May 5 at 7pm, an Olympic Symposium hosted by 21M.848 PS: Advanced Theories of Sport with Special Guest Susan Brownell, Ph.D., internationally renowned expert on China and the Olympics.
There have been only eight Olympics located in Asia in the 126-year history of the Games, three of them—in Korea, Japan, and China respectively—occurring within a span of five years (2018-2022), the latter two only six months apart, an unprecedented occurrence. When(if?) the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are held in 2021 due to COVID-19, it will be the first time the Games have ever been postponed, and the city’s second time hosting (Japan’s fourth). Next February, Beijing will become the first city in Olympic history to host both a Summer Games and a Winter Games.
These circumstances merit our attention, and call for a closer look at Tokyo and Beijing— their sport cultures and Olympic narratives, their journeys toward the upcoming Games, and the challenges and controversies surrounding those journeys. Almost daily from now until the cauldron is lit and the Olympic flag is raised in both cities, there will be daily news stories about the upcoming Games, the athletes, the cities, the politics, and the risks. This symposium provides helpful history, cultural context, current events, and fun facts that will equip you to both follow the news leading up to the Olympic Games and watch the performances during the grandest spectacle on earth, viewed by more than three billion people worldwide.
Please join the students of 21M.848 (Performance Studies: Advanced Theories of Sport) for two panels of their individual presentations and group Q&A, along with our special guest Dr. Susan Brownell, who will deliver a talk about the connections between the Olympics, NGOs, and human rights.
Event is two hours.