the faculty of SSH, colleagues within the UK, and abroad. The Centre will consolidate links with the BOA, IOA, and the IOC. Collaboration will be developed with other research Centres of Olympic Studies, including those at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, University of Barcelona and the University of Western Ontario.

Location and Facilities

Existing facilities within SSES will be used in the first instance. It is anticipated that additional teaching, research and archive space will be needed as the Centre develops but this should not preclude initial creation of the Centre.