History of the Olympic Movement

This course dives deep into critical issues in the modern Olympic and Paralympic Games, like nationalism and internationalism, idealism, violence and peace, human rights and social justice, amateur and professional sport, elite performance and the transcendence of human limitations, ethics, entertainment and mega-event production, and ideas about the imagined global community. We explore the International Olympic Committee, sports governing bodies, and the principles of Olympism as products of the turn of the twentieth century. We analyze the ways in which the Games provide a window into the host nation’s local history as well as its ideals and ambitions. Finally, we look at how Olympian and Paralympian bodies carry layers of identity and meaning that conflict, contradict, remain, and change over time.